Gail O'Grady
| Gail O'Grady | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Gail O'Grady at the Emmy Awards in 1994 | |
| Born |
Gail Ann O'Grady January 23, 1963 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Richard Dasko (1981–1983) Severin Wunderman (1987) Jeffrey Byron (1990–1991) Steve Fenton (1995–1996) Anthony J. Pellegrino (1998–2000) John Stamatakis (2004–2008) |
| Partner(s) | Chris Byers |
| Children | Michael Colton O'Grady (b. 2004)[1] |
| Website |
gailogrady |
Gail Ann O'Grady (born January 23, 1963), an American actress and producer, is best known for her roles on television. Her roles include Donna Abandando in the ABC police drama NYPD Blue, and Helen Pryor in the NBC drama series American Dreams. O'Grady is also well known for her lead roles in a number of television movies. She has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award three times.
Early life
O'Grady was born in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of Jan and Jim O'Grady, a financial planner.[2] She was raised in Wheaton, Illinois, and graduated from Wheaton North High School in 1981. She appeared in a few commercials before moving to Los Angeles in 1986.[3]
Career
O'Grady began her career as a model for Montgomery Ward and by making several commercials.[4] In one, she played the neighbor for whom Michael J. Fox's character chased down a Diet Pepsi. In time, she began making guest appearances, often as a villain.[5] She made her big screen debut in the 1988 romantic comedy She's Having a Baby, and later was cast in a recurring role on the ABC drama China Beach," opposite Dana Delany. She also guest starred on several other shows, and appeared in made for television and independent movies.
Her first major role was as Donna Abandando on the ABC police drama NYPD Blue. O'Grady played the big-haired squad secretary from 1993 to 1996, and for each year received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.[4] Along with cast, she won Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 1995.[4] O'Grady left the series in 1996, and made a pilot for her own sitcom, The Gail O'Grady Project, but the show was not picked up by any of the networks.[6]
After leaving NYPD Blue, O'Grady began starring in numerous television movies for Lifetime and other networks, including The Three Lives of Karen (1997), Two Voices (1997), Every 9 Seconds (1997), Two of Hearts (1999), Another Woman's Husband (2000), Lip Service (2000), Hostage Negotiator (2001), Hope Ranch (2002), Lucky 7 (2003), Sex and the Single Mom (2003), and More Sex & the Single Mom (2005).[7]
From 2002 to 2005, O'Grady starred as Helen Pryor, in the NBC television series American Dreams, which depicted an all-American family living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the 1960s. The series was canceled after three seasons. In fall 2005, O'Grady was lead actress in the ABC comedy series Hot Properties. The series was canceled after 13 episodes. In 2006, she guest starred on Two and a Half Men, and in 2007 had a recurring role on Boston Legal as Gloria Weldon, a judge in a personal relationship with attorney Alan Shore. Also in 2007, she starred in the Hallmark Channel movie All I Want for Christmas.[8]
O'Grady had series regular roles on the short-lived CW series, Hidden Palms as Karen Hardy in 2007, and on Hellcats, playing Wanda Perkins, the mother of the main character from 2010 to 2011. In 2008, she had a recurring role on ABC series Desperate Housewives as Anne Schilling, a woman who is having an affair with the character Porter Scavo (at that point a teenager).[9] She also has made appearances on Monk, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Mentalist, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Drop Dead Diva, Hawaii Five-0, and Castle.[10][11] She also was cast in major recurring role as Conrad's first wife on ABC primetime soap opera Revenge, opposite Madeleine Stowe.[12]
Personal life
