Jessica R. Lundy (born March 20, 1966) is an American actress. She began her career appearing in films '' Bright Lights, Big City'' (1988), '' Caddyshack II'' (1988) and '' Madhouse'' (1990), before regular roles in the short-lived police drama '' Over My Dead Body'' (1990–91) and six-episode revival of ''

The Carol Burnett Show ''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Harv ...

'' (1991). She starred as Gloria Utz in the NBC sitcom '' Hope & Gloria'' from 1995 to 1996, and the comedy films ''

The Stupids The Stupids are a fictional family which appear in a series of children's books written by Harry Allard and James Marshall. The Stupids draw their humor from the fact that they are incompetent to the point of confusing the most simple concept ...

'' (1996) and '' RocketMan'' (1997). From 2015 to 2019, Lundy starred as Amanda Wainwright in the CBS crime drama series, ''

The Inspectors ''The Inspectors'' is an American police procedural, crime drama television series, created by Dave Morgan and produced by Litton Entertainment. Centering on the criminal investigations of United States Postal Inspection Service, U.S. postal in ...

''.

Early life and education

Lundy was born in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, the daughter of Jean (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

McDonald) and Joel Lundy, a surgical

oncologist Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''� ...

. She grew up in

Avon, Connecticut Avon ( ) is a town in the Farmington Valley region of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, United States. As of 2020, the town had a population of 19,795. History At the end of the last Ice Age, 12,400 years BP of the Younger Dryas, nom ...

. Lundy has a younger sister, Judy. Lundy attended the Circle in the Square Theatre School. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1987 at the

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, where she majored in drama and performing arts. Lundy moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1990.

Career

Lundy made her film debut with '' Bright Lights, Big City'' (1988). That same year, she appeared in '' Caddyshack II'' (1988). Lundy also appeared opposite

John Larroquette John Bernard Larroquette (; born November 25, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in the NBC military drama series '' Baa Baa Black Sheep'' (1976–1978), the NBC sitcom ''Night Court'' (1984–1992; 2023–2025) for ...

in the 1990 film '' Madhouse''. Lundy auditioned for the role of

Elaine Benes Elaine Marie Benes () is a fictional character on the American television sitcom ''Seinfeld'', played by former SNL cast member Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Elaine's best friend in the sitcom is her ex-boyfriend Jerry Seinfeld, and she is also good fri ...

on ''Seinfeld''. From 1990 to 1991, Lundy appeared opposite Edward Woodward in the short-lived CBS police drama series '' Over My Dead Body''. In 1991, she was regular cast member in the six-episode revival of ''

''. She appeared as Joel Fleishman's fiancée/ex-fiancée Elaine Shulman on the drama series ''

Northern Exposure ''Northern Exposure'' is an American comedy-drama television series about the eccentric residents in the fictitious town of Cicely, Alaska, that originally aired on CBS from July 12, 1990, to July 26, 1995, with a total of 110 episodes. It rec ...

'' in 1990 and 1992. She also appeared in ''

The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. The show's ensemble cast stars Beatrice Arthur, Betty ...

'' and ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

'' and had a recurring role on ''

Baby Talk Baby talk is a type of speech associated with an older person speaking to a child or infant. It is also called caretaker speech, infant-directed speech (IDS), child-directed speech (CDS), child-directed language (CDL), caregiver register, parente ...

''. Lundy has also performed in theater. In 1994, Lundy portrayed Rita Altabel in an

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

production of '' Uncommon Women and Others''. From 1993 to 1994 she starred in the short-lived NBC sitcom '' The Second Half''. From 1995 to 1996, Lundy played the title role of Gloria in the NBC sitcom '' Hope and Gloria''. The show was canceled after two seasons and 35 episodes. In 1996, Lundy starred opposite Tom Arnold in the comedy film ''

'' based on ''

'', characters from a series of books written by

Harry Allard Harry Allard (January 27, 1928 – February 1, 2017) was an American writer of children's books. Many of his books have received awards; a few have also been banned and challenged in the United States. Allard was born in Evanston, Illinois on J ...

and illustrated by James Marshall. It received negative reviews and was box-office bomb, though the film's director,

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for directing comedy films such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''Animal House, National Lampoon's Animal House'' (1978), The Blues Brothers (f ...

, considers this one of his favorites. The following year she had two female lead roles: in the Italian comedy film '' The Good Bad Guy'' and science fiction comedy '' RocketMan'' produced by Walt Disney Pictures. In 1998, she had supporting role in the drama film, ''

Denial Denial, in colloquial English usage, has at least three meanings: * the assertion that any particular statement or allegation, whose truth is uncertain, is not true; * the refusal of a request; and * the assertion that a true statement is fal ...

''. The following years, Lundy played supporting roles on both film and television, notable guest-starring on ''

Dharma & Greg ''Dharma & Greg'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on ABC for five seasons from September 24, 1997, to April 30, 2002, with a total of 119 episodes. The show starred Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson as Dharma and Greg Mont ...

'', ''

Monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

'', '' The Game'', ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Jeff Davis that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005. It follows a group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral ...

'', ''

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 ...

'' and '' Major Crimes''. From 2015 to 2019, Lundy portrayed Inspector Amanda Wainwright in 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 ...

educational series, ''

''. In 2016, she won a

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...

for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming for her performance on ''The Inspectors''.Another win - ‘The Inspectors’ star receives Daytime Emmy (Retrieved May 7th 2019) https://link.usps.com/2016/05/02/another-win/

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lundy, Jessica 1966 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from San Diego American film actresses American television actresses Circle in the Square Theatre School alumni Daytime Emmy Award winners Living people People from Avon, Connecticut