Jessica Collins (born Jessica Lynn Capogna; April 1, 1971) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Dinah Lee Mayberry on the ABC soap opera '' Loving'' (1991–1994) and

Avery Bailey Clark Avery Bailey Clark is a fictional character from the American CBS Daytime soap opera, ''The Young and the Restless'', portrayed by actress Jessica Collins. She made her appearance as Avery on July 27, 2011, as a high-class attorney. Avery first c ...

on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

soap opera ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, ...

'' (2011–2015), for which she won a

Daytime Emmy The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (N ...

. She also starred as Meredith Davies on Fox's ''

Tru Calling ''Tru Calling'' is an American supernatural drama television series that aired on Fox. Original episodes aired between October 30, 2003, and April 21, 2005; however, the final episode was shown in other territories before it was aired in the Unit ...

'', and appeared in recurring and guest roles in many other shows.

Early life

Collins was born in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

. She attended Amsterdam High School in

Amsterdam, New York Amsterdam is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Montgomery County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 18,219. The city is named after Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The City of Amste ...

. In 1988, she won the title

Miss New York Teen USA The Miss New York Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of New York in the Miss Teen USA pageant. It is directed by D&D Productions. In 1983, New York became the 1st state ever that won the Miss T ...

and was the first runner-up for the

Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant formerly run, since 1983, by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. Unlike its sister pageants Miss Universe, which currently broadcasts on Fox and Miss USA, this pageant is webcast on the M ...

Pageant in that same year. Collins later attended London's Royal National Theatre Studio and the Howard Fine Acting Studio in Los Angeles.

Career

Collins starred in ABC daytime soap opera '' Loving'' as Dinah Lee Mayberry from 1991 to 1994. After leaving daytime, Collins appeared in the films '' Leprechaun 4: In Space'' (1996), '' Best of the Best: Without Warning'' (1998), and ''

Beautiful Beautiful, an adjective used to describe things as possessing beauty, may refer to: Film and theater * ''Beautiful'' (2000 film), an American film directed by Sally Field * ''Beautiful'' (2008 film), a South Korean film directed by Juhn Jai-h ...

'' (2000), and guest-starred in primetime shows such as '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'', '' Star Trek: Voyager'', '' Beverly Hills 90210'', and ''

Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...

''. Collins played Meredith Davies on the

Fox Network The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations ...

's ''

'' from 2003 to 2004. She had a major recurring role in the NBC period drama, ''

American Dreams ''American Dreams'' is an American drama television series that ran on NBC for three seasons & 61 episodes, from September 29, 2002, to March 30, 2005. The show tells the story of the Pryor family of Philadelphia during the mid-1960s, with many ...

'', and later appeared in the short-lived series ''

Unscripted ''Unscripted'' is an American comedy-drama series that aired on HBO in early 2005. The series was largely improvised by its performers. It was executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, George Clooney, and Grant Heslov. ''Unscripted'' is the se ...

'' and '' Scoundrels''. She also starred in the short-lived ABC comedy-drama '' Big Shots'' from 2007 to 2008. In film, Collins played roles in ''

Ritual A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized ...

'' (2002), ''

Catch Me If You Can ''Catch Me If You Can'' is a 2002 American Biographical film, biographical crime film, crime Comedy drama, comedy-drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks with Christopher Walken, Martin ...

'' (2002), '' Dirty Love'' (2005), '' Live!'' (2007), and '' Open House'' (2010). Her other television credits include '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', ''

Two and a Half Men ''Two and a Half Men'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS for twelve seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. Originally starring Charlie Sheen in the lead role alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, t ...

'', ''

Nip/Tuck ''Nip/Tuck'' is an American medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on FX in the United States from July 22, 2003, to March 3, 2010. The series, which also incorporates elements of crime drama, black comedy, family dra ...

'', ''

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' is an American sitcom created by Rob McElhenney and developed by McElhenney and Glenn Howerton that premiered on August 4, 2005 on FX and later FXX beginning with the ninth season in 2013. It stars Char ...

'', and '' NCIS''. In 2011, Collins returned to soaps with a role as

's ''

''. In 2013 and 2016, she was nominated for

Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series is an award presented annually by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given to honor an ...

for her role, winning in 2016. In May 2015, ''

Soap Opera Digest ''Soap Opera Digest'' is a weekly magazine covering American daytime soap operas. It features onscreen and offscreen news about the series, interviews with and articles about performers, storyline summaries and analysis, and related promotional in ...

'' reported that Collins was leaving the show, with Avery's last appearance airing on July 21, 2015. Collins guest-starred on '' 9-1-1'' and ''

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 s ...

'' and in 2019 starred in an episode entitled "Cracker Jack" of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

anthology series, ''

Dolly Parton's Heartstrings ''Dolly Parton's Heartstrings'', or simply ''Heartstrings'', is an American anthology dramedy streaming television series that premiered on November 22, 2019 on Netflix. Premise ''Dolly Parton's Heartstrings'' showcases "the stories, memories ...

''. In 2021, she began starring in the

Apple TV+ Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...

comedy series, '' Acapulco''.

Personal life

Collins married Robert Tyler, her co-star from ''Loving'', on November 11, 1996. The couple divorced February 15, 2002, citing irreconcilable differences. On May 4, 2016, she married writer and producer

Michael Cooney Michael Cooney (born 1943, Carmel, California, United States) is an American folk and blues musician who performed in the 1960s folk revival. He is known for his blues performances as well as for performing at, and organizing, many folk festival ...

. She and Cooney have a daughter, born in January 2016.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* *
Jessica Collins
a
TV.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Jessica 1971 births American television actresses American film actresses 20th-century Miss Teen USA delegates Actors from Schenectady, New York Living people Actresses from New York (state) American soap opera actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Daytime Emmy Award winners Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series winners