O'Grady has been married six times.[6] After breaking up with artist Robert Claypool, she sought a restraining order against him in 1995, claiming he was stalking her, but did not obtain one.[13] He responded by suing her for defamation, libel and slander.[14] In 2004, before her sixth marriage to John Stamatkis, O'Grady gave birth to her first child with Chris Byers, son Michael Colton O'Grady, named after her late brother.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Billionaire Boys Club | Judy | Television film |
| 1988 | She's Having a Baby | Laura | |
| 1988 | Blackout | Caroline Boyle | |
| 1988 | Spellcaster | Jackie | |
| 1990 | Nobody's Perfect | Shelly | |
| 1990 | People Like Us | Rebecca Bailey | Television film |
| 1990 | Parker Kane | Cindy Ellis | Television film |
| 1991 | The Hit Man | Sara | Television film |
| 1995 | She Stood Alone: The Tailhook Scandal | Lt. Paula Coughlin | Television film |
| 1995 | Trial by Fire | Paulette Gill | Television film |
| 1995 | Nothing Lasts Forever | Dr. Page Taylor | Television film |
| 1996 | Celtic Pride | Carol O'Hara | |
| 1997 | That Old Feeling | Rowena | |
| 1997 | The Three Lives of Karen | Karen Winthrop / Emily Riggs / Cindy Last | Television film |
| 1997 | Two Voices | Kathleen Anneken | Television film |
| 1997 | Every 9 Seconds | Janet | Television film |
| 1997 | Medusa's Child | Vivian Henry | Television film |
| 1999 | Two of Hearts | Molly Saunders | Television film |
| 1999 | Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo | Claire | |
| 1999 | Walking Across Egypt | Elaine Rigsbee | |
| 2000 | Another Woman's Husband | Susan Miller | Television film |
| 2000 | Out of Sync | Maggie Stanley | Television film |
| 2001 | Hostage Negotiator | Theresa Foley | Television film |
| 2002 | Hope Ranch | June Andersen | Television film |
| 2003 | Lucky 7 | Rachel Myer | Television film |
| 2003 | Sex and the Single Mom | Jess Gradwell | Television film |
| 2004 | The Sure Hand of God | Molly Bowser | |
| 2004 | Tricks | Jane | |
| 2004 | Sleep Easy, Hutch Rimes | Olivia Wise | |
| 2005 | More Sex & the Single Mom | Jess Gradwell | Television film |
| 2005 | Mayday | Anne Metz | Television film |
| 2007 | While the Children Sleep | Meghan Eastman | Television film |
| 2007 | All I Want for Christmas | Sara Armstrong | Television film |
| 2008 | An American Carol | Jane Wagstaffe | |
| 2009 | The House That Jack Built | Hannah | |
| 2009 | Living Out Loud | Emily Marshall | Television film |
| 2010 | Circle | Dr. Green | |
| 2010 | After the Fall | Dr. Susan Miles | Television film |
| 2011 | ChromeSkull: Laid to Rest 2 | Nancy | |
| 2013 | Shadow on the Mesa | Mona Eastman | Television film |
| 2013 | The Minister's Wife (a.k.a. Sins of the Preacher) | Susan Parker | Television film |
| 2013 | The Mystery Cruise | Alvirah Meehan | Television film |
| 2014 | Enough About Jack | Gail | Television film |
| 2014 | Mothers of the Bride | Debra Wolf | |
| 2015 | Justice Served | Dr. Helen Florentine | Post-production |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986–1990 | Matlock | Julia McCullough | 2 episodes |
| 1987 | Werewolf | Victim in VW | Episode: "Werewolf" |
| 1988 | In the Heat of the Night | Pauline Slade | Episode: "Road Kill" |
| 1988 | China Beach | Georgia Lee | Episodes: "Pilot" and "Chao Ong" |
| 1989 | Superboy | Victoria Letour | Episode: "Hollywood" |
| 1990 | Cheers | Laura Walton | Episode: "Finally!: Part 1" |
| 1990 | Anything But Love | N/A | Episode: "Three Men on a Match" |
| 1990 | Hardball | N/A | Episode: "Prescription for Murder" |
| 1992 | Murder, She Wrote | Robin Dishman | Episode: "Badge of Honor" |
| 1993 | Time Trax | Kristen | Episode: "Fire and Ice " |
| 1993 | Designing Women | Kiki Kearney | 2 episodes |
| 1993 | Silk Stalkings | Betty Whitburn-Marks | Episode: "Crime of Love" |
| 1994 | Burke's Law | Patricia Stone | Episode: "Who Killed the Anchorman?" |
| 1996 | Promised Land | Pam Riley | Episode: "The Prodigy" |
