Sheila James Kuehl

Sheila Kuehl
Sheila Kuehl at the Emmy Awards.
Member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from the 3rd District
Incumbent
Assumed office December 1, 2014
Preceded by	Zev Yaroslavsky
Member of the California Senate from the 23rd district
In office December 4, 2000 – December 1, 2008
Preceded by	Tom Hayden
Succeeded by	Fran Pavley
Member of the California State Assembly from the California State Assembly, 41st district district
In office December 5, 1994 – December 4, 2000
Preceded by	Terry Friedman
Succeeded by	Fran Pavley
Personal details
Born	Sheila Ann Kuehl (1941-02-09) February 9, 1941 (age 76) Tulsa, Oklahoma
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Residence	Santa Monica, California
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles Harvard Law School
Profession	Attorney, politician.

Sheila James Kuehl (born February 9, 1941) is an American politician and former child actor, currently the member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for the 3rd District. In 1994, she became the first openly gay California legislator and in 1997, she was the first woman to be named Speaker pro Tempore in California. Kuehl most recently served as a Democratic member of the California State Senate, representing the 23rd district in Los Angeles County and parts of southern Ventura County. A former member of the California State Assembly, she was elected to the Senate in 2000 and served until December 2008. She was elected to her supervisorial post in 2014. In her capacity as Supervisor, she also sits on the Metro Board, First 5 LA, and is the County appointee to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Kuehl was born Sheila Ann Kuehl in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her father was an airplane construction worker. He was Catholic and her mother was Jewish. As a child actress she performed under the stage name Sheila James.

At age seven Kuehl's parents noticed that she loved to try to play piano and sing though she lacked any training. Kuehl's parents agreed to pay for lessons when a door-to-door salesmen came to their home selling Saturday classes for tap-dancing, ballet, and singing lessons at Meglin Studios. Her parents would accompany her by bus for tap-dancing lessons at the studio every Saturday. As the tap instructors wife taught drama classes for an additional 50 cents, Kuehl's parents signed her up for those as well. The classes would have recitals on Monday nights to showcase what they had learned. At one recital Kuehl played an assistant in a skit called "The Old Sleuth" where she sat under a table listening for clues. To indicate she was listening Kuehl made faces which caused the audience to laugh and encouraged her to make more faces resulting in more laughter. The skit was ruined but the drama teacher, Mrs. Meglin was impressed. Kuehl later recalled that Meglin told her mother "'The kid’s pretty funny. Can she read?' And my mother said, 'Oh, yeah, she can read, she skipped two grades, she’s really very good.' Mrs. Meglin said, 'There’s a radio series holding interviews…at an agent’s office on Sunset Boulevard. Would you be interested in taking her to the interview? All she has to do is read…' So we went for the interview and there were like 150 or 200 kids there and all you did was read. And I was called back…and eventually I got the part in what probably was the last family radio series before it went all music and news...'"