| Gail O'Grady | |
|---|---|
Gail O'Grady at the Emmy Awards in 1994 |
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| Born | Gail Ann O'Grady January 23, 1963 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Spouse | John Stamatakis (2004–2008) (divorced) 1 child Anthony J. Pellegrino (1998–2000) (divorced) Steve Fenton (1995–1996) (divorced) Jeffrey Byron (1990–1991) (divorced) Severin Wunderman (1987–1987) (divorced) Richard Dasko (1981–1983) (divorced) |
| Website | |
| http://www.gailogrady.com/ | |
Gail Ann O'Grady (born January 23, 1963) is an American television actress. She is best known for her roles as Donna Abandando on NYPD Blue and as Helen Pryor on American Dreams. She was a series regular on the The CW Comedy-drama series Hellcats, playing the mother of the Marti Perkins, called Wanda Perkins, before Hellcats was subsequently cancelled in May 2011.
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O'Grady was born in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of Jan and Jim O'Grady, a financial planner.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3] He responded by suing her for defamation, libel, and slander.[4] Married and divorced six times, O'Grady gave birth to her first child, son Michael Colton O'Grady, in 2004,named after her late brother.
O'Grady began her career making commercials. In one, she played the sexy 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]
Her first major role was as Donna Abandando on the 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. 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. She has made appearances on the hit CBS sitcom, Two and a Half Men as Mandi, Kandi's mom in "Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Burro"; and also appeared in the final episode of Designing Women, playing the trophy wife of a business rival of Judith Ivey's character, B.J. Poteet.
O'Grady found success starring in numerous television movies, including The Three Lives of Karen, Another Woman's Husband, Sex & the Single Mom, Every 9 Seconds, and Lip Service.
From 2002 to 2005, she played the mother, Helen Pryor, in the NBC television series American Dreams, which depicted an all-American family living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the 1960s. In 2007, she began a recurring role on Boston Legal as Gloria Weldon, a judge in a personal relationship with attorney Alan Shore.
She also had a supporting role on the short-lived CW teenage drama series, Hidden Palms. On September 4, 2008 Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello reported that she was joining Desperate Housewives as a guest star who is having an affair with the character Porter Scavo (at that point a teenager).[6] She has made recent appearances on The Mentalist, CSI: Miami, and Law and Order: SVU.
She is a regular character on the 2010 CW cheerleader TV series Hellcats, playing Wanda, the mother of the main character.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Matlock | Julia McCullough | 2 episodes, 1986–1990 |
| 1987 | Werewolf | Victim in VW | TV |
| Billionaire Boys Club | Judy | TV | |
| 1988 | Blackout | Caroline Boyle | aka The Attic |
| She's Having a Baby | Laura | ||
| In the Heat of the Night | Pauline Slade | 1 episode | |
| China Beach | Georgia Lee | 2 episodes | |
| 1989 | Nobody's Perfect | Shelly | |
| Superboy | Victoria Letour | 1 episode | |
| 1990 | Cheers | Laura Walton | 1 episode |
| 1990 | Anything But Love | Unknown | 1 episode |
| People Like Us | Rebecca Bailey | TV | |
| Hardball | Unknown | 1 episode | |
| Parker Kane | Cindy Ellis | TV | |
| 1991 | The Hit Man | Sara | TV |
| 1992 | Spellcaster | Jackie | |
| Murder, She Wrote | Robin Dishman | 1 episode | |
| 1993 | Time Trax | Kristen | 1 episode |
| Designing Women | Kiki Kearney | 2 episodes | |
| Silk Stalkings | Betty Whitburn-Marks | 1 episode | |
| 1994 | Burke's Law | Patricia Stone | 1 episode |
| 1995 | She Stood Alone: The Tailhook Scandal | Lt. Paula Coughlin | TV |
| Trail By Fire | Paulette Gill | TV | |
| Nothing Lasts Forever | Dr. Page Taylor | TV | |
| 1996 | The Gail O'Grady Project | Herself | TV |
| Celtic Pride | Carol O'Hara | Film | |
| Promised Land | Pam Riley | 1 episode | |
| 1997 | That Old Feeling | Rowena | Film |
| The Three Lives of Karen | Karen Winthrop/Emily Riggs/Cindy Last | TV | |
| Two Voices | Kathleen Anneken | aka Two Small Voices; TV | |
| Every 9 Seconds | Janet | TV | |
| Medusa's Child | Vivan Henry | TV | |
| 1999 | Two of Hearts | Molly Saunders | TV |
| NYPD Blue | Donna Abanando | 58 episodes; 1993–1999 | |
| Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo | Claire | Film | |
| Walking Across Egypt | Elaine Rigsbee | aka Leading with Her Heart (USA: TV title) | |
| 2000 | Sleep Easy, Hutch Rimes | Olivia Wise | |
| Another Woman's Husband | Susan Miller | TV | |
| Out of Sync | Maggie Stanley | TV; aka Lip Service | |
| 2001 | Hostage Negotiator | Thersea Foley | |
| Ally McBeal | Helena Fisher | 1 episode | |
| 2002 | Hope Ranch | June Anderson | TV Movie |
| 2003 | Lucky 7 | Rachel Myer | |
| Sex & the Single Mom | Jess Gradwell | TV Movie | |
| 2004 | The Sure Hand of God | Molly Bowser | |
| Tricks | Jane | ||
| 2005 | More Sex & the Single Mom | Jess Gradwell | TV Movie |
| American Dreams | Helen Pryor | 61 episodes; 2002–2005 | |
| Mayday | Anne Metz | ||
| Hot Properties | Ava Summerlin | 13 episodes | |
| 2006 | Two and a Half Men | Mandi | 2 episodes |
| 2007 | Hidden Palms | Karen Hardy | 8 episodes |
| Monk | Miranda St.Claire/Lovely Rita | 3 episodes; 2002–2007 | |
| While the Children Sleep | Meghan Eastman | TV Movie | |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Mrs.Rowe | 1 episode | |
| Las Vegas | Erin Hudson | 1 episode | |
| Boston Legal | Judge Gloria Weldon | 7 episodes | |
| Cane | Senator Finch | 1 episode | |
| All I Want for Christmas | Sarah Armstrong | TV Movie | |
| 2008 | The Mentalist | Juniper Tolliver | 1 episode |
| An American Carol | Jane Wagstaffe | ||
| CSI: Miami | Dr. Rachel Marsh | 1 episode | |
| Desperate Housewives | Anne Schilling | 4 episodes | |
| Empire State | Laurel Cochrane | TV Movie | |
| 2009 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Ruth Walker | 1 episode |
| The House That Jack Built | Hannah | ||
| Living Out Loud | Emily | TV Movie | |
| Ghost Whisperer | Karen Westen | 1 episode | |
| True Jackson, VP | Sophie Girard | 2 episodes | |
| Circle | Dr. Green | completed | |
| The Deep End | Susan Oppenheim | 1 episode | |
| CSI: NY | Millie Taylor | 1 episode | |
| 2010 - 2011 | Hellcats | Wanda Perkins | Main role |
| Celebrity Ghost Stories | Herself | 1 episode |