When you hear the name "Shonda Rhimes" what words come to mind? I'm pretty sure those words are "Grey's" and "Anatomy." But what you may not know is that before writing gripping TV series such as Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice, Rhimes also put pen to paper for The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and -- you'd better be sitting properly on your chair before reading this -- Britney Spears's Crossroads! Can you believe that the Emmy award winner wrote that terrible and rightfully Razzie-nominated Crossroads?!?

According to IMDb.com, Shonda Rhimes' first project was Blossoms and Veils, a 1998 short starring Jada Pinkett Smith and Omar Epps, that she both wrote and directed. Her first major project was TV-movie-of-the-week Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, starring Halle Berry, for which she wrote the teleplay. Afterwards, her career shortly changed gears when she wrote two teen movies: Crossroads and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. The latter, a Disney movie, surely helped open a few doors at ABC for Rhimes because her next project is a tiny and unpopular series called Grey's Anatomy.

Grey's is the show that put Shonda Rhimes on the map and revived the careers of a few actors such as Patrick Dempsey. The series, now in its fourth season, attracts million of viewers weekly and even has a spin-off, Private Practice. Thanks to the success of both series (mostly Grey's), Shonda Rhimes is now a household name in the TV world.

To learn more about Shonda Rhimes, visit the following sites: Shonda Rhimes' IMDb.com page and Shonda Rhimes' Wikipedia page.