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Emily Mallory Procter (born October 8, 1968) is an American actress and activist. She played
Ainsley Hayes Ainsley Hayes is a fictional character played by Emily Procter on ''The West Wing'', an American serial political drama. Primarily appearing in the second and third seasons for a total of twelve episodes, Ainsley served as the Associate White Hou ...
in the
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...
political drama A political drama can describe a play, film or TV program that has a political component, whether reflecting the author's political opinion, or describing a politician or series of political events. Dramatists who have written political dramas ...
''
The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the ...
'' (2000–2002; 2006) and Det. Calleigh Duquesne in the CBS
police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eithe ...
drama '' CSI: Miami'' (2002–2012).


Early life

Procter was born on October 8, 1968. She was adopted as an infant by William Procter, a general practitioner, and Barbara Jones, a volunteer worker, and raised in
Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the South ...
. She was three years old when her parents divorced. She has an older brother, Whit, who is also adopted. Procter attended
Ravenscroft School Ravenscroft School is a coed independent school located in Raleigh, North Carolina. The school enrolls students between PreKindergarten and 12th grade, and serves 1,239 students. The school has three divisions: Lower School, Middle School an ...
in Raleigh. While at
East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its origi ...
, she became a member of
Alpha Delta Pi Alpha Delta Pi (), commonly known as ADPi (pronounced "ay-dee-pye"), is an International Panhellenic sorority founded on May 15, 1851, at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. It is the oldest secret society for women. Alpha Delta Pi is a mem ...
sorority and worked as a television weather anchor at WNCT-TV in
Greenville, North Carolina Greenville is the county seat of and the most populous city in Pitt County, North Carolina, United States; the principal city of the Greenville metropolitan area; and the 12th-most populous city in North Carolina. Greenville is the health, e ...
, eventually graduating with degrees in journalism and dance.


Career

After Procter moved to
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
, her father paid for her to attend acting school for two years. Before even graduating, she had already landed a number of small film roles, including
Cameron Crowe Cameron Bruce Crowe (born July 13, 1957) is an American journalist, author, writer, producer, director, actor, lyricist, and playwright. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at '' Rolling Stone'' magazine, for w ...
's sports romantic comedy-drama ''
Jerry Maguire ''Jerry Maguire'' is a 1996 American romantic comedy-drama sports film written, produced, and directed by Cameron Crowe; it stars Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., Renée Zellweger, and Regina King. Produced in part by James L. Brooks, it was in ...
'' (
1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...
), and as a co-star with
David Schwimmer David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, director and producer. He gained worldwide recognition for portraying Ross Geller in the sitcom '' Friends'', for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Primet ...
and Chris Cooper in the TV movie ''
Breast Men ''Breast Men'' is a 1997 American, semibiographical, dark drama film; it was written by John Stockwell and directed by Lawrence O'Neil for HBO. Plot Dr. Kevin Saunders (played by David Schwimmer) and Dr. William Larson (played by Chris Co ...
'' (
1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
). In 1996, Procter guest-starred as
Lana Lang Lana Lang is a fictional supporting character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She has appeared in other media adaptations of Superman, typically as a teenager. These portrayals include the '' Adventures of Superboy'' ...
in the ABC superhero drama '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman''. She briefly appeared in the TV movie '' The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!'' (1997) as Mavis and the drama '' Body Shots'' (
1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...
) as Whitney Bryant. In 1995, Procter played Annabel, a brief love interest of
Joey Tribbiani Joseph Francis "Joey" Tribbiani Jr. is a fictional character, serving as one of the primary characters of the NBC sitcom '' Friends'' and the protagonist of its spin-off '' Joey''. He is portrayed by Matt LeBlanc in both series. He is an Italia ...
(
Matt LeBlanc Matthew Steven LeBlanc (; born July 25, 1967) is an American actor. He garnered global recognition with his portrayal of Joey Tribbiani in the NBC sitcom '' Friends'' and in its spin-off series, '' Joey''. For his work on ''Friends'', LeBlanc ...
), in the second episode of season two of the
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...
sitcom '' Friends'', titled "The One with the Breast Milk." From 2000 to 2002 and again in 2006, Procter played the recurring role of Associate White House Counsel
Ainsley Hayes Ainsley Hayes is a fictional character played by Emily Procter on ''The West Wing'', an American serial political drama. Primarily appearing in the second and third seasons for a total of twelve episodes, Ainsley served as the Associate White Hou ...
in the NBC political drama ''
The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the ...
.'' Procter is friends with actress
Jorja Fox Jorja-An Fox ( ) is an American actress and producer. She first came to prominence with a recurring role in the NBC medical drama '' ER'' as Dr. Maggie Doyle from 1996 to 1999. This was followed by another critical success in the recurring ro ...
, who starred as Sara Sidle in the CBS police drama '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' from 2000 to 2015. Fox persuaded Procter to audition for the starring role of Calleigh Duquesne in the CSI spin-off '' CSI: Miami'', which she ended up winning. The show ran on CBS for 10 seasons, from September 23, 2002, to April 8, 2012. Procter participated in 2007's
Live Earth Live Earth was an event developed to increase environmental awareness through entertainment. Background Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, ''Live Earth'' was built upon the beli ...
event by reading aloud, along with a number of other actresses, an essay that
Michelle Gardner-Quinn Michelle may refer to: People * Michelle (name), a given name and surname, the feminine form of Michael * Michelle Courtens, Dutch singer, performing as "Michelle" * Michelle (German singer) * Michelle (Scottish singer) (born 1980), Scottis ...
wrote while she was a student at the
University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...
. In February 2013, Procter had a recurring role in the final two episodes of season four of the
USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Mad ...
crime drama ''
White Collar White collar may refer to: * White-collar worker, a salaried professional or an educated worker who performs semi-professional office, administrative, and sales-coordination tasks, as opposed to a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor ...
''. She played Amanda Callaway, an agent from Atlanta who is promoted to head of the FBI's white collar crimes division in New York City.


