Laura Innes

Laura Innes (born August 16, 1957) is an American actress and television director. She played Kerry Weaver in the medical drama '' ER'' (1995–2009), which earned her two Primetime Emmy Award nominations. In 2001, she received her third Primetime Emmy Award nomination for directing the episode "Shibboleth" of the political drama ''The West Wing''. She also appeared in the thriller drama ''The Event'' (2010–2011) and ''How to Get Away with Murder'' (2018–2020).

Career

Innes was introduced to professional theater by her father, who frequently took the family to the Stratford Festival of Canada in Stratford, Ontario. Following his advice to "do what you love," she attended Northwestern University graduating in 1980, where she was a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority and earned a degree in theater.

Her first stage credits were in Chicago at the Goodman Theatre and Wisdom Bridge Theatre, where she played Stella in ''A Streetcar Named Desire''. John Malkovich played Mitch in this production. Other major stage credits include ''Two Shakespearean Actors'' with Eric Stoltz at Lincoln Center, ''Our Town'' at the Seattle Repertory Theatre, and '' Three Sisters'' at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego.

In 1986, Innes co-starred as Krissy Bender Marino, the daughter of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara in the short-lived sitcom ''The Stiller and Meara Show''. In 1989, Innes played Miss Andrews in the Nickelodeon sitcom '' Hey Dude'' in the second season episode "Teacher's Pest". She also played Mrs. Fleeman in the episode "Baby". In the 1990s, Innes guest-starred in television series including ''Party of Five'', ''My So-Called Life'' and ''Brooklyn Bridge'' and appeared in the Emmy-winning TV movie '' And the Band Played On'' before being cast in her first major television role in the NBC sitcom '' Wings'' from 1991 to 1993. She played Bunny, the promiscuous ex-wife of Lowell Mather ( Thomas Haden Church).

In the fall of 1995, Innes began a recurring role in the second season of the hit NBC medical drama '' ER'', where she was cast as Dr. Kerry Weaver, the skilled chief of the ER with an abrasive exterior and a physical disability. She was added to the main cast in the third season. In 2001, her character came out as gay during the seventh season. She received two Emmy Award nominations for her role, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards with the ''ER'' ensemble cast, and has received five nominations for Best Supporting Actress from Viewers For Quality Television. Innes also directed a number of episodes of the series, and episodes of '' Brothers & Sisters'', ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'', ''House'' and ''The West Wing'', one of which earned her an Emmy nomination for directing.

In January 2007, Innes left ''ER'' in the middle of the thirteenth season, becoming the longest-serving cast member in the show's history, but Noah Wyle appeared in four more episodes than her. From 2008 to 2009, Innes returned to ''ER'' during its 15th and final season for two episodes including the series finale " And in the End...". Innes' films include the blockbuster science fiction disaster film '' Deep Impact'' (1998) and the comedy '' Can't Stop Dancing'' (1999) with her former ''ER'' co-star Noah Wyle.

On May 7, 2010, NBC announced that Innes would be co-starring in the short-lived science fiction/mystery/action/thriller drama ''The Event'' as Sophia, "the leader of a mysterious group of detainees" with Lisa Vidal, who played Kerry Weaver's wife, Sandy Lopez, in the eighth, ninth and tenth seasons of ''ER''. In 2012, she co-starred as Police Captain Tricia Harper in the short-lived NBC fantasy police procedural drama ''Awake''.

Personal life

Innes was born and raised in Pontiac, Michigan, the youngest daughter of six children to Laurette and Robert Innes, a tool and die company executive. Her first fiancé, actor David Bell, was murdered in December 1980. A few years after the murder, she married actor David Brisbin and, in 1990, gave birth to their son, Cal. They later adopted a daughter, Mia, from China.

In 2006, Innes told the ''Daily Mirror'' that ten years of portraying Dr. Weaver's limp had caused her to experience the early stages of actual spinal damage ("the bottom of my spine is starting to curve on one side from 10 years of raising my hip"), and as a consequence, ''ER''s producers introduced a plot arc in which Weaver's disorder was surgically corrected."Innes: 'ER' role damaged my spine"
''United Press International''. October 26, 2006. Retrieved March 8, 2020.

Charity work

Innes is an advocate for the disabled community, utilizing her role as a director to help employ disabled people. She is a supporter of the Performers with Disabilities Committee, which is associated with the Screen Actors Guild.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
Actresses from Michigan
American film actresses
American television actresses
American television directors
American women television directors
Living people
Northwestern University School of Communication alumni
People from Pontiac, Michigan
1957 births