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Biography
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Some facts about Erica Gimpel
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... taken from the NBC website!
Erica Gimpel Bio
Clearly born for the stage, former "Fame" star Erica Gimpel learned her cues and hit her marks even before birth. "My mom, who was a singer and an actress, performed as Serena in 'Porgy and Bess' when she was eight-and-a-half months pregnant with me," says Gimpel. "Even then, she said, I would move over to let her [draw a deep breath] and hit the high notes!"
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Gimpel, who is an only child, was born and raised in Manhattan. Her mother was also an opera singer; her father, an actor and published poet. She credits a junior-high-school singing teacher for helping her turn her life around as a teenager to concentrate on theater.
Gimpel attended the High School of Performing Arts, a prestigious institution that accepts less than 100 out of 1,500 applicants each year. While there, she was cast as Coco Hernandez in the TV series "Fame," based on the popular feature film set at the same school. She remained with the series for four seasons (the series was on NBC during the first two) and returned to guest-star in the remaining years as a graduate student. "Fame" was an international hit, and fans in Europe and the United States still recognize her ("I still feel very proud of the show's message").
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More facts:
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Theatre credits:
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Beginning in the mid-1980s, Gimpel starred in off-Broadway productions, such as "States of Shock" (opposite John Malkovich) and "Soulful Scream of a Chosen Son." She also appeared in regional-theater productions, including "Dusky Sally" (in one of her favorite roles, as Sally Hemmings, Thomas Jefferson's reputed mistress) at the Capital Repertory Theater in Albany, N.Y.
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Favourite links
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