View source for Lesli Kay

{{short description|American actress (born 1965)}}
{{Infobox person
| birth_name         = Lesli Kay Pushkin
| other_names        = <!--Variants under which she has received Screen Credit:-->{{plainlist|
* Leslie Kay Pushkin
* Leslie Kay Sterling
* Lesli Kay Sterling
}}
| image              = 
| alt                = 
| caption            = 
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1965|6|13|mf=y}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lesli_kay|title=Lesli Kay - Rotten Tomatoes|website=www.rottentomatoes.com}}</ref>
| birth_place        = [[Charleston, West Virginia]], United States
| education          = 
| alma_mater         = [[Colorado State University]]
| occupation         = Actress
| years_active       = 1991–present
| organization       = 
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Mark Sterling|1992|1999|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Keith Coulouris|2003|2011|end=divorced}}
}}
| children           = 2
| mother             = 
| father             = 
| awards             = [[Daytime Emmy Awards|Daytime Emmy]]
| website            = 
}}
'''Lesli Kay'''  (born '''Lesli Kay Pushkin''' on June 13, 1965 in [[Charleston, West Virginia]]) is an American actress, known for her roles on the [[CBS]] soap operas ''[[As the World Turns]]'' and ''[[The Bold and the Beautiful]]''. For her role in ''As the World Turns'', Kay received [[Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series]] in 2001.<ref name=soapc>{{Cite web|url=https://www.soapcentral.com/theactors/kay_lesli.php|title=About the Actors &#124; Lesli Kay &#124; The Bold and the Beautiful on Soap Central|website=soapcentral.com}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Kay was born in [[Charleston, West Virginia]]. At age 12, she had the first individual girl's [[bat mitzvah]] in the state of [[West Virginia]]. She moved to New York City at the age of 15 to pursue a modeling career before graduating from [[Colorado State University]].<ref name=soapc/> Kay later worked at [[MTV]] and won $27,500 on ''[[Wheel of Fortune (US game show)|Wheel of Fortune]]''.

==Career==

In 1997 she made her daytime debut as Molly Conlan on ''[[As the World Turns]]''. For some time the character was not very popular due to Molly's villainous behavior, but she eventually won a 2001 [[Daytime Emmy]] for Best Supporting Actress in addition to charming viewers during her romance with Jake McKinnon ([[Tom Eplin]]). When Jake was killed off in 2002, Molly again became adrift, and Kay left the show in early 2004 after a number of promised storylines never appeared. Kay popped up a few months later to recast the popular, brassy character of [[Lois Cerullo]] on ''[[General Hospital]]''. Kay (and the resurrected character of Lois) exited ''GH'' in early 2005 after mutually agreeing to part ways with the show.

In November 2005, Kay assumed the role of [[Felicia Forrester]] on ''[[The Bold and the Beautiful]]'', taking over for [[Colleen Dion]] after a year's absence. ''Bold and the Beautiful'' Head Writer [[Bradley Bell]] had planned to kill her character off from [[cancer]]. However, a huge [[Fan (person)|fan]] outpouring, including [[petition]]s and numerous letters, in addition to Kay's job of making the role her own, convinced Bell to keep Kay on the cast. Her character, Felicia Forrester was resurrected from the dead. Lesli Kay invested herself into the cancer storyline so much that she shaved her head for the role.<ref>[http://www.soapcentral.com/b&b/news/2005/1024-kay.php]{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Soapcentral.com News</ref> In 2007, Kay was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress at the ''34th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards'' but lost to [[Genie Francis]].

