Jessica Collins (born Jessica Lynn Capogna; April 1, 1971) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Dinah Lee Mayberry on the ABC soap opera '' Loving'' (1991-1994) and Avery Bailey Clark on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

soap opera ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in the fictional Genoa City (named after the real-life Genoa City, Wiscon ...

'' (2011-2015), for which she won a Daytime Emmy. She also starred as Meredith Davies on Fox's '' Tru Calling'', and appeared in recurring and guest roles in many other shows.

Early life

Collins was born in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

. She attended Amsterdam High School in

Amsterdam, New York Amsterdam () is a city in Montgomery County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 18,219. The city is named after Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam is bordered on the northern and ea ...

. In 1988, she won the title Miss New York Teen USA and was the first runner-up for the

Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant that has been run since 1983 by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19 years old as of January 1st of the competition year. They must be US citizens, and cannot have been married, pregnant, or ...

Pageant in that same year. Collins later attended London's Royal National Theatre Studio and the Howard Fine Acting Studio in Los Angeles.

Career

Collins starred in ABC daytime soap opera '' Loving'' as Dinah Lee Mayberry from 1991 to 1994. After leaving daytime, Collins appeared in the films '' Leprechaun 4: In Space'' (1996), '' Best of the Best: Without Warning'' (1998), and '' Beautiful'' (2000), and guest-starred in primetime shows such as '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'', '' Star Trek: Voyager'', ''

Beverly Hills 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to as ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling via his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for 10 seasons on Fo ...

'', and ''

Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college. It aired from January 20, 19 ...

''. Collins played Meredith Davies on the

Fox Network Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an American commercial broadcast television network serving as the flagship property of Fox Corporation and operated through Fox Entertainment. Fox is based at Fo ...

's '' Tru Calling'' from 2003 to 2004. She had a major recurring role in the NBC period drama, ''

American Dreams ''American Dreams'' is an American drama television series that ran on NBC for three seasons and 61 episodes, from September 29, 2002, to March 30, 2005. The show tells the story of the Pryor family of Philadelphia during the mid-1960s, with m ...

'', and later appeared in the short-lived series ''

Unscripted ''Unscripted'' is an American comedy drama series that aired on HBO in early 2005. The series was largely improvised by its performers. It was executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, George Clooney, and Grant Heslov. ''Unscripted'' is the sec ...

'' and '' Scoundrels''. She also starred in the short-lived ABC comedy-drama '' Big Shots'' from 2007 to 2008. In film, Collins played roles in ''

Ritual A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...

'' (2002), ''

Catch Me If You Can ''Catch Me If You Can'' is a 2002 American crime comedy-drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks with Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Nathalie Baye, Amy Adams, and James Brolin in ...

'' (2002), '' Dirty Love'' (2005), '' Live!'' (2007), and '' Open House'' (2010). Her other television credits include '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', ''

Two and a Half Men Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn that aired on CBS for 12 seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. The series originally starred Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper, a hedonis ...

'', '' Nip/Tuck'', ''

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'', also known colloquially simply as ''Always Sunny'', is an American sitcom created by Rob McElhenney and co-developed by Glenn Howerton for FX (TV channel), FX. It premiered on August 4, 2005, and stars Charl ...

'', and '' NCIS''. In 2011, Collins returned to soaps with a role as Avery Bailey Clark on

's ''

''. In 2013 and 2016, she was nominated for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role, winning in 2016. In May 2015, ''

Soap Opera Digest ''Soap Opera Digest'' was a weekly magazine covering American daytime soap operas. It featured onscreen and offscreen news about the series, interviews with and articles about performers, storyline summaries and analysis, and related promotional ...

'' reported that Collins was leaving the show, with Avery's last appearance airing on July 21, 2015. Collins guest-starred on ''

9-1-1 911, sometimes written , is an emergency telephone number for Argentina, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Jordan, Mexico, Pakistan, Maldives, Palau, Panama, Iraq, the Philippines, Sint Maarten, the United States, and Uruguay, as well as ...

'' and ''

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 ...

'' and in 2019 starred in an episode entitled "Cracker Jack" of the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

anthology series, '' Dolly Parton's Heartstrings''. In 2021, she began starring in the

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

comedy series, ''

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...

''.

Personal life

Collins married Robert Tyler, her co-star from ''Loving'', on November 11, 1996. The couple divorced February 15, 2002, citing irreconcilable differences. On May 4, 2016, she married writer and producer Michael Cooney. She and Cooney have a daughter, born in January 2016.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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Jessica Collins
a
TV.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Jessica 1971 births American television actresses American film actresses 20th-century Miss Teen USA delegates American people of Italian descent Actors from Schenectady, New York Living people Actresses from New York (state) American soap opera actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Daytime Emmy Award winners Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series winners