Stacy Edwards

This pretty, dark-haired actress found her breakthrough role as a hearing-impaired secretary who unwittingly becomes the pawn of two ruthless businessmen in Neil LaBute's acclaimed independent feature "In the Company of Men" (1997). Stacy Edwards had originally dreamed of being a dancer but abandoned that pursuit after developing and beating anorexia. Instead, this daughter of a career Air Force officer turned to acting, landing roles in Chicago productions of "Agnes of God" and "In the Boom Boom Room." After moving to L.A. in the mid-1980s, Edwards was cast in the acclaimed, but low-rated NBC daytime drama "Santa Barbara." True to soap form during her two years on the soap, her character went through many trials and tribulations, including a brutal rape before becoming the victim of a drunk driver. Following her stint on the soap, Edwards appeared in the TNT remake of "Dinner at Eight" (1989) was cast as a new mother on the short-lived CBS primetime drama "Sons & Daughters" (1991).

Her early feature roles gave no indication of her acting abilities: Edwards made her feature debut in Tobe Hooper's ludicrous "Spontaneous Combustion" (1990) and was among the teens in the unnecessary sequel "Private Lessons 2" (lensed 1992; released 1994). For her role in "In the Company of Men," the actress worked with hearing-impaired students and learned American Sign Language. She so successfully adapted her body language and voice that many were stunned to learned that Edwards was not deaf. After completing a role in Mike Nichols' political satire "Primary Colors" (1998), Edwards joined the cast of the CBS medical drama "Chicago Hope" in the fall of 1997, playing Dr. Lisa Catera. After two seasons, she was released from the show.