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Sheila Kuehl
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sheila James Kuehl (born February 9, 1941 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is an American politician and former child actress. As of 2006 she is a Democratic member of the California State Senate, representing the highly urbanized 23rd district in Los Angeles County and parts of southern Ventura County.
As a young actress with the stage name Sheila James, she played Jackie, Stuart Erwin's tomboy daughter in the television show Trouble with Father. She is better known for her portrayal of the "irrepressible" Zelda Gilroy in the long-running 1950s TV show The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. Her own spin-off series as Zelda was cancelled (four episodes were filmed, but never aired) after rumors of her homosexuality circulated, the reason given being that she was too "butch"[citation needed].
After starring in the short-lived television series Broadside during the 1964-65 season, Kuehl changed her focus to academics and was accepted into Harvard Law School. She chaired the Celebration of the 25th anniversary of the first group of women to be admitted to Harvard Law School (1950) when she graduated in 1975. She became known as a feminist lawyer in her professional life.
Kuehl was first elected to the California State Assembly in 1994, becoming the first openly gay person elected to the California legislature. In the 1997-1998 legislative session, she was the first woman to be named Speaker Pro Tempore of the Assembly. She was elected to the State Senate in 2000. In 2004, she was re-elected with 65.7% of the vote. She was repeatedly voted the "smartest" member of the California Legislature by the California Journal[citation needed]. Senator Kuehl is additionally well known for her work in health care policy, having introduced a bill to establish a single-payer health care system in California (SB 840, 2004).
She has been criticised for blocking reform of California paternity law [1][2] and recently sponsored a bill that would prohibit instruction or the adoption of any instructional material that discriminates against persons based on their gender or sexual orientation from being taught in schools[3].
| Preceded by ? |
California State Assemblyman, 41st District 1994 – 2000 |
Succeeded by Fran Pavley |
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1941 births | Living people | Current California State Senators | Members of the California State Assembly | American television actors | American child actors | American actor-politicians | People from Tulsa, Oklahoma | LGBT politicians from the United States | University of California, Los Angeles alumni | Harvard Law School alumni