| 1993–1999 | NYPD Blue | Donna Abandando | 51 episodes Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (1994–96) Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (1996–97) Nominated—Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Drama Series |
| 1996 | The Gail O'Grady Show | Gail | Unsold TV pilot |
| 2001 | Ally McBeal | Helena Fisher | Episode: "Home Again" |
| 2002–2005 | American Dreams | Helen Pryor | 61 episodes |
| 2002 | Monk | Miranda St. Claire | 2 episodes |
| 2005 | Hot Properties | Ava Summerlin | 13 episodes |
| 2006 | Two and a Half Men | Mandi | 2 episodes |
| 2007 | Hidden Palms | Karen Hardy | 8 episodes |
| 2007 | Monk | Lovely Rita | Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Birds and the Bees" |
| 2007 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Mrs. Towne | Episode: "The Case of the Cross-Dressing Carp " |
| 2007 | Las Vegas | Erin Hudson | Episode: "It's Not Easy Being Green" |
| 2007 | Boston Legal | Judge Gloria Weldon | 7 episodes |
| 2007 | Cane | Senator Finch | Episode: "The Exile" |
| 2008 | The Mentalist | Juniper Tolliver | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2008 | CSI: Miami | Dr. Rachel Marsh | Episode: "And How Does That Make You Kill?" |
| 2008 | Desperate Housewives | Anne Schilling | 4 episodes |
| 2009 | Empire State | Laurel Cochrane | Unsold TV pilot |
| 2009 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Ruth Walker | Episode: "Selfish" |
| 2009 | Ghost Whisperer | Karen Westen | Episode: "Endless Love" |
| 2009 | True Jackson, VP | Sophie Girard | Episode: "Back to School" |
| 2009 | CSI: NY | Millie Taylor | Episode: "Blacklist" |
| 2010 | The Forgotten | Kerry Denver | Episode: "My John" |
| 2010 | Drop Dead Diva | Mrs. Thomas | Episode: "Bad Girls" |
| 2010 | The Deep End | Susan Oppenheim | Unsold TV pilot |
| 2010–2011 | Hellcats | Wanda Perkins | 18 episodes |
| 2011 | Memphis Beat | Chloe Archer | Episode: "Ten Little Memphians" |
| 2011 | Necessary Roughness | Anne Marie | Episode: "Baggage Claim" |
| 2011 | Hawaii Five-0 | Sharon Archer | Episode: "Alaheo Pau'ole" |
| 2013 | Castle | Margo Gower | Episode: "Reality Star Struck" |
| 2013 | Rules of Engagement | Joan | Episode: "Cupcake" |
| 2013 | Major Crimes | Anne Brand | Episode: "Boys Will Be Boys" |
| 2013 | The Crazy Ones | Hannah Sharples | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2014–2015 | Revenge | Stevie Grayson | 11 episodes |
| 2015 | Code Black | Margaret O'Brien | Episode: "Pre-Existing Conditions" |
References
- ↑ http://www.nndb.com/people/377/000110047/
- ↑ Gail O'Grady Biography (1963-)
- ↑ Dan Snierson, A Siren of Substance; Entertainment Weekly, October 7, 1994.
- 1 2 3 "Gail O'Grady Biography". Tvguide.com. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
- ↑ Dan Snierson, A Siren of Substance, Entertainment Weekly, October 7, 1994.
- 1 2 "Gail O'Grady Biography". Buddytv.com. 1963-01-23. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
- ↑ "Shows A-Z - more sex and the single mom on lifetime". TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
- ↑ "Trio gets 'Christmas' wish". The Hollywood Reporter. 2007-09-25. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
- ↑ TV Exclusive: 'Desperate Housewives' Welcomes Gail O'Grady!
- ↑ Sa'ad702 (2012-12-13). "Gail O'Grady to Play Wife of Wall Street on Castle". TV Fanatic. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
- ↑ ' + data.results.personName + ' (2013-02-11). "'Castle' interview: Gail O'Grady talks about going full-'Housewives' in 'Reality Star Struck' - Zap2it". Blog.zap2it.com. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
- ↑ "Revenge Casting Scoop: NYPD Blue Star to Play Conrad's First Wife With Secrets That Will Blow You Away | E! Online UK". Eonline.com. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
- ↑ Gail O'Grady, tv.com.
- ↑ MONITOR, Entertainment Weekly, April 14, 1995.
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