Sela Ward

Sela Ann Ward was born on July 11, 1956, in Meridian, Mississippi. Sela's parents were Annie Kate (Boswell) and Granberry Holland Ward, Jr., an electrical engineer; the three younger children in the family are Jenna (1957), Berry (1959) and Brock (1961). "Sela" is a Hebrew word that means "rock, boulder, cliff". Sela graduated from the University of Alabama in 1977, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in art and advertising; Sela was also a cheerleader for the Crimson Tide football team, a Homecoming Queen and a member of the Chi Omega sorority. Sela moved to New York to work for an advertising agency.Responding to a friend's suggestion that she was tall (5' 7") and pretty enough to try modeling, Sela began a highly successful career with the Wilhelmina Agency. Sela's first gig was in the Pepsi advertising department, and her first commercial was for Maybelline. After appearing in 20 national television commercials, Sela moved to Los Angeles and got her first television role in Emerald Point N.A.S. (1983); she dated tall co-star Richard Dean Anderson for three years. Sela's movie break came by appearing with Burt Reynolds in the film The Man Who Loved Women (1983), and by now her acting career was established.Sela starred in the television series Sisters (1991), which ran for six seasons. In 1992 and 1994, Sela got the Golden Globe Award nomination for best lead actress in a drama series; in 1994, she won an Emmy Award and, in 1996, the Screen Actors Guild Award. During the series' run, Sela married Howard Sherman (May 23, 1992 - present). They had two children: Austin Ward (May 13, 1994) and Anabella Raye (May 30, 1998).Sela also appeared in Runaway Bride (1999) as Pretty Bar Woman. In 2000, Sela won her second Emmy Award, this time for her work in Once and Again (1999).