Sheila Larken (born February 24, 1944) is an
American television actress
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
, best known for playing the role of
Margaret Scully
The following is a list of characters on ''The X-Files'', an American science fiction television series first broadcast in September 1993 and followed by two feature films: ''The X-Files'' and '' The X-Files: I Want to Believe.'' These characters ...
, the mother of
Dana Scully
Dana Katherine Scully, MD, is a fictional character and one of the two protagonists in the Fox science-fiction, supernatural television series ''The X-Files'', played by Gillian Anderson. Scully is a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Spec ...
, on ''
The X-Files
''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...
''.
Early life and career
Larken was born in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and has appeared in such notable television series as ''
Bonanza
''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on ...
'', ''
Gunsmoke
''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central chara ...
'',
''
Medical Center'', ''
Marcus Welby, M.D.'', ''
Cagney & Lacey
''Cagney & Lacey'' is an American police procedural drama television series that aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from March 25, 1982, to May 16, 1988. The show is about two New York City police detectives who lead very di ...
'', ''
Hawaii Five-O'', ''
It Takes a Thief'',
''
Barnaby Jones'', ''
Starsky and Hutch
''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a '' Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired by ...
'', ''
Trapper John, M.D.
''Trapper John, M.D.'' is an American medical drama television series and spin-off of the film ''M*A*S*H'' (1970). Pernell Roberts portrayed the title character, a lovable surgeon who became a mentor and father figure in San Francisco, Californ ...
'', ''
Little House on the Prairie
The ''Little House on the Prairie'' books is a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (b. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls). The stories are based on her childhood and adolescence in the American Midwest (Wisconsin, Kansas, ...
'',
''
Rawhide'', ''
The Incredible Hulk'', ''
Dallas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
'' , ''
L.A. Law'' '' and ''
Cannon
A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
. She also appeared in "No Way Out," the final episode of the 1977 anthology series ''
Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected'' (known in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
as ''Twist in the Tale'').
/ref> Her made-for-television movies include '' Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan'' (1975), '' Cave-In!'' (1983) and ''The Midnight Hour
''The Midnight Hour'' is a 1985 American made-for-television comedy horror film directed by Jack Bender and starring Shari Belafonte-Harper, LeVar Burton, Peter DeLuise, and Dedee Pfeiffer. Its plot focuses on a small New England town that ...
'' (1985).
Personal life
Larken lives in Bellingham, Washington with her husband, television producer R.W. Goodwin.
References
External links
*
1944 births
American television actresses
Living people
People from Bellingham, Washington
People from Brooklyn
21st-century American women
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