‘MY LIFE AS A DOORMAT’
Cast Bios
HOLLY MARIE COMBS (Leah) -- Holly Marie Combs stars in the one-hour drama “Pretty
Little Liars,” based upon the popular book series from Alloy Entertainment, as Ella Montgomery,
Aria’s mother who is unsuspecting that her husband, Byron, had an affair with one of his exstudents at the college.
Combs is known worldwide for her role as Piper Halliwell on the long-running, popular series
“Charmed,” for which she also served as a producer for four seasons. After taking time off to
raise her young family, Combs also initiated, starred in and co-produced the USA TV production
“Mistresses.”
Combs was born in San Diego, CA, and moved with her family to New York when she was eight
years old. She attended the Professional Children’s School N.Y. and, following in her mother’s
footsteps as an aspiring actress, began her career working in television commercials and print
advertisements at age 10. She won her first movie role by 13, playing the daughter of Don
Johnson and Susan Sarandon in the feature film “Sweet Hearts Dance.”
At 18, Combs got her big break starring for four seasons on the critically acclaimed television
drama “Picket Fences.” Her role as teenager Kimberly Brock won Combs critical acclaim and a
Young Actors Award.
In television movies, Combs has played an impressive range of starring roles, including the
daughter of a murdered heiress in the fact-based “Daughters,” killer Diane Zamora in “Love’s
Deadly Triangle: The Texas Cadet Murder” and a rape victim in “Sins of Silence.” Feature film
work includes roles in “Born on the Fourth of July,” “Chain of Desire” and “Simple Men.” She
appeared in in Steven Soderbergh's remake of “Ocean’s Eleven” opposite George Clooney and
Brad Pitt, in which she plays herself, along with Barry Watson and Joshua Jackson.
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BEN BASS (Cinco) – Ben Bass landed his first television gig on the hit ‘80s series “21 Jump
Street” and has since starred in an exceptionally wide range of television, theatre and film hits.
He currently stars on ABC’s hit television series “Rookie Blue” as Detective Sam Swarek, a role
for which he received a 2014 Canadian Screen Award Nomination for (Shaw Media Award –
Best Performance by an actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role).
He starred in the critically acclaimed “Would Be Kings” and “The Eleventh Hour” (each
garnering him Canadian television Gemini nominations for Best Actor), in addition to
appearances on “Law & Order,” “Flashpoint,” “Monk,” “Da Vinci’s Inquest,” “Queer as Folk,”
“Dead “Like Me,” “The Love Crimes of Gillian Guess,” “Beggars & Choosers” and “The Chris
Isaak Show,” among many others.
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HALLMARK CHANNEL – ‘MY LIFE AS A DOORMAT’ – CAST BIOS/Page 2
On stage, Bass has performed in theatres and festivals across the country, including The
Stratford Festival and Charlottetown Festival. He has acted in both classic and contemporary
productions such as “Othello,” “Hamlet,” “Comedy of Errors” and “The Miracle Worker.” His
portrayal of Tim in the Vancouver Arts Club Theatre’s production of “Angry Housewives” earned
him a Jessie Richardson Theatre Award nomination for Outstanding Performance.
Bass received his training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in England and has
studied with acclaimed director and acting coach Larry Moss. He divides his time between
Toronto, Los Angeles and London with his wife Laura.
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CORBIN BERNSEN (Dublin Sr.) – Corbin Bernsen comes from an entertainment family. His
mother Jeanne Cooper was on the long-running soap opera “The Young and the Restless” for
40 years. A graduate of UCLA where he earned his bachelor’s degree in theater and a Masterss
degree in playwriting, he most recently starred as Henry Spencer on USA’s hit original series
“Psych.”
Bernsen first catapulted to stardom during the 1980s when he starred in the hit NBC TV series,
“L.A. Law.” He was nominated for both Emmy and Golden Globe awards for his performance as
Arnie Becker on the show that virtually created the ensemble drama as we know it today.
Along the way he hosted “Saturday Night Live” and had notable guest appearances on popular
series such as “Seinfeld” and “Star Trek.”
In the feature film arena, he starred in the comedy “Hello Again” followed by other critically
acclaimed roles in “Disorganized Crime,” Wolfgang Peterson’s “Shattered,” “The Great White
Hype” and as the Cleveland Indians’ third baseman-turned-owner Roger Dorn in the extremely
popular “Major League” film franchise. Other film credits include “Lay the Favorite” with Bruce
Willis and “The Big Year” with Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson. He also appeared
with Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer in “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.” In recent years Bernsen
moved to the other side of the camera and directed the films “Carpool Guy,” Dead Air” and
“Rust,” which was distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment. It was with the latter film that
Bernsen shifted his focus to family friendly movies and formed Home Theater Films. “25 Hill,”
which he also wrote and directed, ws the first title from his company and was distributed by
EchoLight Studios in July 2012. This was followed by “3 Day Test,” also released in 2012, and
“Beyond the Heavens” the next year, also released by EchoLight Studios. His most recent film,
“Christian Mingle the Movie,” starring Lacey Chabert was released in October 2014 by Capital.
Bernsen lives in Los Angeles with his wife of 24 years, actress Amanda Pays, and their four
sons.
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