Merrin Melissa Dungey (born August 6, 1971) is an American film and television actress, known for her roles on the television series ''

The King of Queens ''The King of Queens'' is an American television sitcom that ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007, with a total of 207 half-hour episodes spanning nine seasons. The series was created by Michael J. Weithorn and David Litt, who al ...

'', '' Alias'', ''

Malcolm in the Middle ''Malcolm in the Middle'' is an American television sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 9, 2000, and ended on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons consisting of 151 episodes. The ...

'', '' Summerland'', ''

Conviction In law, a conviction is the determination by a court of law that a defendant is Guilty (law), guilty of a crime. A conviction may follow a guilty plea that is accepted by the court, a jury trial in which a verdict of guilty is delivered, or a ...

'', '' The Resident'' and '' The Fix''. She also appeared as Ursula on ''

Once Upon a Time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 in storytelling in the English language and has started many narrative ...

''. From 2022 to 2023, Dungey played series regular Kam in '' Shining Vale''.

Early life and education

Dungey, who is of

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

heritage, was born and raised in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

, * ^a "Born on August 6, 1971, in Sacramento, California..." — Pg. 125, ¶ 3. * ^b "After graduating from Rio Americano High School in 1989..." — Pg. 126, ¶ 3. the younger daughter of Don Dungey, a general services manager and Judith Dungey. As a child, she was active in ballet and dance as well as piano. Dungey was also an accomplished ice skater. Dungey graduated in 1989 from Rio Americano High School in Sacramento, California. After high school, Dungey earned a degree of

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

in 1993. Dungey has a sister, Channing Dungey who was president of ABC Entertainment and is the CEO of Warner Bros. Television Studios.

Career

Dungey had small roles in Hollywood films such as ''

EDtv ''EDtv'' is a 1999 American satirical comedy film directed by Ron Howard. An adaptation of the Quebecois film '' Louis 19, King of the Airwaves (Louis 19, le roi des ondes)'' (1994), it stars Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman, Woody Harrels ...

'' and '' Deep Impact'' and on television series such as ''

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

,'' before landing the recurring role of Kelly Palmer on the CBS television series ''

'', in which she starred from 1999 to 2007. She appeared in each season of the series except for the 2002–03 season. Dungey is also well known for her role as Francie Calfo on the drama series '' Alias'' from 2001 to 2003, as well as making an appearance on the 2006

series finale A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, ...

episode '' All the Time in the World''. She also had a recurring role on the FOX sitcom ''

'' as Stevie's mother, Kitty Kenarban. At one point in 2001, Dungey was appearing in all three shows (''The King of Queens'', ''Malcolm in the Middle'', and ''Alias'') at the same time. Dungey portrayed Susannah in the WB drama series '' Summerland'' from 2004 to 2005. She has also guest-starred on various TV series including ''

Living Single ''Living Single'' is an American television sitcom created by Yvette Denise Lee that aired for five seasons on the Fox network, from August 22, 1993, to January 1, 1998. The show centers on the lives of six New York City friends who share perso ...

'', '' ER'', ''

Murphy Brown ''Murphy Brown'' is an American television sitcom created by Diane English that premiered on November 14, 1988, on CBS. The series stars Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news presenter, news anch ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

'', ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American 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 West Wing of the White House, where t ...

'', ''

Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tel ...

'', and ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', also known colloquially simply as ''Curb'', is an American television comedy of manners created by Larry David that premiered on HBO with an hour-long special in October 17, 1999, followed by 12 seasons broadcast from Oc ...

''. Dungey appeared in two episodes of ''

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 ...

'' that served as a backdoor pilot for '' Private Practice'', but was replaced by actress Audra McDonald for the series. Dungey guest-starred on the ABC sitcoms '' Surviving Suburbia'' starring Bob Saget, '' Better Off Ted'' starring Portia de Rossi, ''

Castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

'' starring Nathan Fillion, and HBO's '' Hung'' starring

Thomas Jane Thomas Jane (born Thomas Elliott III; February 22, 1969) is an American actor. Born and raised in Maryland, Jane's film career started with the Telugu-language romantic comedy '' Padamati Sandhya Ragam'' (1987). His other early films included ...

. She portrayed Ellie on the

Nick at Nite Nick at Nite (stylized as nick@nite since 2009) is an American nighttime programming block on Nickelodeon. List of programs broadcast by Nick at Nite, The block's programming broadcasts from prime time to Late-night television, late night, with ...

television series '' Hollywood Heights'' in 2012 and had a recurring role as Alissa Barnes on ABC's '' Betrayal'' in 2013. In 2014 she appeared in a featured role opposite

Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He was the fifth actor to play the fictional secret agent Portrayal of James Bond in film, James Bond in the List of James Bond films, James Bond film series, starri ...

in '' Some Kind of Beautiful''. Also in 2014, she began portraying the recurring roles of Ursula on ABC's ''

'' and Sharon Jeffords on ''

Brooklyn Nine-Nine ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' is an American police procedural sitcom television series that aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox, and later on NBC, from September 17, 2013, to September 16, 2021, for eight seasons and 153 episodes. Created by Dan G ...

''. Dungey played investigator Maxine Bohen on the ABC legal drama ''

'' from October 2016 to May 2017. In September 2017, she joined the cast of the medical drama '' The Resident'' as Claire Thorpe. Dungey next appeared as C.J. Bernstein in the ABC legal drama '' The Fix''. In February 2021, Dungey was cast in the series regular role of Kam in the

Starz Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...

series '' Shining Vale''. The series premiered in March 2022, and was later picked up for a second season in May 2022.

Personal life

In May 2007, Dungey married Matthew Drake in a

mariachi Mariachi (, , ) is a genre of regional Mexican music dating back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, two ...

-style wedding ceremony in Cancun, Mexico. She gave birth to their first daughter in June 2008, and a second daughter in 2011. Dungey and Drake separated in 2018 and divorced in 2021. In 2023, Dungey announced her engagement to Kevin Ryder, a member of the Radio Hall of Fame and NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame for his work on '' Kevin and Bean''. They married on December 31, 2023.https://x.com/RealMerrinD/status/1741977535150444958?s=20

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
PopGurls 20 Questions with Merrin Dungey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dungey, Merrin Living people 1971 births Actresses from Sacramento, California University of California, Los Angeles alumni American television actresses American film actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses UCLA Film School alumni 20th-century African-American actresses 21st-century African-American actresses