Pamela Reed is an American actress. She is known for playing

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

's police partner Phoebe O'Hara in the 1990 film '' Kindergarten Cop'' and portraying the

matriarch Matriarchy is a social system in which positions of power and privilege are held by women. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege, and control of property. While those definitions apply in general English, ...

Gail Green in ''

Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...

''. She appeared as Marlene Griggs-Knope on the NBC

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

'' Parks and Recreation''. She is also well known as the exasperated wife Alison Langley in ''

Bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...

''.

Early life and education

Reed received her B.F.A. at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Career

Reed earned a

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...

for the

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 ...

play ''Getting Out'' and an

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

for "sustaining excellence in performance in theater". She was a regular in the cast of the 1977 CBS drama '' The Andros Targets''. She had minor film and television work in the 1980s. She won a CableAce Award for Best Actress for the HBO series '' Tanner '88'' (1988). She also co-starred with Daryl Hannah in the film . Her notable film roles include '' The Long Riders'' (1980), '' The Right Stuff'' (1983), '' The Best of Times'' (1986), '' Kindergarten Cop'' (1990), '' Junior'' (1994), '' Deadly Whispers'' (1995), ''

'' (1997), and '' Proof of Life'' (2001). Reed played Janice Pasetti in the quirky NBC sitcom '' Grand'', and then played a judge and single mother in the short-lived NBC sitcom '' The Home Court''. She has provided the voice for the character Ruth Powers in 4 episodes of the animated TV series ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'' and guest-voiced in an episode of the 1994–1995 animated series ''

The Critic ''The Critic'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated sitcom revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as w ...

''. She played a main role in ''

'' and portrayed the mother of main character Leslie Knope (

Amy Poehler Amy Meredith Poehler ( ; born September 16, 1971) is an American actress and comedian. Known for her roles in sketch comedy, sitcoms and comedy films, she has earned acclaim and several accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award (out of 26 nom ...

) on '' Parks and Recreation''. In 2005 Reed portrayed

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

Esther Shapiro in '' Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure'', a fictionalized television movie based on the creation and behind the scenes production of the 1980s prime time

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

''. Reed has also worked for Storyline Online, reading '' Stellaluna''.

Personal life

Reed met Sandy Smolan when he directed her in '' Rachel River''. They married in 1988 and have two adopted children, Reed and Lily.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Pamela 1949 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Drama Desk Award winners Living people University of Washington School of Drama alumni