Erica Gimpel

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Erica Gimpel
Gimpel family singing "Our Love Is Here To Stay".jpg
Erica Gimpel, Joseph Gimpel (her father) and Phyllis Bash (her mother) singing Our Love Is Here to Stay (2018)
Born
Erica Fawn Gimpel

(1964-06-25) June 25, 1964 (age 61) [1]
New York City, U.S.
Education High School of Performing Arts
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
  • dancer
Years active1982–present
Known for

Erica Fawn Gimpel (born June 25, 1964) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and composer. She is best known for her roles on television shows Fame as Coco Hernandez [2] and on Profiler as Angel Brown. She is also known for her recurring roles on the television shows ER as Adele Newman and on Veronica Mars as Alicia Fennel. From 2018 to 2020, Gimpel had a series regular role as Trish on the series God Friended Me .

Contents

Gimpel was a judge on RTÉ One's Fame: The Musical , an Irish TV talent show seeking a boy and a girl to play Nick and Serena respectively in the Irish touring production of Fame . [3]

Personal life

Gimpel was born in Manhattan, New York City in 1964. She graduated from New York's High School of Performing Arts a few months after she started filming her role as a student at the same school for the television show Fame . She had toured the United States and Europe with her mother, singer Phyllis Bash, who was in the opera Porgy and Bess . [4] Her father, Joseph Gimpel, was an actor, writer and singer. [4]

Career

Film and television

Gimpel has starred in numerous primetime and streaming shows including NCIS: New Orleans , Chicago Med , Grey's Anatomy , Shut Eye , True Blood , Criminal Minds , Nikita , Rizzoli & Isles , House , ER , Profiler , and Veronica Mars . One of Gimpel's favorite projects was playing Trish on the CBS drama God Friended Me for two seasons. She played Ellie Fielding in Mayfair Witches and Brittany Arrington on The Night Agent .

On film, she has appeared in Tuesday Morning Ride (1995), Smoke , King of New York , No Such Thing , Freaky Friday , Romeo and Juliet in Harlem, and Sylvie's Love , and in the independent feature Bang Bang (2023).

Theater

Theater credits include originating the role of Mayme in Lynn Nottage's award-winning Intimate Apparel ., [5] Glory Bee in States of Shock, [6] and Nelly in Each Day Dies With Sleep. [6] Gimpel received the Stage Raw Award for Best Solo Performance for her work in the one-woman play Sister by Michael Phillip Edwards. [7]

Music

In January 2010, Gimpel released the album Spread your Wings and Fly, recorded live in Santa Monica. [8]

Gimpel composed and performed the song "This Moment" on God Friended Me. She also co-wrote and performed the song "Goodbye" on Babylon 5 .[ citation needed ]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1988 Case Closed KathyTV movie
1990 King of New York Dr. Shute
Penny Ante: The Motion PictureDale Martinez
1991 Homicide Woman with Randolph
UndertowNina
1994The FenceJackie
Amateur Irate Woman
1995 Smoke Doreen Cole
Flirt Nurse
Tuesday Morning RideModineShort
The Price of LoveOfficer HudsonTV movie
1996Sticks & StonesMiss William
1997 Touch Me Kareen
1999Santa and PeteCassie MooreTV movie
Intimate BetrayalToniTV movie
2001 No Such Thing Judy
Impostor Newscaster No. 1
2003 Freaky Friday Harry's Teacher
2004In Your EyesYolie
A Boyfriend for Christmas BethTV movie
Betty's TreatsMrs. WilsonShort
Beck and CallLeahTV Short
2006Jane Doe: The Harder They FallMargaret MonroeTV movie
2007 The List Gail
2009 Veronika Decides to Die Nurse White
Blue Eyes Sandra
2010Machete JoeErica
2013Tio PapiDet. Johnson
2015Cloudy with a Chance of LoveDr. Ruth HarrisTV movie
Sex, Death and Bowling Shanti
2017Romeo and Juliet in HarlemNurse
2020 Sylvie's Love Eunice
2021Far MoreShanti
2024Bang BangSharon

