Debra Monk (born February 27, 1949) is an American actress, singer, and writer, best known for her performances on the

Broadway stage Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

. She earned her first

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for the 1993 production of ''

Redwood Curtain ''Redwood Curtain'' is a 1995 American dramatic TV movie created by Hallmark Hall of Fame, and directed by John Korty based upon the 1993 Broadway play of the same name by Lanford Wilson. Starring Jeff Daniels, Lea Salonga, Debra Monk and John ...

'' and won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for several guest appearances on '' NYPD Blue'' between 1998 and 1999.

Life and career

Monk was born in Middletown, Ohio on February 27, 1949. She was voted "Best Personality" by her graduating class at Wheaton High School in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, in practice it is an edge cit ...

. In 1973, she graduated from

Frostburg State University Frostburg State University (FSU) is a public university in Frostburg, Maryland. The university is the only four-year institution of the University System of Maryland west of the Baltimore-Washington passageway in the state's Appalachian highla ...

. In 1975, Monk was awarded a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts a ...

from

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = " The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , pr ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Monk garnered first attention in theatrical circles as one of the co-writers and co-stars of the musical ''

Pump Boys and Dinettes ''Pump Boys and Dinettes'' is a musical written by a performance group of the same name. The group, Pump Boys and Dinettes, consists of John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Schimmel and Jim Wann. The members directed and sta ...

'' (1982). She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for performance in ''

'' (1993). She was nominated for a Tony Award for roles in '' Picnic'' (1994), '' Steel Pier'' (1997), and '' Curtains'' (2007). In 2000, she won an Obie Award for '' The Time of the Cuckoo''. She returned to the stage in Steppenwolf Theatre Company's production of ''Visiting Edna'' by David Rabe in September 2016. Monk appeared on the Food Channel cooking show '' Barefoot Contessa'', where she cooked Roasted Chicken, Arugula and Bread Salad, and Tri-Berry Crumble."Cooking for Jeffrey: Dinner Party 101, Season 12, Episode 6"
foodnetwork.com, retrieved February 5, 2018 Monk has appeared in over 30 films since the early 1990s. She made her film debut in the movie version of '' Prelude to a Kiss'', playing Aunt Dorothy. She later appeared in ''

The Bridges of Madison County ''The Bridges of Madison County'' (also published as ''Love in Black and White'') is a 1992 best-selling romance novel by American writer Robert James Waller that tells the story of a married Italian-American woman ( WWII war bride) living on ...

'' (1995) and '' The Devil's Advocate'' (1997). On television, she has won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for a recurring role as Katie Sipowicz in the ABC series, '' NYPD Blue''. She also guest-starred on ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering o ...

'', '' Desperate Housewives'', ''

The Closer ''The Closer'' is an American television police procedural starring Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Los Angeles Police Department deputy chief. A CIA-trained interrogator originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Brenda has a reputation as a cl ...

'', and '' Girls''. Monk had recurring roles in '' A Nero Wolfe Mystery'' (2001-02), ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into ...

'' (2006-11), and ''

Damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised a ...

'' (2007-12).

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Broadway

* ''

'' - 1982 (also co-author and co-director) * '' Prelude to a Kiss'' - 1990 * '' Nick & Nora'' - 1991 * ''

'' - 1993 -

* '' Picnic'' - 1994 - Tony Award nomination * '' Company'' - 1995 * '' Steel Pier'' - 1997 - Tony Award nomination * ''

Ah, Wilderness! ''Ah, Wilderness!'' is a comedy by American playwright Eugene O'Neill that premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on October 2, 1933. It differs from a typical O'Neill play in its happy ending for the central character, and depiction of a ...

'' - 1998 * '' Thou Shalt Not'' - 2001 * ''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

'' - 2005 * '' Curtains'' - 2007 - Tony Award nomination * '' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' - 2012

Off-Broadway

* '' The Time of the Cuckoo'' - Obie Award * ''Ancestral Voices'' * ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' ( rus, Ча́йка, r=Cháyka, links=no) is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramatises ...

'' * ''

Death Defying Acts ''Death Defying Acts'' is a 2007 supernatural romance film, directed by Gillian Armstrong, and starring Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It concerns an episode in the life of Hungarian-American escapologist Harry Houdini at the height of hi ...

'' * ''Three Hotels'' * ''

Oil City Symphony ''Oil City Symphony'' is a musical with a book by Mike Craver, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, and Mary Murfitt and songs by various composers. It is a recreation of a recital by four middle-aged amateur musicians who have reunited in the auditorium o ...

'' - 1986 (co-author,

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

) * ''

Assassins An assassin is a person who commits targeted murder. Assassin may also refer to: Origin of term * Someone belonging to the medieval Persian Ismaili order of Assassins Animals and insects * Assassin bugs, a genus in the family ''Reduviid ...

'' - 1990

References

External links

* * *
archive

Star File: Debra Monk
at Broadway.com * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Monk, Debra 1949 births Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Maryland Actresses from Ohio American film actresses American musical theatre actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Tony Award winners Primetime Emmy Award winners Drama Desk Award winners Obie Award recipients People from Middletown, Ohio People from Silver Spring, Maryland Frostburg State University alumni Southern Methodist University alumni