Early works and Knots Landing Sheridan began her career as a fashion model, appearing in the pages of
Vogue and on the cover of
Cosmopolitan, shot by
Francesco Scavullo. Whilst still a teenager, she famously starred in a Martini TV commercial, delivering the beverage through the streets of LA on roller skates. In 1984, she made her acting debut in the short-lived ABC primetime soap opera
Paper Dolls. The series was cancelled after half a season, and the following year, Sheridan starred in the romantic comedy film
The Sure Thing. Later that year, she was cast in the pilot for another ABC prime time soap,
Dark Mansions, intended to be a cross between
Dynasty and
Dark Shadows. The project did not go to series, but the pilot episode was aired as a television movie in 1986. In 1986, Sheridan joined the cast of the CBS primetime soap opera
Knots Landing as vixen
Paige Matheson. She started in a recurring role, but had become a series regular by the 1988–89 season. Sheridan remained with the series for seven seasons until its end in 1993. For her performance in the role, she won the 1990
Soap Opera Digest award for Outstanding Lead Actress: Prime Time, and the 1991
Soap Opera Digest award for Outstanding Heroine: Prime Time. The same year, she was named one of
People "50 Most Beautiful People". In the 1990s, Sheridan starred in a number of television movies. In 1990, she starred in
Deceptions and played
Lucky Santangelo in the television adaptation of
Jackie Collins'
Lucky Chances. The following years, she had star-billed roles in ''
Somebody's Daughter (1992), Time to Heal (1994), Shadows of Desire (1994), Virus (1995), Silver Strand (1995), The People Next Door (1996), Murder in My Mind (1997), Dead Husbands (1998), The Spiral Staircase (2000), Haven't We Met Before? (2002), Deadly Betrayal
(2003), and Deadly Visions (2004). Despite her television lead roles, her film career was limited. In 1992, she co-starred opposite Carol Burnett and Michael Caine in the comedy Noises Off
, and later had only two studio movies: Spy Hard (1996) opposite Leslie Nielsen, and Beverly Hills Ninja (1997) starring Chris Farley. Additionally, Sheridan auditioned for two leading sitcom roles, Rachel Green on Friends and Grace Adler on Will & Grace'', though the respective roles ultimately went to
Jennifer Aniston and
Debra Messing. However, Sheridan did make a guest appearance opposite Messing in 2003.
Desperate Housewives and lawsuit In 2004, Sheridan was cast as
Edie Britt in the ABC comedy-drama series
Desperate Housewives. The character was originally written as a recurring role in the series. Sheridan had auditioned for
Bree Van de Kamp, one of the series' more prominent roles. On 15 November 2004, Sheridan (in character as Britt) appeared with NFL wide receiver
Terrell Owens in an introductory skit to that evening's
Monday Night Football episode. Some observers condemned the skit as sexually suggestive, and ABC later apologized for airing it. On 14 March 2005, the
Federal Communications Commission ruled that the skit did not violate decency standards, because it contained no outright nudity or foul language. Sheridan was nominated for a 2005
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film In February 2009, during the show's fifth season, Sheridan announced her departure from
Desperate Housewives. Her exit episode aired in April 2009, when Edie Britt was killed off. Unlike the other main characters who had been killed off over the years on
Desperate Housewives, Sheridan did not make an appearance in the show's final episode, which aired in May 2012. In April 2010, Sheridan filed a $20 million lawsuit against
Desperate Housewives creator and producer
Marc Cherry and ABC Television, alleging that she was assaulted by Cherry on the set of the show and was then fired when she reported the alleged abuse to the network. In her lawsuit, Sheridan claimed
wrongful termination,
assault and
battery,
gender violence, discrimination based on
sex,
sexual orientation, and
age, and
intentional infliction of emotional distress. She also alleged that Cherry was abusive to other cast members and writers. ABC responded by stating that while they were unaware of this particular complaint, they had investigated similar claims made by Sheridan and reportedly found them to be without merit. The show's stars,
Teri Hatcher,
Felicity Huffman,
Marcia Cross, and
