Kimberly McCullough

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Kimberly McCullough
Born
Kimberly Anne McCullough

(1978-03-05) March 5, 1978 (age 46)
Occupations
  • Actress
  • director
Years active1984–present
Children1

Kimberly Anne McCullough[1] (born March 5, 1978) is an American actress and television director. She is best known for her role as Robin Scorpio on the soap opera General Hospital, a role which she originated at age seven, playing the character on and off from 1985 to 2000 and 2004 to 2018, in addition to 2021. She has subsequently taken a step back from acting in order to focus on directing.[2]

McCullough has also played the character in one episode of the GH spinoff Port Charles, and in a few episodes of All My Children. In 2007 and 2008, she portrayed Robin as one of the leading characters in the primetime GH spinoff, General Hospital: Night Shift.

McCullough is also an ABC Director Fellow, shadowing other directors.[3]

Career[edit]

In 1985, after failing to land a role on the TV sitcom Webster, McCullough auditioned for the role of Robin Scorpio, the 6-year-old daughter of Robert Scorpio (Tristan Rogers) and Anna Devane (director/actress Finola Hughes). The producers made her audition 12 times but eventually gave her the part and her role became a popular success.[4]

In the fall of 1985, McCullough made her debut during the Asian Quarter storyline, which showcased her acting skills alongside veteran actor Keye Luke through the majority of the storyline. In 1989 at the age of 11, McCullough won her first Daytime Emmy Award, for "Outstanding Juvenile Female in a Drama Series". One of her most memorable storylines began in 1995, when her teenage character contracted HIV after having unprotected sex with her boyfriend Stone, who was unknowingly infected with the virus and later died of AIDS. She won a second Daytime Emmy in 1996 for this storyline, once again for "Outstanding Younger Leading Actress in a Drama Series". In 1996, she took a short break from playing the character when she went off to college for a brief stint at New York University Tisch School of the Arts from 1996 to 1997, although she never graduated or received a degree from the university. On General Hospital, Robin Scorpio was also written out for the same reason, except the character was attending Yale University to study medicine. Unlike many soap opera characters, her character of Robin Scorpio has never been "sorased" but has aged in real time along with McCullough.

In 1998, she returned to the show, but then left once again to pursue other acting opportunities, which included co-starring in the primetime drama series Once and Again and Joan of Arcadia. She also wrote and directed the mockumentary Lil Star about girls in childhood beauty pageants, a story which allowed McCullough to draw on her own experiences. In 2001 she appeared in the movie Legally Blonde as Amy, one of Elle Woods' sorority sisters. After brief returns to General Hospital in 2000 and 2004, she returned on a permanent basis in October 2005, with her character Robin Scorpio a doctor, having graduated from medical school. In November 2011, McCullough announced her plans to leave General Hospital once again in order to pursue a career as a director, and her character was believed to have died on February 21, 2012. However, scenes airing on March 27, 2012, showed Robin to be alive and held captive in an undisclosed location, leaving the door open for her to return in the future. Starting in July 2012, McCullough made several guest appearances on General Hospital, and returned to the role in 2013.

She again went off contract in 2018, announcing her retirement from acting to focus on a directing career.[5] McCullough did make an appearance in 2021 to participate in an on-air tribute for actor John Reilly, who played Sean Donely.[6]

In 2011, McCullough directed the short film Nice Guys Finish Last. The film starred Danielle Harris and McCullough's General Hospital co-star Lexi Ainsworth.[7][8]

Personal life[edit]

McCullough was born in Bellflower, California. She has two older brothers and is of Mexican descent. Her mother is a dance teacher, who took her to rehearsals, and got her involved with acting. McCullough's first appearance was as a 7-month-old baby in a diaper commercial, co-starring with actress Juliet Mills. She started doing gymnastics at the age of 4, and performed as part of a group called the Gym Dandies. McCullough followed this up with a dancing part in Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. McCullough dated actor Freddie Prinze Jr. from 1996 until 1999.[9][10]

In a year-end blog post for 2015, McCullough revealed she had a miscarriage.[11] In her 2016 Year End Wrap Up, she revealed she was pregnant again after her miscarriage.[12][13] McCullough gave birth to her son, Otis, on June 7, 2017.[14]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1984 Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo Kimberly [15]
1988 Purple People Eater Donna Orfus
1991 Bugsy Barbara Siegel
1992 Consenting Adults Lori Parker
2001 Legally Blonde Amy
2005 Greener Mountains Alice
2012 Among Friends Director's Girlfriend

