Lea Thompson

Lea Katherine Thompson, born on May 31, 1961, is an American actress, singer, dancer, and director. She is most famous for her role as Lorraine Baines-McFly in the Back to the Future trilogy (1985–1990), Beverly Switzler in Howard the Duck (1986), and Amanda Jones in Some Kind of Wonderful (1987). She made her film debut in Jaws 3-D in 1983, after which she continued to make films like All the Right Moves (1983), Red Dawn (1984), Dennis the Menace (1993), and The Beverly Hillbillies (1993). She transitioned to TV in the 1990s, when she played the title character in the sitcom Caroline in the City. From 2011 to 2017, she co-starred as Kathryn Kennish in the ABC Family-turned-Freeform series Switched at Birth. Prior to her acting career, she was a professional ballet dancer, having been offered scholarships to the San Francisco Ballet, the Pennsylvania Ballet, and the American Ballet Theatre. However, she decided to stop dancing and focus on acting after being told she was 'too stocky' for ballet. Thompson has also directed several episodes and TV films and has appeared in Broadway plays. She also had a career as a singer, performing in Celebrity Duets in 2006.