Background
Polo was born Theresa Elizabeth Polo in Dover, Delaware. Her mother, Jane (née Gentry), is a homemaker, and her father, Vincent Polo, is a stereo systems designer.
Polo was born Theresa Elizabeth Polo in Dover, Delaware. Her mother, Jane (née Gentry), is a homemaker, and her father, Vincent Polo, is a stereo systems designer.
She studied ballet for 13 years beginning at age five.
She starred as Pam Byrnes-Focker in the Meet the Parents trilogy (2000-2010). She was one of the stars of the sitcom I"m with Her (2003–2004), had a recurring role as Helen Santos on the political drama series The West Wing (2005–2006) and currently plays the lead role of police officer Stef Adams Foster in the American Broadcasting Company Family series The Fosters (2013–present). By age 13, she was attending New York"s School of American Ballet.
After winning a modeling contest, she moved to New York City at the age of seventeen to pursue an acting career.
Polo"s acting debut was in television 101. She also starred in the 1990 miniseries The Phantom of the Opera as Christine Daae.
Polo played Detective Ash on the television series Brimstone and became a regular cast member on the last season of Northern Exposure. She appeared in a recurring guest role in the sixth and seventh seasons of The West Wing playing the role of Helen Santos, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits).
In February 2005, Polo appeared on the cover of playboy, and posed nude in Playboy.
The appearance was linked to the release of Meet the Fockers, with cover text that made similar plays on words such as "She"s one hot Focker". She was ranked #42 on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2002. She was also featured in InStyle.
She also starred in the Lifetime Movie Network 2006 movie, Legacy of Fear.
In 2007, she starred in a Hallmark Channel movie "Love Is A Four Letter Word". In 2009, she starred in the feature film 2:13 and the Hallmark Channel television movie Expecting a Miracle with Jason Priestley and Cheech Marin.
That same year she also starred in The Beacon (2009). She was in the 2009 television pilot for Washington Field.
The show was about the National Capital Response Squad, a unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation composed of elite experts in different areas who travel around the world, responding to events that concern American interest.
In 2010, Polo reprised her role as Pam Focker in Little Fockers, the sequel to Meet the Parents (2000) and Meet the Fockers (2004). She appeared in the 1980s-styled horror fantasy film, The Hole. She currently is in the American Broadcasting Company Family series The Fosters.
Polo has guest-starred on many television shows, including The Practice, Felicity, Chicago Hope, Numb3rs, Sports Night, Frasier, Ghost Whisperer, Medium, Law & Order: Los Angeles, Castle and Criminal Minds.
