Lori Petty (born October 14, 1963) is an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She is noted for her roles in the films ''

Point Break ''Point Break'' is a 1991 American action crime film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by W. Peter Iliff. It stars Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty and Gary Busey. The film's title refers to the surfing term " point break", wher ...

'' (1991), ''

A League of Their Own ''A League of Their Own'' is a 1992 American sports comedy-drama film directed by Penny Marshall that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). The film stars Tom Hanks, Geena ...

'' (1992), ''

Free Willy ''Free Willy'' is a 1993 American family drama film, directed by Simon Wincer, produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and Jennie Lew Tugend, written by Keith A. Walker and Corey Blechman from a story by Walker and distributed by Warner Bros. Picture ...

'' (1993), and the title role in ''

Tank Girl ''Tank Girl'' is a British comic book character created by Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett, and first appeared in print in 1988 in the British comics magazine ''Deadline''. After a period of intense popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, ...

'' (1995). Petty joined 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 fil ...

original series ''

Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama streaming television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Wo ...

'' as Lolly Whitehill as a guest star in the second season, and a recurring character in the third, fourth and seventh seasons.

Early life

Petty, the eldest of three children, was born in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

, the daughter of a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

minister. She graduated from North High School in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...

, in 1981, and worked for several years in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, as a

graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...

before pursuing acting.

Career

Petty got her break starring with

Richard Grieco Richard John Grieco Jr. (born March 23, 1965) is an American actor and former fashion model. He played Detective Dennis Booker in the popular Fox series ''21 Jump Street'' (1988–89) and its spin-off ''Booker'' (1989–90). He has also starre ...

in Fox's '' Booker''. In 1990, Petty made her film debut as

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

's wannabe fashion designer girlfriend in ''

Cadillac Man ''Cadillac Man'' is a 1990 American black comedy film directed by Roger Donaldson, starring Robin Williams and Tim Robbins. The plot of the film centers on car salesman Joey O'Brien (Williams) whose life is consumed by turmoil, which all comes ...

''. The following year, Petty played the surfer who taught

Keanu Reeves Keanu Charles Reeves ( ; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor. Born in Beirut and raised in Toronto, Reeves began acting in theatre productions and in television films before making his feature film debut in '' Youngblood'' (1986). ...

how to surf in the 1991 action thriller ''

''. In 1992, Petty was featured in ''

'', opposite

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

Geena Davis Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis (born January 21, 1956) is an American actor

, and

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

. She played the title role in the film adaptation of the British cult comic book ''

'' in 1995. Her other films include ''

'', ''

The Poker House ''The Poker House'', subsequently retitled as ''Behind Closed Doors'', is a 2008 American independent drama film written and directed by Lori Petty, in her directorial debut. Based on Petty's early life during the 1970s, the film depicts a painfu ...

'', and '' In the Army Now''. She also co-starred in the television series '' Lush Life'' with her friend

Karyn Parsons Karyn Parsons Rockwell (born October 8, 1966) is an American actress, author and comedian. She is best known for her role as Hilary Banks on the NBC sitcom ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' from 1990 to 1996. Parsons also starred in the 1995 film ' ...

, but it was cancelled after five episodes. She joined the cast of '' Brimstone'' as the owner of Stone's hotel. Petty also provided the voice of the

supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are oft ...

Livewire on the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

series '' Superman: The Animated Series'', and ''

The New Batman Adventures ''The New Batman Adventures'' (often shortened as ''TNBA'') is an American superhero animated television series based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, which aired on Kids' WB from September 13, 1997 to January 16, 1999. Produced by Warner Bro ...

''. Although she was originally cast as Lt. Lenina Huxley in '' Demolition Man'', disagreements over the character's direction led producer

Joel Silver Joel Silver (born July 14, 1952) is an American film producer. Life and career Silver was born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of a writer and a public relations executive. His family is Jewish. He attended Columbia High School i ...

to recast the role with

Sandra Bullock Sandra Annette Bullock (; born July 26, 1964) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Sandra Bullock, various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, Bullock was ...

. Petty played the role of "Daddy", an

alpha female Marie Kristin Gabert (June 4, 1982) is a German professional wrestler and former professional powerlifter, strongwoman, bodybuilder, and mixed martial artist under the names Alpha Female and Jazzy Gabert. She is best known on the independent scene ...

inmate, in '' Prison Break: The Final Break''. She starred in a series of

television commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

created by Merkley Newman Harty's Steve Bowen for the

National Thoroughbred Racing Association The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) is a broad-based coalition of American horse racing interests consisting of leading thoroughbred racetracks, owners, breeders, trainers and affiliated horse racing associations, charged with incr ...

's "Go, Baby, Go"

advertising campaign An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ideas, beliefs, and conc ...

in 1998. Petty's directorial debut, ''

''—a film dramatizing her own difficult childhood—won awards at the

Los Angeles Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episod ...

. She narrated the first three books of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series—''

One for the Money "One for the Money" is an English-language children's rhyme. Children have used it as early as the 1820s to count before starting a race or other activity. The full rhyme reads as: One for the money, Two for the show; Three to make ready, And f ...

'', ''

Two for the Dough ''Two for the Dough'', published in 1996 in literature, 1996, is the second novel by Janet Evanovich featuring the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. Like others in the Stephanie Plum series, ''Two for the Dough'' was a best-seller, spending 36 weeks o ...

'', and '' Three to Get Deadly''. C. J. Critt read the unabridged version for Recorded Books. Petty read the abridgments for Simon & Schuster. She currently stars in '' Station Eleven'' on HBO as of 2021.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petty, Lori 1963 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actors from Sioux City, Iowa Actors from Iowa City, Iowa Actresses from Iowa Actresses from Tennessee American film actresses American television actresses American voice actresses Living people People from Chattanooga, Tennessee Writers from Sioux City, Iowa