In 2008, it was announced that Kay would crossover to ''[[The Young and the Restless]]'', in what was considered to be a semi-permanent basis.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://soapcentral.com/yr/news/2008/0303-comebacks.php |title=Y&R planning comebacks and crossovers  |last=Kroll |first=Dan J. |work=Soap Central |publisher=Soapcentral.com |accessdate=November 8, 2012 |date=2008-03-03}}</ref> Kay's crossover to ''Y&R'' was short-lived and she returned to her home series. In 2009, it was announced that Kay would make history in becoming the first actress to hold two roles on two separate coasts, when she was announced to be returning to the role of Molly on ''As the World Turns'', while maintaining her role as Felicia on a recurring status.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.soapcentral.com/as-the-world-turns/news/2009/0824-kay.php|title=Lesli Kay makes history in return to ATWT|website=soapcentral.com}}</ref> She stayed with ''As the World Turns'' until the show's final episode on September 17, 2010. Kay continued making appearances on ''B&B'' until 2014, and then reprised the role in 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.soapcentral.com/bold-and-beautiful/news/2016/0903-harmon_kay.php|title=Winsor Harmon and Lesli Kay back to B&B|website=soapcentral.com}}</ref>

==Filmography==

===Film===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ {{Screen reader-only|Lesli Kay film credits}}<!-- [[WP:ACCESSIBILITY]] & [[MOS:TABLECAPTION]] -->
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}}
|-
| 1995 || ''Forbidden Games'' || Shannon Douglas ||  || <ref name="RTf">{{cite web | title=Lesli Kay | url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lesli_kay | access-date=18 August 2025 | website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] | publisher=[[Fandango Media]] / [[NBCUniversal]]}}</ref>
|-
| 1996 || ''Deadly Charades'' || Julie Sharp || Direct to video || 
|-
| 1996 || ''[[David DeCoteau|Petticoat Planet]]'' || Sheriff Sarah Parker ||  || <ref name="RTf" />
|-
| 1996 || ''Cyberella: Forbidden Passions'' || Jana ||  || <ref name="RTf" />
|-
| 1997 || ''Guarded Secrets'' || Miranda ||  || <ref name="RTf" />
|-
| 2005 || ''[[Corbin Bernsen|Carpool Guy]]'' || Vanessa ||  || <ref name="TCMf">{{cite web | title=Lesli Kay: Filmography | url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/352006%7C0/Lesli-Kay#overview | access-date=18 August 2025 | website=[[Turner Classic Movies]]}}</ref><ref name="RTf" />
|-
| 2007 || ''[[The Anna Nicole Smith Story]]'' || Ginger ||  || <ref name="RTf" />
|-
| 2007 || ''Shadow People'' || Gretchen ||  || <ref name="RTf" />
|-
| 2009 || ''My New SweetHeart'' || Carrie || Short film || 
|-
| 2013 || ''Close to Home'' || Night Nurse || Short film || 
|-
| 2024 ||''Chagrin'' ||  ||  || 
|}

