Patricia Anne Wettig (born December 4, 1951) is an American actress and playwright.
She is best known for her role as Nancy Weston in the television series ''
Thirtysomething
''Thirtysomething'' is an American drama television series created by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz for United Artists Television (under MGM/UA Television) and aired on ABC from September 29, 1987, to May 28, 1991."The 'don't trust anyo ...
'' (1987–1991), for which she received a
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
and three
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
s.
After her breakthrough role in ''Thirtysomething'', Wettig has appeared in a number of films, including ''
Guilty by Suspicion
''Guilty by Suspicion'' is a 1991 American drama film about the Hollywood blacklist, McCarthyism, and the activities of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Written and directed by Irwin Winkler, it stars Robert De Niro, Annette Bening, an ...
'' (1991), ''
City Slickers
''City Slickers'' is a 1991 American comedy film, directed by Ron Underwood and starring Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby, and Jack Palance, with supporting roles by Patricia Wettig, Helen Slater, and Noble Willingham with Jake Gyllen ...
'' (1991), ''
City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold'' (1994), and ''
The Langoliers'' (1995). She returned to television playing a leading role in the 1995 short-lived drama ''
Courthouse
A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...
'' and later played
Caroline Reynolds
This is a list of characters in the American television series '' Prison Break''. The characters are listed alphabetically by their last name or by the name which appears in the episode credits.
Overview
: = Main cast (credited)
: = Recurri ...
in the Fox drama ''
Prison Break
''Prison Break'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial drama television show, television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The series revolves around two brothers, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purce ...
'' (2005–2007) and
Holly Harper
Holly Harper is a fictional character on the ABC television series '' Brothers & Sisters''. She is portrayed by Patricia Wettig.
Character history
Background
Holly was William Walker's mistress for over 20 years who lived in a house purchase ...
in the ABC family drama ''
Brothers & Sisters'' (2006–2011).
Early life
Wettig was born in
Milford, Ohio
Milford is a city in Clermont and Hamilton counties founded in 1796, in the U.S. state of Ohio, along the Little Miami River and its East Fork in the southwestern part of the state. It is a part of the Greater Cincinnati metropolitan area. The ...
, to Florence (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Morlock) and Clifford Neal Wettig, a high school basketball coach. She has three sisters: Pam, Phyllis, and Peggy. She was raised in
Grove City, Pennsylvania
Grove City is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in southeastern Mercer County, Pennsylvania, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States, located approximately north of Pittsburgh and south of Erie, Pennsylvania, Erie. At the 2020 United States Ce ...
and graduated in 1970. She attended
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consortium ...
and graduated from
Temple University
Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...
in 1975. She returned to her studies later in life and received 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 admini ...
in playwriting from
Smith College
Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...
in 2001.
''F2M'', a play she authored, was performed in 2011 as part of the New York Stage and Film and Vassar College's 2011
Powerhouse Theater season.
Career
Wettig began her career on stage and worked as a personal dresser for
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine (born Shirley MacLean Beaty, April 24, 1934) is an American actress, author, and former dancer. Known for her portrayals of quirky, strong-willed and eccentric women, MacLaine has received numerous accolades over her seven-dec ...
. On television, she appeared in episodes of 1980s dramas ''
Remington Steele
''Remington Steele'' is an American television series co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from Oc ...
'', ''
Hill Street Blues
''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...
'' and ''
L.A. Law
''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series that ran for eight seasons on NBC, from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994.
Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it centers on the partners, associates and staff of a Los ...
'', before taking a recurring role as Joanne McFadden in the NBC medical drama series ''
St. Elsewhere'' from 1986 to 1987.
Later in 1987, Wettig was cast as Nancy Weston in the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
drama series ''
thirtysomething
''Thirtysomething'' is an American drama television series created by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz for United Artists Television (under MGM/UA Television) and aired on ABC from September 29, 1987, to May 28, 1991."The 'don't trust anyo ...
''.
![Patricia Wettig & Ken Olin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Patricia_Wettig_%26_Ken_Olin.jpg)
For her role in ''Thirtysomething'', Wettig received critical acclaim. Her portrayal of Nancy's
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
struggle attracted considerable acclaim and attention. She won three
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
s: for
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre-, or even gender-, specific. Begin ...
in 1988, and for
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1990 and 1991.
In 1991, she won
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama
The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama is a Golden Globe Award presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). The award honors the best performance by an actress in a drama television series.
I ...
. The series ended in 1991 after four seasons. Later that year, she made her big screen debut in the drama film ''
Guilty by Suspicion
''Guilty by Suspicion'' is a 1991 American drama film about the Hollywood blacklist, McCarthyism, and the activities of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Written and directed by Irwin Winkler, it stars Robert De Niro, Annette Bening, an ...
'' starring opposite
Robert De Niro
Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...
and
Annette Bening
Annette Carol Bening (born May 29, 1958) is an American actress. She has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over four decades, including a British Academy Film Award and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominat ...
. She played
Billy Crystal
William Edward Crystal (born March 14, 1948)On page 17 of his book ''700 Sundays'', Crystal displays his birth announcement, which gives his first two names as "William Edward", not "William Jacob" is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. ...
's wife in the comedy films ''
City Slickers
''City Slickers'' is a 1991 American comedy film, directed by Ron Underwood and starring Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby, and Jack Palance, with supporting roles by Patricia Wettig, Helen Slater, and Noble Willingham with Jake Gyllen ...
