Joanna P. Adler (born 1964) is an American actress, known for her roles in

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

plays. She won an

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...

in 1995. In 2014, Adler starred in the second season of the

Lifetime Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

television series '' Devious Maids''.

Life and career

Adler graduated from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts and pursued a master's degree in Performance Studies at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Before completing her thesis, she began her professional acting career working with the internationally renowned theater collaborative, Mabou Mines. She continued to work in New York City's off-Broadway theater community, most notably in the title role of Richard Foreman's Obie Award-winning play ''Benita Canova'', John Guare's ''Lydie Breeze'', and Paul Rudnick's '' The Most Fabulous Story Every Told''. She has also appeared in a number of television commercials and in several independent movies. In 1995, Adler won an Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress, for her role in the off-Broadway play ''The Boys in the Basement''. She made her Broadway debut in Terrence McNally's ''Deuce'', directed by Michael Blakemore. On television, Adler has guest-starred in '' Sex and the City'', ''

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 on ...

'', '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', takes ...

'', '' The Good Wife'', and ''The Blacklist'', and has had recurring roles on '' Gravity'', '' Are We There Yet?'', ''Orange Is The New Black'', ''Divorce'', and ''The Sinner.'' In December 2013, it was announced that Adler had been cast as a series regular for the second season of the

television comedy-drama series '' Devious Maids''. She played the role of Opal, a new maid who is secretive and conniving, reminiscent of Mrs. Danvers from Hitchcock's ''

Rebecca Rebecca, ; Syriac: , ) from the Hebrew (lit., 'connection'), from Semitic root , 'to tie, couple or join', 'to secure', or 'to snare') () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical ...

'' (1940). In 2018, she appeared in FX's '' The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story'' in a recurring role as Mary Ann Schillaci Cunanan, mother of serial killer

Andrew Cunanan Andrew Phillip Cunanan (August 31, 1969 – July 23, 1997) was an American spree killer who murdered five people over three months from April 27 to July 15, 1997. His victims include Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace and Chicago real esta ...

, who was portrayed by Darren Criss.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adler, Joanna P. Obie Award recipients American film actresses American television actresses American stage actresses Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Williams College alumni Tisch School of the Arts alumni 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 1964 births