Michelle Stafford

Biography: Michelle Stafford, better known as the villainous Phyllis on the daytime soap The Young and the Restless, started her career as a model in Europe and Asia. But after a year of living in Italy the striking redhead from Chicago returned to the U.S. to pursue acting and made her debut in 1990 in the short-lived teen sudser Tribes. She then appeared on the Los Angeles stage in two plays directed by Charles Durning and in a couple of little-seen films. Her big break came in 1994 when she signed on to Y&R in what was originally to be a short story arc. But Stafford's scheming, sexy portrayal enthralled viewers and the producers knew they had to keep her. She won her first Daytime Emmy in 1997, but she left the show to star in the prime-time soap Pacific Palisades. Unfortunately, the show went bust and Stafford returned to her Y&R stomping grounds in 2000. She won yet another Emmy in 2004. In 2009, Stafford became a mom via a surrogate.