- Jessica Walter
-
Jessica Walter 
Born January 31, 1941
Brooklyn, New York,
United StatesOccupation Actress Years active 1962–present Spouse Ross Bowman (1966-1978)
Ron Leibman (1983-present)Signature 
Jessica Walter (born January 31, 1941) is an American actress, known for the films Play Misty for Me, Grand Prix, and for her role as Lucille Bluth on the sitcom Arrested Development. She was a series regular for the first half of season one of 90210, provided the voice of the character Fran Sinclair in the TV series Dinosaurs, and starred as the title character of the television series Amy Prentiss for which she won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie.
She currently does the voice for Malory Archer in the FX animated series Archer and stars as Elaine Robbins in Retired at 35.
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Early life
Walter was born to a Jewish household in Brooklyn, the daughter of Esther (née Groisser) and David Walter, a musician.[1] She was raised in Queens, New York, and graduated from Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts. In the early 1960s, she trained alongside James Caan and Christopher Lloyd at New York City's Neighborhood Playhouse before getting her big break, a regular role on the soap opera Love of Life.[2] She appeared on the show from 1962 to 1965.
Career
She appeared in the first episode of Flipper in September 1964. Also in 1964, she guest starred with Jack Lord, Nick Adams, and Herb Edelman in the episode "How Much for a Prince?" of CBS's short-lived drama The Reporter, with Harry Guardino in the title role. Walter had a recurring role on Trapper John, M.D. as Melanie McIntyre, Trapper John's former wife. 1966 The Fugitive
Her earliest notable film role was in the 1971 movie Play Misty for Me, in which she played a psychotic young woman stalking a disc jockey (played by Clint Eastwood), for which she received a Golden Globe nomination in the Best Motion Picture Actress - Drama category.[3] Walter's other film credits from that era include Lilith, Grand Prix, The Group, Bye Bye Braverman, Number One and Dr. Strange.
In 1974, Walter co-starred with Peter Falk, Jose Ferrer and Lew Ayres in the Columbo episode "Mind Over Mayhem." During the 1974-75 TV season, she was the star of Amy Prentiss, a spinoff of Ironside that became an element of the NBC Mystery Movie. She was the producers' first choice for the role of "Alexis Carrington" in the primetime soap opera Dynasty. In 1983, she had a role in the short-lived NBC primetime soap opera Bare Essence as "Ava Marshall".
Since then, she has worked most frequently in television and theater, though she did make an appearance in the 1994 film PCU. In the 1990s, Walter lent her voice to Fran Sinclair on the ABC comedy Dinosaurs, and appeared on Just Shoot Me! as Eve Gallo, the mother of Maya and the ex-wife of magazine publisher Jack Gallo (George Segal).
From 2003 to 2006, she appeared in a regular role as the scheming, alcoholic socialite matriarch Lucille Bluth on FOX's critically acclaimed comedy series, Arrested Development. Despite her convincing portrayal of Lucille (in 2005, Walter received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for the role), the actress has maintained that "I'm nothing like Lucille. Nothing. My daughter will tell you. I'm really a very nice, boring person."[2] Walter played Tabitha Wilson, a similar character, on 90210, for the first thirteen episodes of the first season, before she was written off. She also guest starred on the situational comedy Rules of Engagement in the Season 1, Episode 5 "Kids". She currently voices spy boss Malory on the FX network's animated show Archer.
