Farrell was born Theresa Lee Farrell in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the daughter of Kay Carol Christine Bendickson and Edwin Francis Farrell, Jr. Later, her mother married David W. Grussendorf, who adopted Terry and her sister, Christine. Before becoming a model, she played a Christmas elf at a mall in Cedar Rapids. In 1978, at age fifteen, she left her hometown for a summer in Mexico City as a foreign Read more...

After eighteen months of modeling, she studied acting with Kate McGregor Stewart while still modeling on the side. Her first major roles were in the short-lived 1983 television series Paper Dolls playing a model and in the feature film Back to School with Rodney Dangerfield. In the spring of 1989, she began studying acting with Stella Adler and appeared in a number of guest-starring roles in series Read more...

Farrell lives in Hershey, Pennsylvania, with her husband, former Sprint Corporation spokesman Brian Baker (a.k.a. the Face and the Voice), their child, and their dog. She enjoys cooking and deep sea fishing. As of January 2007, Farrell and her husband have moved back to central Pennsylvania and are taking a break from acting to raise their son.