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1982–87 Fame Coco HernandezMain Cast: Season 1–3, Guest: Season 4 & 6
1985 Spenser: For Hire ShelleyEpisode: "Original Sin"
North and South SemiramisMain Cast
1986North and South, Book IISemiramisMain Cast
1988 The Cosby Show JenniferEpisode: "Waterworks"
1990 American Playhouse WendyEpisode: "Women & Wallace"
1994 Law & Order TempletonEpisode: "Breeder"
Touched by an Angel Sydney JessupEpisode: "Tough Love"
1995 New York Undercover MelindaEpisode: "The Smoking Section"
1996 Babylon 5 CailynEpisode: "Walkabout"
1996–99 Profiler Angel BrownMain Cast: Season 1–3, Recurring Cast: Season 3-4
1997 The Big Easy Felice CarlyleEpisode: "Driving Ms. Money"
1997–03 ER Adele NewmanRecurring Cast: Season 3-4 & 6–8, Guest: Season 9
1999 Any Day Now Laura SandersEpisode: "A Parent's Job"
2000 The District Ella's LawyerEpisode: "The Real Terrorist" & "How They Lived"
2001 Roswell FBI Agent Suzanne DuffRecurring Cast: Season 2
2002 Touched by an Angel Sydney JessupEpisode: "The Last Chapter"
MDs Allison GreelyEpisode: "Cruel and Unusual"
2003–04 JAG Varese ChestnutEpisode: "A Merry Little Christmas" & "What If"
2004 The Division Aimee BreckridgeEpisode: "Bite Me"
2004–06 Veronica Mars Alicia FennelRecurring Cast: Season 1-2
2005 Everwood Dr. GansEpisode: "Surprise"
2006 House Elizabeth StoneEpisode: "Failure to Communicate"
Numb3rs Principal Riva BellEpisode: "Waste Not"
Criminal Minds SarahEpisode: "Profiler, Profiled"
2006–07 Boston Legal Attorney Samantha FriedRecurring Cast: Season 2, Guest: Season 3
2007 Close to Home Dr. UdellEpisode: "Protégé"
Murder 101: If Wishes Were Horses Police Sgt. Joanne MattersonEpisode: "If Wishes Were Horses"
2008 Eleventh Hour Lizzie SummersEpisode: "Cardiac"
2009 Grey's Anatomy Bethany AndersonEpisode: "Invest in Love"
2011 Prime Suspect PrincipalEpisode: "Wednesday's Child"
The Young and the Restless Det. Harriet MauroRegular Cast
2011–12 Rizzoli & Isles ER DoctorGuest Cast: Season 2-3
2012 Nikita Carla BennettRecurring Cast: Season 2
Criminal Minds SarahEpisode: "The Company"
True Blood Faerie ElderEpisode: "Sunset"
2013 Cult Ginny YarrowEpisode: "The Good Fight" & "The Devil You Know"
2014 Switched at Birth Yvette GiffordEpisode: "Have You Really the Courage?"
EnormousCarolineEpisode: "Enormous"
2015 Code Black Alice SellersEpisode: "Black Tag"
2016 The Catch Renée EtheridgeEpisode: "The Larágan Gambit"
Murder in the First Corinne HagerEpisode: "The Barbers of Seville"
2017 Shut Eye Agent SimsRecurring Cast: Season 2
2018 Chicago Med Lydia SingletonEpisode: "An Inconvenient Truth"
2018–20 God Friended Me TrishaRecurring Cast: Season 1, Main Cast: Season 2
2021 NCIS New Orleans Lynette CarterEpisode: "Leda and the Swan, Part 1 & 2"
2022 9-1-1 Pauline BarrettEpisode: "Fear-o-phobia"
2023 Mayfair Witches Elena "Ellie" FieldingRecurring Cast
The Night Agent Brittany ArringtonEpisode: "The Marionette"

See also

References

  1. "This day in history". Boston.com. June 25, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2011.[ dead link ]
  2. Rothenberg, Fred (January 7, 1982). "'Fame' Series Pilot 'Sparkling'". The Sumter Daily Item. Archived from the original on October 15, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
  3. Sweeney, Ken (January 23, 2010). "'Fame' beckons as 1980s star Coco seeks new talent". Irish Independent . Archived from the original on September 8, 2010. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Joseph Gimpel Obituary". The Daily Sentinel . December 25, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2025 via Legacy.com.
  5. Bandler, Michael J. "Intimate Apparel". TheaterMania.com. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  6. 1 2 "Erica Gimpel | Actor | All Contributions". spectra.theater. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  7. "2nd Annual 'Stage Raw' Awards Winners Announced". broadwayworld.com. Broadway World. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  8. Erica Gimpel (performer) (July 16, 2015). Night Sky (YouTube). Retrieved August 10, 2025. Spread Your Wings and Fly - Erica Gimpel Live © 2010 Erica Gimpel Released on 2010-01-16