Dana Delany

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Dana Delany

Dana Delany winning the Emmy for China Beach at the 41st Emmy Awards
Born March 13, 1956 (1956-03-13) (age 52)
New York City, U.S.
Official website

Dana Welles Delany (born March 13, 1956) is an American film, stage, and television actress. Known especially for her two-time Emmy Award winning performance as Colleen McMurphy on the ABC television show China Beach (1988–91) and for her role as Katherine Mayfair on Desperate Housewives (2007-), Delany has been active in film, television, and stage since the late 1970s.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Delany was born in New York City. After growing up in Stamford, Connecticut, she attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, then Wesleyan University.

She was cast as Colleen McMurphy on China Beach, airing from 1988 to 1991, which brought intense media attention to the actress. This role not only garnered two Emmy Awards, but two other Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe nominations.

In 1990, she was featured on the hard to find China Beach soundtrack album "Music & Memories" singing the song "Far From Home."

Leveraging this newfound fame, she appeared in feature films such as Light Sleeper (1992), Housesitter (1992), Tombstone (1993), and Fly Away Home (1996), plus TV movies such as Promise to Keep (1991) and Wild Palms (1993).

She took on controversial roles, such as Margaret Sanger in the TV movie Choices of the Heart (1995), Mistress Lisa in the 1994 feature film Exit to Eden (adapted from the Anne Rice book), and an Emmy-nominated role as a gun-owning mother in an episode of the TV series Family Law (1999) (which was not rerun, due to sponsorship withdrawal).

Delany provided voiceover work as Andrea Beaumont in the 1993 animated feature Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Lois Lane in the Warner Bros. animated production of Superman, starting in the mid-1990s and continuing through 2005. She was also mentioned by name in the theme song of Animaniacs, another Warner Bros. production.

During the latter part of the 1990s and early 2000s, she focused on roles in TV series, such as the short-lived Pasadena (2001) and Presidio Med (2002); TV movies like True Women (1997), Resurrection (1999), A Time to Remember (2003), and Baby for Sale (2004); and feature films by indie film producers, such as The Outfitters (1999), Mother Ghost (2002), and Spin (2003).

During this period, she found time to get back to the stage, on and off Broadway, in Translations (1995, Broadway), Dinner With Friends (2000, New York City, Los Angeles, Boston), and Much Ado About Nothing (2003, San Diego).

From 2004 to 2006, Delany played many guest roles on TV shows, such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Boston Legal, Kojak, Related, The L Word, and Battlestar Galactica. Dana also starred in the short-lived TV series Kidnapped (2006).

In 2007, Delany took parts in the films A Beautiful Life, Camp Hope, and Multiple Sarcasms. She then joined the cast of the TV series Desperate Housewives[1] for the 2007–08 season. (Delany had previously turned down an offer to play Desperate Housewives character Bree Hodge, saying it was too similar to her role on Pasadena [2] )

[edit] Personal and public life

Since the mid-1990s, Delany has served on the board of the Scleroderma Research Foundation, and with her friend Sharon Monsky, she helped campaign for support in finding a cure for scleroderma. Working with director Bob Saget, Dana starred in the TV movie For Hope (1996), based on Saget's sister Gay, who had died as a result of the disease.

Since the mid-1990s, she has had a notable World Wide Web presence. She has participated in several online chat events promoting various projects. Her Official Web Site, online since 1996, includes a guestbook in which she participates.

[edit] Filmography

Year Title Role
1981 The Fan Saleswoman
1984 Almost You Susan McCall
1984 Threesome Laura Shaper
1986 A Winner Never Quits Nora
1986 Where the River Runs Black Sister Ana
1988 Patty Hearst Gelina
1988 Masquerade Anne Briscoe
1988 Moon over Parador Jenny
1990 A Promise to Keep Jane Goodrich
1992 Light Sleeper Marianne
1992 Housesitter Becky Metcalf
1993 Wild Palms Grace Wyckoff
1993 Donato and Daughter Lieutenant Dena Donato
1993 Tombstone Josephine Marcus
1993 Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Andrea Beaumont
1994 The Enemy Within Betsy Corcoran
1994 Exit to Eden Lisa Emerson
1995 Choices of the Heart: The Margaret Sanger Story Margaret Sanger
1995 Live Nude Girls Jill
1996 Superman: The Animated Series Lois Lane
1996 Fly Away Home Susan Barnes
1996 The Adventures of Mowgli Bagheera (voice) [English version]
1996 For Hope Hope Altman
1997 True Women Sarah Ashby McClure
1998 Wide Awake Mrs. Beal
1998 The Curve Dr. Ashley
1998 Rescuers: Stories of Courage — Two Couples Johtje Vos
1998 The Patron Saint of Liars Rose Cleardon Abbott
1999 Outfitters Cat Bonfaim
1999 Sirens Sally Rawlings
2000 The Right Temptation Anthea Farrow-Smith
2001 Final Jeopardy Alexandra Cooper
2002 Conviction Martha
2003 Intimate Portrait: Dana Delany Herself
2003 Justice League: "Hereafter," Part 1 Lois Lane (voice)
2003 Justice League: "Only a Dream," Part 2 Lois Lane (voice)
2003 Justice League: "A Better World," Part 1 Lois Lane (voice)
2004 Baby for Sale Nathalie Johnson
2004 Justice League Unlimited: "For the Man who has Everything" Loana (voice)
2004 Spin Margaret Swift-Bejarano
2006 Battlestar Galactica Sesha Abinell
2006 Superman: Brainiac Attacks Lois Lane
2006 The Woman with the Hungry Eyes Theda Bara (voice)
2006 Kidnapped Ellie Cain
2007 The Batman Lois Lane
2007–present Desperate Housewives Katherine Mayfair
2008 Drunkboat Eileen
2008 Multiple Sarcasms Annie
2008 A Beautiful Life Anne
2008 Camp Hope Patricia
2008 Route 30 Amish Martha

[edit] References

  1. ^ ", TV Squad, July 27, 2007
  2. ^ In Step With...Dana Delany | PARADE Magazine

[edit] External links

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Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Drama Series

Michael Learned (1976) · Lindsay Wagner (1977) · Sada Thompson (1978) · Mariette Hartley (1979) · Barbara Bel Geddes (1980) · Barbara Babcock (1981) · Michael Learned (1982) · Tyne Daly (1983) · Tyne Daly (1984) · Tyne Daly (1985) · Sharon Gless (1986) · Sharon Gless (1987) · Tyne Daly (1988) · Dana Delany (1989) · Patricia Wettig (1990) · Patricia Wettig (1991) · Dana Delany (1992) · Kathy Baker (1993) · Sela Ward (1994) · Kathy Baker (1995) · Kathy Baker (1996) · Gillian Anderson (1997) · Christine Lahti (1998) · Edie Falco (1999) · Sela Ward (2000)