Debra Monk (born February 27, 1949) is an American actress, singer, and writer, best known for her performances on the

Broadway stage Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of ...

. She is the recipient of a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

(1993), two Drama Desk Awards (1988, 2007), the Helen Hayes Award (1994), the

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

(2000) and an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

(1999) for her work.

Life and career

Monk was born in

Middletown, Ohio Middletown is a city in Butler County, Ohio, Butler and Warren County, Ohio, Warren counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 50,987 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area in sou ...

on February 27, 1949. She was voted "Best Personality" by her graduating class at Wheaton High School in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...

. In 1973, she graduated from Frostburg State University. In 1975, Monk was awarded 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 admi ...

from

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Monk garnered first attention in theatrical circles as one of the co-writers and co-stars of the musical '' Pump Boys and Dinettes'' (1982). She won the

Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play The Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actresses for quality supporting roles in a Broadway theatre, ...

for performance in '' Redwood Curtain'' (1993). She was nominated for a Tony Award for roles in ''

Picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors (Al fresco dining, ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event su ...

'' (1994), ''

Steel Pier The Steel Pier is a 1,000-foot-long () amusement park built on a pier of the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey, across from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City (formerly the Trump Taj Mahal). Built in 1897 and opened in 1898, it wa ...

'' (1997), and '' Curtains'' (2007). In 2000, she won an

for ''

The Time of the Cuckoo ''The Time of the Cuckoo'' is a play by Arthur Laurents. It focuses on the bittersweet romance between Leona Samish ( Shirley Booth), a single American executive secretary vacationing in Europe and Renato Di Rossi, a shopkeeper she meets in Venic ...

''. She returned to the stage in

Steppenwolf Theatre Company Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theater company founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry (American actor), Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise in the Immaculate Conception grade school in Highland Park, Illinois and is now located in Chica ...

's production of ''Visiting Edna'' by David Rabe in September 2016. Monk appeared on the Food Channel cooking show '' Barefoot Contessa'', where she cooked Roasted Chicken, Arugula and Bread Salad, and Tri-Berry Crumble. Monk has appeared in over 30 films since the early 1990s. She made her film debut in the movie version of '' Prelude to a Kiss'', playing Aunt Dorothy. She later appeared in ''

The Bridges of Madison County ''The Bridges of Madison County'' (also published as ''Love in Black and White'') is a 1992 best-selling Romance novel, romance novel by American writer Robert James Waller that tells the story of an Italian-American World War II war bride livi ...

'' (1995) and '' The Devil's Advocate'' (1997). On television, she has won a

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series is an award that is presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance i ...

for a

recurring role Recurring means occurring repeatedly and can refer to several different things: Mathematics and finance *Recurring expense, an ongoing (continual) expenditure *Repeating decimal, or recurring decimal, a real number in the decimal numeral syste ...

as Katie Sipowicz in the ABC series, ''

NYPD Blue ''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble ca ...

''. She also guest-starred on ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...

'', ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...

'', ''

The Closer ''The Closer'' is an American police procedural television series starring Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Los Angeles Police Department Chief of police#United States, deputy chief. A CIA-trained interrogator originally from Atlanta, G ...

'', and '' Girls''. Monk had recurring roles in '' A Nero Wolfe Mystery'' (2001–02), ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

'' (2006–11), and ''

Damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognized at ...

'' (2007–12).

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Broadway

* '' Pump Boys and Dinettes'' - 1982 (also co-author and co-director) * '' Prelude to a Kiss'' - 1990 * '' Nick & Nora'' - 1991 * '' Redwood Curtain'' - 1993 -

* ''

'' - 1994 - Tony Award nomination * ''

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

'' - 1995 * ''

'' - 1997 - Tony Award nomination * '' Ah, Wilderness!'' - 1998 * '' Thou Shalt Not'' - 2001 * ''

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

'' - 2005 * '' Curtains'' - 2007 - Tony Award nomination * ''

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' is a 1955 American three-act play by Tennessee Williams. The play, an adaptation of his 1952 short story "Three Players of a Summer Game", was written between 1953 and 1955. One of Williams's more famous works and his ...

'' - 2012

Off-Broadway

* ''

'' -

* ''Ancestral Voices'' * ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' () is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 in literature, 1895 and first produced in 1896 in literature#Drama, 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramati ...

'' * '' Death Defying Acts'' - 1995 * ''Three Hotels'' - 1993 * '' Oil City Symphony'' - 1986 (co-author,

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...

) * '' Assassins'' - 1990

References

External links

* * *
archive

Star File: Debra Monk
at Broadway.com * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Monk, Debra 1949 births Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Maryland Actresses from Ohio American film actresses American musical theatre actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Tony Award winners Primetime Emmy Award winners Drama Desk Award winners Obie Award recipients People from Middletown, Ohio People from Silver Spring, Maryland Frostburg State University alumni Southern Methodist University alumni