Amanda Walsh

Amanda Walsh (born October 3, 1981) is a Canadian actress and former VJ for the Canadian television station MuchMusic. She played the role of Katie in the unaired pilot of The Big Bang Theory.

Career Beginnings
Walsh was born in Rigaud, Quebec. She went to Hudson High School, in Hudson, Quebec. Since the age of 12, Walsh has been working as a professional actor and dabbled in sketches and stand-up comedy, with numerous TV appearances and a gold medal win at the 2000 Improv Games in Quebec as a member of the "8 People" troupe. An honours graduate from John Abbott College, Creative Arts program (in Ste. Anne de Bellevue), she has always maintained an avid interest in TV production and music, and at 16 co-produced a documentary on the swing revival. Between acting jobs, open mic nights doing stand-up, creating video comedies with her friends and learning to play the fiddle, she held a part time job as a waitress in Hudson, Quebec. Walsh started her acting career "acting" out border-crossing scenarios at the Canada Customs college in her home town of Rigaud.

Walsh co-starred in the straight to video sequel to the 1983 film WarGames called WarGames: The Dead Code. She was also in an episode of Are You Afraid Of The Dark?

MuchMusic
Walsh was "discovered" by a MuchMusic producer while waiting tables in Hudson, Quebec. He encouraged her to send a video and apply for the job. She got it and became the youngest VJ in MuchMusic history. She has hosted or co-hosted many programmes including Much Top Tens, MuchOnDemand, Fandemonium and others. She left MuchMusic in 2004 to pursue an acting career.

Walsh has since made appearances on shows such as Smallville, and the night time soap opera Train 48. In 2005, she starred opposite David Boreanaz in the movie These Girls, based on the play by Vivienne Laxdale. That movie was shown at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. She had a small role in the movie "Stardom (2000)" playing an overenthusiastic VJ on a parody of the Canadian music channel MuchMusic.

Recent events
After moving to Los Angeles, Walsh got a starring role in the ABC mid-season replacement Sons and Daughters, which premiered March 7, 2006 on ABC. The show was cancelled in late-April after ten aired episodes. Walsh also appeared on an episode of Veronica Mars, had a minor role in the film Disturbia and performed in the original pilot for The Big Bang Theory playing Katie (the role was replaced by the role of Penny played by Kaley Cuoco when the producers shot the second successful pilot). In 2008, Walsh had a role in the Internet series The Remnants with Ze Frank. She can be seen in the 2009 comedy film Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. In 2010, she appeared in ABC Family's Beauty and the Briefcase playing Hilary Duff's best friend Joanne. Most recently, in 2011, Walsh appeared in an episode of the Showcase series Single White Spenny as well as a minor appearance on the ABC crime drama Castle.