=== Television ===
{| class="wikitable" 
|+ {{Screen reader-only|Lesli Kay television credits}}<!-- [[WP:ACCESSIBILITY]] & [[MOS:TABLECAPTION]] -->
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}}
|-
|1991 || ''[[Hunter (1984 U.S. TV series)|Hunter]]'' || Colleen || Episode: "All That Glitters" (as Leslie Kay Pushkin) || <ref name="RTf" />
|-
|1993 || ''[[Counterstrike (1990 TV series)|Counterstrike]]''
|Frenchie's Secretary<!--Screen credit omits Role name, and she's never named in Dialog. IMDb names her "secretary" by Function.-->
|Episode: "[[List of Counterstrike (1990 TV series) episodes#ep61|French Twist]]" (as Leslie Kay Sterling)
|<!--verified by primary source-->
|-
|1995 || ''[[Nowhere Man (American TV series)|Nowhere Man]]'' || Tina || Episode: "You Really Got a Hold On Me" (as Leslie Kay Sterling) || <ref name="RTf" />
|-
|1996 || ''[[Hot Line (TV series)|Hot Line]]'' || Samantha || Episode: "The Gardener" (as Leslie Kay Sterling) || 
|-
|1996 || ''High Tide'' || Agent Robin Foster || Episode: "Mission Improbable" (as Leslie Kay Sterling) || 
|-
|1996–1997 || ''[[The Big Easy (TV series)|The Big Easy]]'' || Sophie / Nurse || Episodes: "The Love Doctor" and "Driving Ms. Money" (as Leslie Kay Sterling) || 
|-
|1997 || ''[[Women: Stories of Passion]]'' || {{Unk}} || Episode: "Table Service" (as Leslie Kay Sterling) || 
|-
|1997–2004, 2009–2010 || ''[[As the World Turns]]'' || [[Molly Conlan]] || Series regular: 1997–2004<br>Recurring star: 2009–2010 || <ref name="RTf" />
|-
|2003 || ''[[Law & Order]]'' || Amanda Taylor || Episode: "Maritime" || 
|-
|2004–2005 || ''[[General Hospital]]'' || [[Lois Cerullo]] || Series regular || 
|-
|2005 || ''[[CSI: NY]]'' || Tanya Daville || Episode: "Zoo York" || <ref name="RTf" />
|-
|2005–2014, 2016 || ''[[The Bold and the Beautiful]]'' || [[Felicia Forrester]] || Series regular: 2005–2009<br>Recurring star: 2010–2014, 2016 || <ref name="RTf" />
|-
|2008 || ''[[The Young and the Restless]]'' || [[Felicia Forrester]] || Recurring star || 
|-
|2009 || ''[[Ghost Whisperer]]'' || Suzanne Zale / Celeste Barrington || Episode: "Stage Fright" || <ref name="RTf" />
|-
|2009 || ''[[Raising the Bar (2008 TV series)|Raising the Bar]]'' || Massage Complainant  || Episode: "Happy Ending" || 
|-
|2009–2010 || ''[[Venice: The Series]]'' || Tracy Lansing || Series regular: Season 1 || 
|-
|2010 || ''The Bay'' || Belinda Madison || Series regular: Season 1 || 
|- 
| 2013 || ''Dirty Teacher'' || Det. Peters || TV movie || <ref name="RTf" />
|-
|2013 || ''The Good Mother'' || Janet || [[Lifetime (TV network)|Lifetime]] TV movie || <ref name="TCMf" />
|-
|2017 || ''[[The Wrong... (film series)|The Wrong Crush]]'' || Tracy || Lifetime TV movie || <ref name="TCMf" /><ref name="RTf" />
|- 
| 2018 || ''A Wedding for Christmas'' || Jane || TV movie || <ref name="RTf" />
|- 
| 2018 || ''Baby Obsession'' (''Your Baby Is Mine'') || Margo || TV movie || <ref name="RTf" />
|-
|2019 || ''[[The Wrong... (film series)|The Wrong Cheerleader]]'' || Eliza ||Lifetime TV movie || <ref name="TCMf" /><ref name="RTf" />
|-
|2021 || ''[[The Wrong... (film series)| The Wrong Fiancé]]'' || Melinda ||Lifetime TV movie || <ref name="RTf" />
|-
|2022 || ''[[The Wrong... (film series)| The Wrong Blind Date]]'' || Angela ||Lifetime TV movie || <ref name="RTf" />
|-
|2022 || ''[[The Wrong... (film series)| Keeping Up with the Joneses]]'' || Captain O'Neill || 3 episodes || 
|-
|2023 || ''Lucky Hearts'' || Harrington || TV movie || 
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Portal|Women|Biography|Film|Television|America}}
==External links==
* {{TCMDb name|id=352006%7C0}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes person|lesli_kay}}
* [https://tv.apple.com/us/person/lesli-kay/umc.cpc.45fd85hjjb9iwj22ujwsdze89 Lesli Kay] at [https://tv.apple.com/ Apple TV+]
* {{IMDb name|0443117}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051230052514/http://www.soapcentral.com/b%26b/theactors/kay.php SoapCentral profile]

{{The Bold and the Beautiful}}
{{Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actress}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Lesli}}
[[Category:American soap opera actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses from Charleston, West Virginia]]
[[Category:1965 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners]]
[[Category:Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series winners]]
[[Category:21st-century American women]]