'' (1991) and ''
City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold'' (1994). In 1993, she had a leading role in the comedy-drama film ''
Me and Veronica
''Me and Veronica'' is a 1992 American drama film directed by Don Scardino (in his feature directorial debut), written by Leslie Lyles, and starring Elizabeth McGovern, Patricia Wettig and Michael O'Keefe.
Plot
Cast
*Elizabeth McGovern as Fa ...
'' .
Wettig has starred in a number of made-for-television movies, include ''
Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story'' (1992) and ''
Parallel Lives
Plutarch's ''Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans'', commonly called ''Parallel Lives'' or ''Plutarch's Lives'', is a series of 48 biographies of famous men, arranged in pairs to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings, probably writt ...
'' (1994). She played the role of Laurel Stevenson in the 1995
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...
's miniseries ''
The Langoliers''. Later in 1995, she returned to television with a leading role of tough female judge in the CBS drama series ''
Courthouse
A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...
''. Wettig intended to leave the show due to "creative differences", with sources saying that she wanted the show to be more of a
star vehicle
In the motion picture industry, a star vehicle (or simply vehicle) is a film written or produced for a specific star, regardless of whether the motive is to further their career or simply to profit from their current popularity. It is designed to ...
for her, rather than an ensemble cast, but the show was cancelled before her character could be written out.
In 2002, Wettig was a regular cast member in the short-lived Bravo drama series ''
Breaking News
Breaking news, interchangeably termed late-breaking news and also known as a special report or special coverage or news flash, is a current issue that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming or current news in orde ...
''. From 2002 to 2004, she played the recurring role of
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
psychotherapist
Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...
Dr. Judy Barnett on ''
Alias
Alias may refer to:
* Pseudonym
* Pen name
* Nickname
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Alias'' (2013 film), a 2013 Canadian documentary film
* ''Alias'' (TV series), an American action thriller series 2001–2006
* ''Alias the ...
'' (on which her husband was an executive producer and director). From 2005 to 2007, Wettig appeared in 18 episodes of
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
television drama, ''
Prison Break
''Prison Break'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial drama television show, television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The series revolves around two brothers, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purce ...
'', playing fictional
Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
Caroline Reynolds
This is a list of characters in the American television series '' Prison Break''. The characters are listed alphabetically by their last name or by the name which appears in the episode credits.
Overview
: = Main cast (credited)
: = Recurri ...
. She turned down Fox's offer of becoming a series regular on ''Prison Break'' in order to pursue the ABC comedy-drama series ''
Brothers & Sisters'', which debuted in September 2006. Wettig starred in the series as the Walker family patriarch's mistress,
Holly Harper
Holly Harper is a fictional character on the ABC television series '' Brothers & Sisters''. She is portrayed by Patricia Wettig.
Character history
Background
Holly was William Walker's mistress for over 20 years who lived in a house purchase ...
. She left the show midway through the show's fifth and final season after her character executive ''
Holly Harper
Holly Harper is a fictional character on the ABC television series '' Brothers & Sisters''. She is portrayed by Patricia Wettig.
Character history
Background
Holly was William Walker's mistress for over 20 years who lived in a house purchase ...
'' followed her daughter to New York along with her fiancé David played by real life husband
Ken Olin
Kenneth Edward Olin (born July 30, 1954) is an American actor, television director, and producer. He is known for his role as Michael Steadman in the ABC drama series ''Thirtysomething'' (1987–1991), for which he received a Golden Globe Award ...
.
In 2012, Wettig joined the national tour for
Larry Kramer
Laurence David Kramer (June 25, 1935May 27, 2020) was an American playwright, author, film producer, public health advocate, and gay rights activist. He began his career rewriting scripts while working for Columbia Pictures, which led him to Lo ...
's production, ''
The Normal Heart
''The Normal Heart'' is a largely autobiographical play by Larry Kramer.
It focuses on the rise of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York City between 1981 and 1984, as seen through the eyes of writer/activist Ned Weeks, the gay founder of a promi ...
''. In 2014, she starred in the unsold the CW drama pilot ''Identity'' opposite
Ahna O'Reilly
Ahna O'Reilly is an American actress. She is best known for her role in the film ''The Help'' (2011).
Career
O'Reilly began her acting career in 2003 in the film, ''Bill the Intern''. She has appeared in several other movies like ''Dinocroc'', ' ...
In 2019, she played a leading role in the episode of Netflix anthology series ''
Heartstrings''. In 2020, ABC ordered a sequel for ''Thirtysomething'' and Wettig set to return alongside Olin,
Timothy Busfield
Timothy Busfield (born June 12, 1957) is an American actor and director. He has played Elliot Weston on the television series ''thirtysomething''; Mark, the brother-in-law of Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) in ''Field of Dreams''; and Danny Concann ...
and
Mel Harris
Mary Ellen "Mel" Harris is an American actress best known for her role as Hope Murdoch Steadman in the ABC drama series ''Thirtysomething'' (1987–1991), for which she received a Golden Globe nomination in 1990.
Early life and education
Ha ...
.
Personal life
Wettig is married to actor and producer
Ken Olin
Kenneth Edward Olin (born July 30, 1954) is an American actor, television director, and producer. He is known for his role as Michael Steadman in the ABC drama series ''Thirtysomething'' (1987–1991), for which he received a Golden Globe Award ...
; they have a son Clifford (born 1983) and a daughter Roxy (born 1985).
Filmography
Film
Television films
Television series
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wettig, Patricia
1951 births
Living people
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
American film actresses
American stage actresses
American television actresses
Ohio Wesleyan University alumni
Actresses from Pittsburgh
Smith College alumni
Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (television) winners
Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
Actresses from Ohio
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses