Merrin Dungey

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Merrin Dungey
Born
Merrin Melissa Dungey

(1971-08-06) August 6, 1971 (age 50)
Sacramento, California, U.S.
EducationRio Americano High School[1]
Alma materUCLA
OccupationActress
Years active1995–present
Spouse(s)
Matthew Drake
​
(m. 2007⁠–⁠2021)​
Children2
RelativesChanning Dungey (sister)

Merrin Melissa Dungey (born August 6, 1971) is an American film and television actress, known for her roles on the television series The King of Queens, Alias, Malcolm in the Middle, and Summerland. Dungey also appeared as Ursula on Once Upon a Time, and starred in the legal drama Conviction. Most recently, she appeared on the medical drama The Resident, and costars in the 2019 legal drama The Fix.

Early life and education[]

Dungey was born and raised in Sacramento, California,[2] the younger daughter of Don Dungey, a general services manager and Judith Dungey.[3] As a child, she was active in ballet and dance as well as piano. Dungey was also an accomplished ice skater. Dungey graduated in 1989 from Rio Americano High School in Sacramento, California. After high school, Dungey earned a degree of Bachelor of Arts from UCLA in 1993.[4] Dungey has one sister, Channing Dungey,[5] who was named president of ABC Entertainment in February 2016.[6]

Career[]

Dungey had small roles in Hollywood films such as EDtv and Deep Impact and on television series such as Martin, before landing the recurring role of Kelly Palmer on the CBS television series The King of Queens, in which she starred from 1999 to 2007. She appeared in every season in the series except for the 2002-03 season. Dungey is also well known for her role as Francie Calfo on the drama series Alias,[7] in which she starred from 2001 to 2003, as well as an appearance in the 2006 series finale episode All the Time in the World. She also had a recurring role on the FOX sitcom Malcolm in the Middle as Stevie's mother, Kitty Kernaban. At one point in 2001, Dungey was appearing in all three shows (The King of Queens, Malcolm in the Middle, and Alias) at the same time.[5] Dungey then portrayed Susannah in the WB drama series Summerland from 2004 to 2005. She has also guest-starred on various TV series including Living Single, ER, Murphy Brown, Seinfeld, Friends, The West Wing, Babylon 5, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Dungey appeared in two episodes of Grey's Anatomy that served as a backdoor pilot for Private Practice,[8] but was replaced by actress Audra McDonald for the actual series.

Most recently, Dungey guest-starred on the ABC sitcoms Surviving Suburbia starring Bob Saget, Better Off Ted starring Portia de Rossi, Castle starring Nathan Fillion and HBO's Hung starring Thomas Jane.[9] She portrayed Ellie on the Nick at Nite television series Hollywood Heights in 2012 and the recurring role of Alissa Barnes on ABC's Betrayal in 2013.[5] In 2014 she appeared in a featured role opposite Pierce Brosnan in Some Kind of Beautiful. Also in 2014 she began portraying the recurring roles of Ursula on ABC's Once Upon a Time[7] and Sharon Jeffords on Brooklyn Nine-Nine.[10] Dungey played investigator Maxine Bohen on the ABC legal drama Conviction from October 2016 to May 2017.[11][12] In September 2017, she joined the cast of the medical drama The Resident as Claire Thorpe.[13] Dungey will next appear as C.J. Bernstein in the ABC legal drama The Fix.[14]

Personal life[]

Dungey was married to Matthew Drake. They married in a Mariachi-style wedding ceremony in Cancun, Mexico, in May 2007. Dungey gave birth to their first daughter in June 2008, and a second daughter in 2011. They separated in 2018 and are now divorced.[15]

Filmography[]

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1998 Deep Impact Sheila Bradley
1999 EDtv Ms. Seaver
2001 The Sky Is Falling Sheila
2001 Odessa or Bust Maggie- Disgruntled Diner Short film
2002 Scream at the Sound of the Beep Jill
2011 L!fe Happens Hester
2014 Some Kind of Beautiful Angela
2015 The Diabolical Mrs. Dana Wallace
2017 CHiPs Joy Jackson
2020 Greenland Major Breen
TBA Inside Me Madison Post-production
Television
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1995 Martin Monique Episode: "Girlfriend"
1996 Babylon 5 Rose- Security Guard Episode: "Messages from Earth"
1996 Living Single Laura Episode: "Woman to Woman"
1996 Party Girl Wanda 4 episodes
1997 Caroline in the City Sherry- Female Prostitute Episode: "Caroline and the Buyer"
1997 ER Daphina Episode: "When the Bough Breaks"
1997 Murphy Brown Merrin- Woman Episode: "From the Terrace"
1998 Seinfeld Ellen- Cashier Episode: "The Bookstore"
1999–2007 The King of Queens Kelly Palmer Recurring role [5]
1999 Tracey Takes On... Nancy Episode: "Drugs"
1999 Saved by the Bell: The New Class Coach Esther Williams Episode: "Prescription for Trouble"
1999 The West Wing Daisy Episode: "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc"
1999 G vs E Rebecca Clemens Episode: "Cliffhanger"
2000 Jesse Rosemary Episode: "Kurt Slips, Niagara Falls"
2000–2004 Malcolm in the Middle Kitty Kenarban 6 episodes [5]
2000 City of Angels Mrs. Mary Lombard Episode: "Deliver the Male"
2000 Friends Hildy, museum official Episode: "The One Where Paul's the Man"
2000–2001 Grosse Pointe Joan 4 episodes
2001–2003, 2006 Alias Francie Calfo / Allison Doren Main Cast (Season 1–2)
Recurring (Season 3)
Special Guest Star (Season 5) 		[5][7]
2001 Curb Your Enthusiasm Amy Episode: "The Doll"
2004–2005 Summerland Susannah Rexford Series regular
2006 Beyond Debbie Sprague TV movie
2007 Boston Legal Sandy Zionts Episode: "Angel of Death"
2007 Grey's Anatomy Dr. Naomi Bennett 2 episodes:
"The Other Side of This Life (Part 1/Part 2)"
(Backdoor pilot for Private Practice) 		[8]
2009 Masterwork Rachel West TV movie
2009–2010 Better Off Ted Sheila 4 episodes
2009 Surviving Suburbia Mrs. Jude Devore Episode: "Nothing for Money"
2010 Castle Monica Finch Episode: "Den of Thieves" [7]
2010 The Closer Ms. Pamela Reed Episode: "Heart Attack"
2010 Hung Liz 2 episodes
2010 Outlaw Alison Mills Episode: "In Re: Curtis Farwell"
2012 Revenge Barbara Snow 3 episodes [5]
2012 Hollywood Heights Ellie Moss Contract role [5]
2013 90210 Dr. Lucille 'Lucy Cash Episode: "Brother From Another Mother"
2013 How to Live with Your Parents Morgan 2 episodes
2013 Betrayal Alissa Barnes 5 episodes [5][7]
2014–2015 Brooklyn Nine-Nine Sharon Jeffords Recurring role; 5 episodes
2014 Episodes Yolonda Dungey- Tonight Show Producer Episode: "Episode Four"
2014 Trophy Wife Agent Dawn Johansen Episode: "The Wedding, Part 1"
2014 Shameless Nurse Episode: "Lazarus" [7]
2014–2015 Chasing Life Dr. Susan Hamburg 15 episodes
2014 Rizzoli & Isles Nurse Terri Braxton Episode: "It Takes a Village"
2014 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Twyla Owens Episode: "Road to Recovery"
2014–2015 Once Upon a Time Ursula 6 episodes [7]
2015 Backstrom Eleanor Deering Episode: "Enemy of My Enemies"
2015 48 Hours 'til Monday Mary Johansson TV movie
2016–2017 Conviction Maxine Bohen Series regular [11]
2016 Con Man Jess Episode: "What Goes Up..."
2017, 2019 Big Little Lies Detective Adrienne Quinlan Recurring role, 10 episodes
2017 You're the Worst Candace 2 episodes
2017 Brothered Up Desiree Williams TV movie
2018 The Resident Claire Thorpe Main role (season 1) [13]
2019 The Fix C.J. Bernstein Main role [14]
2020 Star Trek: Picard Maggie Brownstone- Interviewer 1 episode
2020 Man with a Plan Dr. Felicia 2 episodes
2021 American Horror Stories Dr. Andi Grant

References[]

  1. ^ "Classmates - Find your school, yearbooks and alumni online". www.classmates.com. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  2. ^ Stafford, Nikki (September 1, 2004). Uncovering Alias: An Unofficial Guide. ECW Press. ISBN 9781550226539. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
    • a "Born on August 6, 1971, in Sacramento, California..." — Pg. 125, ¶ 3.
    • b "After graduating from Rio Americano High School in 1989..." — Pg. 126, ¶ 3.
  3. ^ "Merrin Dungey Biography". Filmreference.com. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  4. ^ "NOTABLE ALUMNI ACTORS". UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Nelson, Valerie J. (June 4, 2014). "Sister, Sister". Emmy. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
  6. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 17, 2016). "ABC Shakeup: Paul Lee Out As President, Channing Dungey To Succeed Him". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Abrams, Natalie (November 19, 2014). "Once Upon a Time casts Alias vet Merrin Dungey". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Ausiello, Michael (March 12, 2007). "Big Scoop! Grey's 2.0 Adds Alias Grad and "Amy"". TV Guide. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
  9. ^ "Merrin Dungey Credits". TV.com. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  10. ^ Crump, Andy (November 23, 2015). "Brooklyn Nine-Nine: 'Ava'". Paste. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b Andreeva, Nellie (May 12, 2016). "Conviction Picked Up To Series By ABC". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  12. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (May 11, 2017). "Imaginary Mary Among Several Freshman Series Canceled By ABC". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b Andreeva, Nellie (September 26, 2017). "The Resident: Merrin Dungey Joins As New Regular, Moran Atias Changes Roles". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  14. ^ Jump up to: a b Mitovich, Matt Webb (May 11, 2018). "Legal Thriller The Fix, From Attorney Marcia Clark, Gets Series Order at ABC". TVLine. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  15. ^ @RealMerrinD (July 6, 2021). "Hi @Wikipedia and @IMDb, it's me, Merrin" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 6, 2021 – via Twitter.

External links[]

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