Erica Durance

Erica Durance (pronounced /dəˈræns/; born June 21, 1978) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Lois Lane on Smallville.

Durance was born in Calgary, Alberta and was raised in Three Hills, Alberta. After graduating from high school, Durance moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, to pursue her interest in acting professionally. "I wanted to get my feet wet in a smaller area than Los Angeles when I gave it a try", Durance has said. She continued to study acting, starting out with background work, graduating to commercials, and then guest-starring roles, landing more substantial roles each time.

In 2004, she guest-starred on The Chris Isaak Show playing Ashley, a woman on a date with Chris. In Tru Calling, her character was a contender in a beauty pageant opposite Eliza Dushku's character. On the Sci-Fi Channel, she played an intergalactic librarian in Andromeda and a love interest for Teal'c in Stargate SG-1. She also played a sister to one of the leads in the Canadian show The Collector.

Durance was a frequent guest star for the fourth season (2004-05) of Smallville and joined the regular cast for the fifth season (2005-06), sixth season (2006-07), seventh season (2007-08), and eighth season (2008-09), being, for the first time on the series, one of the main characters on many episodes.

Durance appeared on The Howard Stern Show in September 2004 after she had already filmed a number of her first episodes on Smallville. She has also starred in several films credited as Erica Parker.

She was listed as the highest new entrant and cover girl in FHM's May 2006 issue, including the World's 100 Sexiest Women at #38 and was listed by FHM at #20 in the World's 100 Sexiest Women in 2007 and she was also at #15 by FHM in the World's 100 Sexiest Women in 2008. More recently she was also placed at #14 on the 2009 list. In October 2007 she the cover girl for Maxim.

On October 9, 2006, she again appeared on The Howard Stern Show to promote the DVD release of The Butterfly Effect 2.

In 2009, Erica will star as Heather in Ecstasy, based on the #1 bestselling book by Irvine Welsh.

On August 26, 2008, Durance was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series, according to the Canadian Press.

Parker was the surname of her first husband which she had taken when she wed Wesley Parker in 1996; they separated in 2001 and divorced. Durance married for the second time on January 8, 2005, to Canadian actor David Palffy. They reside in Vancouver.