Laura Leighton Moving Back to MELROSE PLACE

After months of speculation about who if any of the original MELROSE PLACE cast members might drop in on the CW's new MELROSE PLACE, Laura Leighton has joined the CW pilot in a recurring capacity.

She will reprise her memorable role as the irresponsible and scheming Sydney Andrews, one of the most popular characters on the Fox series. In the dramatic fifth-season finale of MELROSE PLACE in 1997 – and Leighton's last episode on the show -- Sydney was run over by a car on her wedding day in a near-fatal accident.

While she was presumed dead for the rest of the Fox series, she now is back at Melrose Place, and while the script is being kept under wraps, sources said she would be the landlord to the new crop of tenants.

If they can't bring back Heather Locklear's Amanda, Leighton's Sydney is not a bad choice to stir the pot.