Olivia d'Abo

Olivia Jane d'Abo (/ˈdɑːboʊ/; born 22 January 1969)^[1] is an English actress, singer and songwriter. She is known for her role as Karen Arnold, Kevin Arnold's rebellious teenage hippie sister on The Wonder Years (1988–93), and recurring villain Nicole Wallace in Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Early life

D'Abo was born in London, England, the daughter of Maggie London, a model and actress, and Mike d'Abo, a singer and member of 1960s group Manfred Mann.^[2] She has an older brother, as well as two half-brothers and one half-sister: elder brother Ben, younger half-brother Bruno, and younger sibling twins Ella and Louis (born July 2007) on her father's side. Olivia and Ben both attended high school in the U.S. at Los Feliz Hills School (formerly "The Apple School") in Los Angeles and d'Abo attended Pacoima Junior High School in Pacoima, California.

She is the first cousin once removed of her father's cousin Maryam d'Abo, the actress best known for her performance as Kara Milovy in the 1987 James Bond film The Living Daylights. Olivia and Maryam bought a house together in Los Angeles when Olivia was 19.^[3]

Career

Acting career

D'Abo's film debut was in the supporting role of Princess Jehnna in Conan the Destroyer, released in June 1984. Two months later, she appeared in the supporting role of the peasant girl Paloma in Bolero (1984).

From 1988, D'Abo was in the main cast of The Wonder Years in the first four seasons. Her character, Karen Arnold, was the hippie sister. In 1992, she guest starred in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "True Q" as Amanda Rogers. As the recurring villain Nicole Wallace, she made five appearances over six years on the NBC crime-drama Law & Order: Criminal Intent. On the Sci-Fi Channel series Eureka, she has the recurring role of Abby Carter, the ex-wife of Sheriff Jack Carter.

She has had numerous supporting roles in television programmes and films, such as The Spirit of '76 (1990), Greedy (1994), The Big Green (1995), and The Twilight Zone (2002). On stage, she appeared in the 2005 Broadway production of The Odd Couple with Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane.

In animation, she is the voices of Melanie Walker/Ten in Batman Beyond (1999–2000), Star Sapphire in Justice League (2001) and Morgaine le Fey in Justice League Unlimited (2004); Tak in Invader Zim (2001–02); Jane Porter in The Legend of Tarzan; Jedi Master Luminara Unduli in Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008); Carol Ferris in Green Lantern: First Flight (2009); Sonya Blade in Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm (1996); and Natalia Romanoff in Ultimate Avengers and Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Black Panther (both 2006).

In February 2013, D'Abo began filming for Project Fedora (working title), a video game that combines live-action footage with 3D graphics.

Music career

D'Abo is a singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist.^[4] She has composed and performed for various soundtracks. Her single "Broken" is from the movie Loving Annabelle.

Her debut album Not TV was released in July 2008.^[5]

Other musical projects D'Abo has worked on include backing vocals for Julian Lennon's Help Yourself, and a duet with Seal's "Broken". She also co-wrote the song "Love Comes from the Inside" for the Italian singer Laura Pausini, which was featured on Pausini's English language debut From the Inside.

Personal life

D'Abo was engaged to actor Thomas Jane from 1998 to 2001. They worked in several projects together, including The Velocity of Gary and Jonni Nitro, of which Jane directed the last two episodes. She later married music producer and songwriter Patrick Leonard in August 2002. Leonard filed for divorce at Los Angeles County Superior Court in November 2012, citing irreconcilable differences, and revealing the couple had separated in August 2011. She has one child, Oliver, born in 1995. D'Abo also wrote and performed the title theme to Jonni Nitro. She was formerly engaged to the singer Julian Lennon.^[6]

D'Abo is the cousin of actress Maryam d'Abo.^[7]

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Theatre

References

External links

• Official website
• Olivia d'Abo at the Internet Movie Database
• Olivia d'Abo at AllMovie
• Olivia d'Abo on Twitter