People USA – July 29, 2019

24 July 29, 2019 PEOPLE

Officially

then

&^ no

w!

2015

She appeared

on Bravo’s

Vanderpump

Rules in

January with

her student

Lala Kent.

As the daughter of actors and the

grandchild of director Preston Sturges,

Shannon Sturges quickly found her way

in Hollywood. “When I booked my first

two auditions, I recognized how unusual

that was,” says the actress, 51. “It’s like,

‘Okay, I’m going to be famous!’ ” A guest turn on Doogie Howser,

M.D. led to her breakout role on NBC’s Days of Our Lives from 1991-

92. She married graphic designer Michael Kelley in 1993 and
    continued her soap opera run with the WB’s Savannah and NBC’s
    Passions. But the uncertainty of an actor’s schedule led her to
    teaching. “I discovered that’s really what I was meant to do,” says
    the mother of two, who now owns the Speiser/Sturges Acting
    Studio in L.A. She won’t “completely close the door” on TV acting,
    but says, “I have the best job ever.” —DANA ROSE FALCONE

A Soap Star Turns

Acting Coach

Though it’s been nearly two years since

Matt Lauer was terminated from NBC

for alleged sexual misconduct and sepa-

rated from Annette Roque, his

wife of 20 years, the duo never

officially filed for divorce—until

now. On July 9, Roque filed a

petition for divorce in Suffolk

County, N.Y., and sources say

she could stand to receive up

to $20 million in the settle-

ment. Though the estranged

couple, who have three chil-

dren together, had continued living in

their $44 million Hamptons compound,

that arrangement will soon change. A

Lauer source says that they plan to sell

the 12-bedroom beachfront property.

Roque is expected to keep their nearby

40-acre Hamptons horse farm. “That’s

her love,” another insider said. The

couple also have yet another Long Island

home, a six-bedroom, on the market for

$12.75 million.

At the time of their initial split in 2017,

Lauer, 61, who wed the Dutch model, 52,

in 1998, was hoping for a reconciliation.

“He doesn’t want a divorce,” the source

close to him said at the time. But split

negotiations eventually got under way.

“It took [Roque] a long time to work

through it,” the source said. The divorce

filing indicates financial and custody

decisions are likely reaching a peaceable

end. The day after the filing, Lauer was

spotted boating with two of his kids in

the Hamptons. —CHRISTINA DUGAN and

CHARLOTTE TRIGGS

Shannon Sturges

Lauer on his boat

in the Hamptons

in May.

Matt Lauer &

Annette Roque

Family First

The couple in

2017. Despite
      their marital
      differences,
      “their first
      thought is their
      children,” a
      source said.

1991

“I remember

meeting somebody

and they started

crying,” Sturges

says of finding

fame on Days of

Our Lives.

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