Mary Louise Parker

Critically-acclaimed actress, Mary-Louise Parker was born on August 2, 1964 in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Parker studied acting at the North Carolina School of the Arts, and headed to New York after graduation to pursue a career in theater. Before getting her foot in the door of the acting industry, Parker paid her dues measuring feet at ECCO shoe store upon arriving in the big apple.

In her mid-twenties, Parker’s stage performance in Prelude to a Kiss was recognized with both a Theatre World Award and a Tony nomination. At this time, Parker also made her film debut, starring in the AIDS drama Longtime Companion (1990). Soon after, Parker began landing formidable roles in such films as Grand Canyon and Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) alongside Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Kathy Bates; which led to steady work for the actress for the remainder of the 90s.

Parker has worked alongside some of the best in the business, including Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones in The Client (1994), John Cusack in Woody Allen’s Bullets over Broadway (1994), and Drew Barrymore and Whoopi Goldberg in Boys on the Side (1995). In addition to the silver screen, Parker continued to work on the stage and the small-screen, including roles in made-for-TV movies such as A Place for Annie (1994) and Saint Maybe (1998).

The new millennium saw Parker landing a recurring role on one of television’s most popular shows, The West Wing, starring as women's rights activist Amelia "Amy" Gardner. Parker also acted opposite Ed Norton in the Silence of the Lambs prequel, Red Dragon (2002), and starred in Christian satire, Saved! (2004) with Mandy Moore and Macaulay Culkin.

Accepting a part in the HBO mini series, Angels in America (2003) gave Parker the opportunity to not only hold her own alongside Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, and Emma Thompson, but to also earn both an Emmy and a Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries. Parker continued to collect awards in 2006, when her role as a soccer Mom-turned-drug dealer in television series Weeds, landed her a Golden Globe award for Best Actress, beating out four of the leading ladies on Desperate Housewives.

In 1996, Parker became romantically involved with actor Billy Crudup while co-starring in a stage version of the Marilyn Monroe film, Bus Stop. On January 7, 2004, Parker gave birth to their son, William Atticus Parker. In 2005, Crudup and Parker split after Crudup became involved with actress Claire Danes.

In November 2005, Parker was honored by Boston University with an exhibition of her illustrious career, featuring a display of Parker memorabilia donated to the University's Library. Her next film, The Assassination of Jesse James, is slated to hit theaters in 2007; and will also star Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, and Robert Duvall.