Activism

In 2019, Procter founded a
nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
called Ground Breakers that supports change, community and equitable infrastructure. Her nonprofit The Ground offers social and emotional language awareness to combat negative personal narratives and promote peaceful
conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict and retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information abou ...
. The Ground teams up
Defy Ventures Defy Ventures is a United States-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2010 by Catherine Hoke (née ROHR’s). The organization's goal is to address the social problems of mass incarceration, recidivism, and related issues by providin ...
, a nonprofit that addresses social problems such as
mass incarceration Incarceration in the United States is a primary form of punishment and rehabilitation for the commission of felony and other offenses. The United States has the largest prison population in the world, and the highest per-capita incarcerati ...
and
recidivism Recidivism (; from ''recidive'' and ''ism'', from Latin ''recidīvus'' "recurring", from ''re-'' "back" and ''cadō'' "I fall") is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences of th ...
, to offer programs at Kern Valley State Prison and Nightingale school in Stockton, California.


Personal life

Procter has been in a relationship with musician Paul Bryan since 2008. On December 8, 2010, she gave birth to their daughter Philippa Frances (called "Pippa"). Because her pregnancy was not written into the ninth season of '' CSI: Miami'', her appearances were limited. Procter has taken part in various
triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the d ...
s and
marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair di ...
s. She is an avid
poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...
player and has participated in at least one celebrity poker tournament. Procter also sings in a 1980s cover band originally called White Lightning but since renamed Motion. Procter has volunteered with the
Young Storytellers Program Young Storytellers, formerly widely known as the Young Storytellers Foundation, is an arts education non-profit operating primarily in Los Angeles. Young Storytellers currently serves elementary, middle, and high school students in Southern Califor ...
and at homeless shelters. Procter has an interest in
interior decoration Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coord ...
and
antiques An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...
that she put to practical use when decorating the 1921
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...
-style home that she owns in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
. During the 2007–08 Writers Guild strike, she designed a home for a friend in Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands and, according to ''People'' magazine's Country Special of March 2009, decorated
Kenny Chesney Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded more than 20 albums and has produced more than 40 Top 10 singles on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs and Country ...
's home in Malibu. She was also a guest judge on the Home & Garden Television show ''Summer Showdown''. Procter was keynote speaker at the Spring 2019 commencement at her alma mater, East Carolina University.


Filmography


Film


Television


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Procter, Emily 1968 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from North Carolina American film actresses American television actresses East Carolina University alumni Ravenscroft School alumni Living people Actors from Raleigh, North Carolina American adoptees