Actress Brooke Theiss works hard because she still remembers the time she nearly failed kindergarten.
She stars in the NBC comedy series "Just the Ten of Us" as one of the daughters, and she's the spokeswoman for Hasbro's Maxie doll in commercials and personal appearances.She also recently boarded a cruise ship for an NBC movie tentatively called "Semester at Sea," and in "Nightmare on Elm Street IV: The Dreammaster" last year, she turned into a giant cockroach.
Theiss tries hard because she has to. She suffers from a learning disability called dyslexia.
"I make personal appearances before girls' groups and talk about my dyslexia and being held back," she said.
"I almost flunked kindergarten. I couldn't read. It wasn't until the third grade that I was tested and diagnosed as having dyslexia. I didn't know my left from my right. I have trouble dialing the telephone. Everyone has some problem. I've learned some other artists have dyslexia - Tom Cruise, Cher, writer Stephen Cannell."
She took special classes in school and learned to read with relative ease. But she also admits that "we were a little too pampered in some classes. I'd even use dyslexia as an excuse until college. I wasn't really motivated until then."
After high school, she attended New York University, which she said has a special program for dyslexics. All of her books were available on audio tape.
She grew up in Los Angeles, the daughter of an advertising executive and a real estate saleswoman. But acting was in her genes. Her mother, Kathy Mitchell, had been a model and actress who appeared in many live television productions in the 1950s. Her father, Dick Thies, had played the villain in Western movies before going into advertising. Brooke changed the spelling of her last name to make it easier to pronounce.
Her first break was the contract to represent the Maxie doll.
She plays Wendy Lubbock, one of eight children of the football coach at an all-boys school. Jamie Luner is her twin sister, Cindy, and Bill Kirchenbauer and Deborah Harmon are the parents.
"We play them as 16," she said. "Wendy is very rambunctious and rowdy. She's fun-loving and has no regrets. She takes risks, she's the instigator. Cindy's more sensible and subtle. All the kids are different and have well-developed personalities."
Prior to the spinoff she'd made a guest appearance on "Growing Pains" as another character.
She was first cast in a small role in the movie "Little Nikita," which starred Sidney Poitier and River Phoenix.
She remembers "Nightmare on Elm Street" as one of her most enjoyable roles.