First laid eyes on her back in 1987's HIDING OUT, as Jon Cryer's high-school sweetie Ryan Campbell, and I've been hopelessly smitten from that point on. Born in Albuquerque (!) in 1971, she's 5'8" (nearly-perfect), Lutheran (unfortunate, but nothing that can't be worked out), and married (just my luck). Many think her acting roots can be traced back to Lillian and Dorothy Gish, but she's not related to either screen legend. Her "girl-next-door" freshness and mega-watt smile had her locked in "good girl" roles for a seeming eternity (DESERT BLOOM, MYSTIC PIZZA, SHAG), but then she was thrown the off-beat challenge of Paulie, a well-meaning liberal killer (is there any other kind?) in 1995's LAST SUPPER, and the more-interesting stuff (SLC PUNK!, X-FILES, THE CELESTINE PROPHECY) started to flow in. Recently danced up a salsa storm in VH1's otherwise-routine THE WAY SHE MOVES, where she got to show off more of her versatile self. One of the few actresses, I think, who gets better-looking as the hourglass sands run down; seems awfully down-to-earth, too (you never see any headlines like "Annabeth Gish caught in coke-addled sex tape, next on Entertainment Tonight"). Why she's not a bigger star is something I wish she'd take up with her management team. Until then, I'll stay tongue-tied and tingly wherever she shows up.