Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/Hulu
Annaleigh Ashford did her first years in New York City better than the rest of us.
The actress is now, perhaps, indelibly “New York.” She’s a Broadway star, who made her debut in Wicked as Glinda, won a Tony Award for her performance in You Can’t Take It With You, and, next year, will be baking, let’s say, “special” pies while singing Sondheim in the upcoming revival of Sweeney Todd with Josh Groban. On screen, she’s known for her work in shows like Masters of Sex, B Positive, and Impeachment: American Crime Story, in which she played Bill Clinton accuser Paula Jones. Her new series, Welcome to Chippendales, is currently streaming on Hulu, with new episodes every Tuesday.
But before she was leading her own Chuck Lorre sitcom on CBS or playing one of modern history’s most gossiped-about women in a Ryan Murphy production, Ashford was a go-go dancer for the DJ Lady Starlight. Back then, she went by the name Hollywood Starr. “With two r’s,” she says. “Ew.”