Damara Reilly

Reilly was born and raised in San Francisco, the daughter of a NY & West Coast actor/screenwriter father, and a dance studio owner/teacher/choreographer mother (who began at age 7 in vaudeville). Damara did her first TV show tap dancing on the "King Norman Show" at age 2.

She went on to study in Colorado, earning her BS in Mathematics. After student-teaching math she returned to her true passion and took over her mother's San Francisco dance studio. She became known in SF for her dance talents and was pulled from the chorus of her first musical she was ever in at the Golden Gate Theatre to become the show's choreographer. She went on to choreograph musicals for the San Jose Civic Light Opera, Theater Works, SRT, etc. while also teaching at SF State University, SRT, Chabot College and more than a dozen other universities, colleges and high schools.

After being nominated for Best Actress in Northern California for her portrayal of Martha in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" at Civic Arts Theatre, also garnering excellent reviews for as JoAnn in "Company" for Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Adelaide in "Guys and Dolls" for MCLO, Sheila in "A Chorus Line", Mama Rose in "Gypsy". She began appearing in films and TV in San Francisco, then headed for LA.

She especially loved working with, among others, Danny Boyle, Kelsey Grammar, and John Mahoney. She had a successful creative career in many areas. She was quoted as saying she will continue to do what she loves for she feels "entertainment is as an important as being a Doctor. Entertainers help heal the soul by giving relief from daily life, raise a person's vibration and help them enjoy daily life."