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1985–2000
2004–2018
2021
General Hospital Robin Scorpio Series regular; guest appearances
1987 Beauty and the Beast Abbey Episode: "Masques"
1992 Consenting Adults Lori Parker Television film
1996 CBS Schoolbreak Special April Morgan Episode: "Crosstown"
1997 Nothing Sacred Flavia Episode: "Speaking in Tongues"
1998 Port Charles Robin Scorpio 1 episode
1999 Sons of Thunder Jennifer Hobson Episode: "Underground"
1999 Undressed N/A Episode: unaired pilot
1999–2000 Once and Again Jennifer Recurring role, 9 episodes
2000 Party of Five Phoebe Episode: "Taboo or Not Taboo"
2001 DAG Becky Jo Jensen Episode: "America's Sweetheart"
2001 ER Nori Episode: "Fear of Commitment"
2001 Dying to Dance Alyssa Lennox Television film
2001 All My Children Robin Scorpio Guest appearances
2002 Judging Amy Melissa Johnston Episode: "Who Shot Dick?"
2002 Crossing Jordan Isabelle Episode: "Four Fathers"
2002 Family Law Carly Sifton Episode: "Big Brother"
2002 The Shield Deena Episodes: "Blowback", "Pay in Pain"
2003 Firefly Chari Episode: "Heart of Gold"
2004 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Vampire #3 Episode: "Suckers"
2004 The Stones Audra 4 episodes
2004 The Shield Deena Episode: "Streaks and Tips"
2004–2005 Joan of Arcadia Beth Reinhart Recurring role, 6 episodes
2007–2008 General Hospital: Night Shift Robin Scorpio Series regular
2008 The Shield Deena Episode: "Game Face"
2010 Fake It Til You Make It Decoy Episode: "Wayne Brady Tweets"

As a director[edit]

Year Title Notes
2013 Shake It Up Episode: "Haunt It Up"
2015 K.C. Undercover Episode: "Operation: Other Side Part 2"
2016 Pretty Little Liars 2 episodes
2018 Youth & Consequences Miniseries; 2 episodes
2018 All About The Washingtons 2 episodes
2018 Fuller House Episode: "It’s Always Open"
2018–2019 One Day at a Time 3 episodes
2018–2019 The Conners 2 episodes
2019 The Cool Kids Episode: "The Cool Kids Un-Retire"
2019 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Episode: "Paddy's Has a Jumper"
2019–2023 High School Musical: The Musical: The Series 14 episodes
2019–2020 The Bold Type 3 episodes
2020 Carol's Second Act Episode: "Blocking"
2020 Almost Family Episode: "Permanent AF"
2020 Roswell, New Mexico Episode: "I'll Stand By You"
2021 Fantasy Island Episode: "Quantum Entanglement"
2021 With Love Episode: "Valentine's Day"
2022 How I Met Your Father Episode: "'The Fixer"
2022 Boo, Bitch 3 episodes

Awards[edit]

All of McCullough's awards and nominations have been for her role as Robin Scorpio on General Hospital.

Won[edit]

Nominated[edit]

  • (1988) Young Artist Award, Best Young Actress Starring in a Television Drama Series
  • (1989) Young Artist Award, Best Young Actress in a Daytime Drama Series
  • (1989) Young Artist Award, Best Young Actress in Theater
  • (1990) Young Artist Award, Best Young Actress in a Daytime Drama Series
  • (1990) Daytime Emmy, Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series
  • (1991) Daytime Emmy, Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series
  • (1992) Soap Opera Digest Award, Outstanding Younger Leading Actress: Daytime
  • (1995) Daytime Emmy, Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series
  • (1997) YoungStar Award, Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Daytime TV Program
  • (1997) Young Artist Award, Best Performance in a Daytime Drama – Young Actress
  • (1997) Daytime Emmy, Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Kim Mccullough Biography (1978–)". Film Reference. March 5, 1978. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  2. ^ "General Hospital star Kimberly McCullough officially retired from acting".
  3. ^ "'General Hospital' Star Kimberly McCullough To Direct Upcoming Episode Of 'The Conners'". The Inquisitr. November 7, 2018. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  4. ^ Soapography, aired June 16, 2007, "Kimberly McCullough and Rick Springfield".[full citation needed]
  5. ^ "General Hospital star Kimberly McCullough officially retired from acting".
  6. ^ "CONFIRMED: Kimberly McCullough returning to General Hospital".
  7. ^ "Kimberly McCullough Directs Co-Star Lexi Ainsworth in Nice Guys Finish Last". Daytime Confidential. June 9, 2010. Archived from the original on March 11, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  8. ^ "From Director/Actress Kimberly McCullough by S.J. Main". FirstGiving. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  9. ^ Reed, J.D. (November 18, 1996). "Fresh Prinze". People. Archived from the original on February 5, 2009. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  10. ^ "Buffy the Bachelor Slayer". People. April 30, 2001. Archived from the original on November 1, 2008. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  11. ^ SOD (January 3, 2016). "GH STAR REVEALS MISCARRIAGE". Soap Opera Digest. United States. American Media, Inc. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  12. ^ Kimberly McCullough (February 20, 2017). "2016 Year End Wrap Up". Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  13. ^ SOD (February 20, 2017). "KIMBERLY MCCULLOUGH IS PREGNANT!". Soap Opera Digest. United States. American Media, Inc. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  14. ^ McCullough, Kimberly (June 8, 2017). "Baby Otis was born today June 7th. To quote Mary J "I never knew there was a love like this before."". Twitter. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  15. ^ "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo Cast and Crew". TV Guide. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2020.

External links[edit]