Walter guest-starred in an episode of Law & Order: SVU in the fall of 2009. Walter appearred in the third episode, which is titled "Solitary," as a legal-aid powerhouse named Petra Gilmartin.[4]
She recently starred as Evangeline Harcourt in the Broadway revival of Anything Goes, which began previews in March 2011 and officially opened on April 7, 2011.[5]
Personal life
Since 1983, Walter has been married to actor Ron Leibman, with whom she co-starred in Neil Simon's play Rumors. They also appeared together as husband and wife in the film Dummy and in the TV series Law & Order in the episode "House Counsel". Walter's daughter, Brooke Bowman, was born in 1972.[6]
Filmography
Year Filmography Roles Notes 1964 Lilith Laura 1966 Grand Prix Pat Stoddard Nominated/won — Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Female 1966 The Group Libby 1968 Bye Bye Braverman Inez Braverman 1969 Number One Julie Catlan 1971 Play Misty For Me Evelyn Draper Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama 1974 Columbo: Mind Over Mayhem Dr. Margaret Nicholson 1974–1975 Amy Prentiss Amy Prentiss TV series
Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie1978 Dr. Strange Morgan le Fay (TV) 1979 Goldengirl 1981 Going Ape! Fiona 1982 Spring Fever Celia Berryman 1984 Terror in the Aisles Evelyn Draper Archival - segment Play Misty for Me 1984 The Flamingo Kid Phyllis Brody 1984 Secret Places Girl #1 in art room 1986 Novel Connection & Magnum on Ice Joan Forrester Crossover episode of Magnum PI and Murder She Wrote 1988 Tapeheads Kay Mart 1991–1995 Dinosaurs Fran Sinclair (voice) 1993 Ghost in the Machine Elaine aka Deadly Terror 1994 PCU President Garcia-Thompson 1995 Temptress Dr. Phyllis Evergreen 1998 Slums of Beverly Hills Doris Zimmerman 2001 My Best Friend's Wife Mrs. Epstein 2003 Dummy Fern Schoichet 2003–2006 Arrested Development Lucille Bluth (53 episodes)
Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (2003)
TV Land Award for Future Classic (2004)
Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Comedy Series (2005)
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2005, 2006)2006 Unaccompanied Minors Cindi 2008 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Eleanor Reynolds (1 episode) 2008–2009 90210 Tabitha Wilson series regular (13 episodes) 2009 Make It Or Break It Grandma Tanner (1 episode, Battle of the Flexes) 2009 Law & Order: SVU Attorney Petra Gilmartin 2009–present Archer Mallory Archer series regular 2010 Arrested Development Lucille Bluth (pre-production) 2011–present Retired at 35 Elaine Robbins series regular 2011 The Big Bang Theory Mrs. Latham (1 episode, The Benefactor Factor[7]) 2012 Bending the Rules Lena Gold References
- ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/82/Jessica-Walter.html
- ^ a b "Jessica Walter: Lucille Bluth on Arrested Development talks about her kooky character". Entertainment Weekly. 2005-06-24. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1073625,00.html. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Golden_Globes_USA/1972
- ^ Robyn Ross (5 August 2009). "Jessica Walter on SVU: An Arresting Development". TVGuide.com. http://www.tvguide.com/News/Jessica-Walter-SVU-1008679.aspx. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
- ^ Jones, Kenneth."Bon Voyage! Anything Goes, With Sutton Foster and Joel Grey, Opens on Broadway" playbill.com
- ^ Keck, William (2005-09-16). "A terrific 'Development' boosts Jessica Walter's career". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-09-15-jessica-walter_x.htm. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
- ^ http://www.thefutoncritic.com/listings/20110125cbs08
External links
- Jessica Walter at the Internet Movie Database
- Jessica Walter at the Internet Broadway Database
- Jessica Walter at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Jessica Walter on tvland.com
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie (1952–1975) Judith Anderson (1954) · Mary Martin (1955) · Claire Trevor (1956) · Polly Bergen (1957) · Julie Harris (1959) · Ingrid Bergman (1960) · Judith Anderson (1961) · Julie Harris (1962) · Kim Stanley (1963) · Shelley Winters (1964) · Lynn Fontanne (1965) · Simone Signoret (1966) · Geraldine Page (1967) · Maureen Stapleton (1968) · Geraldine Page (1969) · Patty Duke (1970) · Lee Grant (1971) · Glenda Jackson (1972) · Cloris Leachman (1973) · Susan Hampshire / Cicely Tyson / Mildred Natwick (1974) · Katharine Hepburn / Jessica Walter (1975)
Complete List · (1952–1975) · (1976–2000) · (2001–2025) Categories:- 1941 births
- Living people
- Actors from New York City
- American Jews
- American film actors
- American television actors
- Emmy Award winners
- Jewish actors
- People from Brooklyn
- New Star of the Year (Actress) Golden Globe winners
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