Eva Longoria, pledged their support to help Cherry in his battle against Sheridan's allegations. In May 2011, a judge granted permission for the case to continue to trial, but threw out Sheridan's claims of harassment. The case went to trial on 27 February 2012. Cherry asserted that the alleged assault was in fact a tap to the head with his fingers, done in rehearsals when he was demonstrating to Sheridan how she should play a physical gag in a scene. He also stated that the decision to kill off her character was already approved in May 2008 (several months before the alleged hitting incident in September 2008) due, in part, to the need to reduce the show's budget. He also cited Sheridan's unprofessional on-set behavior (such as habitual lateness, not learning her lines, and feuding with her co-stars), and the fact that her character had simply "run its course" as other reasons for the decision. On 13 March 2012, the judge dismissed the battery charge against Cherry due to lack of evidence, and the lawsuit then focused solely on Sheridan's alleged wrongful termination by ABC. Closing arguments were heard on 14 March 2012 and the jury began their deliberations. By 19 March 2012, the jury had failed to reach a verdict and a
mistrial was declared. A retrial was scheduled for September 2012, but this was dismissed in August when the
Los Angeles Court of Appeal determined that Sheridan had not been wrongfully fired. The court rejected Sheridan's argument that ABC's decision not to renew her option for another season was analogous to a violation of
at-will employment. The court reasoned that unlike an at-will employee whose contract could remain in force indefinitely, Sheridan's contract was for a set term that had expired, so ABC had not terminated her, but simply chosen not to rehire her for another fixed-term contract. However, the court declared that Sheridan was free to file an amended lawsuit alleging that ABC retaliated against her for complaining about unsafe working conditions. A further appeal made by Sheridan to the
California Supreme Court was rejected in November 2012. A new trial based solely on the retaliation claim was set for December 2013, but this, too, was dismissed in October 2013 by a judge who stated that Sheridan should have exhausted her claims through a labor commissioner before pursuing a trial. A further attempt by Sheridan to secure a new trial was refused on 16 January 2014, however the same judge reversed his decision on 29 January 2014 and granted Sheridan a new trial. This decision was later reversed in August 2014 by the
Los Angeles Court of Appeal, which found the judge's decision to grant Sheridan a new trial was in error.
Later works In 2010, Sheridan was cast in an untitled CBS comedy pilot as a mother who battles with her British ex-husband (played by
Paul Kaye) to get her teenaged daughter to stardom, but the show was not picked up. In September 2010, Sheridan starred in the
Hallmark Channel film,
Honeymoon for One, which was set in
Ireland. The film premiered on the Hallmark Channel on 13 August 2011. In 2013, she starred and co-produced another Hallmark movie, called
The Christmas Spirit. In an interview in November 2013, Sheridan announced that she was hoping to find a network for a half-hour comedy series that she is currently writing herself. She also co-starred in two independent comedy movies,
Jewtopia (2012) and ''
Let's Kill Ward's Wife (2014). In 2016, she filmed one more Hallmark movie, called All Yours''. On 28 November 2017, it was announced that Sheridan was cast in
The CW remake of
Dynasty as
Alexis Morell Carrington, a role played by
Joan Collins in the
original series.
Mark Pedowitz, the president of The CW, who had been president of
ABC Studios during Sheridan's run on
Desperate Housewives, called her about the role himself. He said, "I was big fan of Nicollette from way back when. She wanted it, and she will be great in it." She received positive reviews for her debut as Alexis, and was promoted to series regular status for the second season. The CW announced on 25 February 2019 that Sheridan would be leaving
Dynasty to focus on "some personal family responsibilities." Sheridan said in her own statement that she was leaving to spend more time with her terminally ill mother in
Los Angeles. She last appeared in the episode "
Motherly Overprotectiveness". On 3 October 2023, it was announced that Sheridan would feature in the
Lifetime film, ''
Ladies of the '80s: A Divas Christmas. According to the official synopsis, the movie follows five soap opera divas readying for a reunion show who take on playing cupid during Christmas to bring together their director and producer as they all learn the meaning of true Christmas spirit. The ensemble cast is made up of Sheridan, Loni Anderson, Linda Gray, Morgan Fairchild, and Donna Mills, the latter two co-starred with Sheridan on Paper Dolls and Knots Landing'', respectively. ==Personal life==