Joanna P. Adler is an American actress, known for her roles in Off-Broadway plays. She won an Obie Award in 1995. In 2014, Adler starred in the second season of the Lifetime television series Devious Maids .
Adler graduated from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts and pursued a master's degree in Performance Studies at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Before completing her thesis, she began her professional acting career working with the internationally renowned theater collaborative, Mabou Mines. [1] She continued to work in New York City's off-Broadway theater community, most notably in the title role of Richard Foreman's Obie Award-winning play Benita Canova, John Guare's Lydie Breeze, and Paul Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Every Told . She appeared in a number of television commercials and in several independent movies.
In 1995, Adler won an Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress, for her role in the off-Broadway play The Boys in the Basement. [2] [3] She made her Broadway debut in Terrence McNally's Deuce, directed by Michael Blakemore. On television, she has guest-starred in Sex and the City , Law & Order , Law & Order: Special Victims Unit , 30 Rock , The Good Wife , and The Blacklist, and has had recurring roles on Gravity , Are We There Yet? , Orange Is The New Black , Divorce, and The Sinner. [4] [5]
In December 2013, it was announced that Adler had been cast as a series regular for the second season of the Lifetime television comedy-drama series Devious Maids [5] as Opal, a new maid who is secretive and conniving. [5] In 2018, she appeared in FX's The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story in a recurring role as Mary Ann Schillaci Cunanan, mother of serial killer Andrew Cunanan, who was portrayed by Darren Criss.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1993 | The Five Spot | Neurotic Girl | |
1996 | The Proprietor | New York - F. Freemder | |
1997 | Ties to Rachel | Deke | |
1998 | A Perfect Murder | Vyczowski | |
1998 | Side Streets | Policewoman | |
1998 | The Silent Love of the Fish | The Boy | Short film |
1999 | Just the Ticket | Vickie | |
1999 | A Fish in the Bathtub | Heather | |
2000 | Down to You | Piercing Woman | |
2000 | Drop Back Ten | McCue's Bartender | |
2001 | Trigger Happy | Katja | |
2003 | The Event | Gaby | |
2003 | School of Rock | Summer's Mother | |
2004 | Book of Love | Melissa | |
2004 | Boutique | Cordelia | Short film |
2004 | My Mom and Dad | Betty | Short film |
2006 | Shut Up and Sing | Sheila | |
2006 | The Big Bad Swim | Dr. Gaskill | |
2010 | An Invisible Sign | Lisa's Mom | |
2013 | Dinner@40 | Abby | Short film |
2014 | Revenge of the Green Dragons | Prosecutor Gwen Shore | |
2014 | 5 Flights Up | Boy's Mother | |
2014 | Kill Me | Waitress | Short film |
2016 | Almost Paris | Lauren | |
2018 | Alex Strangelove | Holly Truelove | |
2018 | Can You Ever Forgive Me? | Arlene | |
2020 | An American Pickle | Professor Kim Ecklund | |
2021 | Tick, Tick... Boom! | Molly | |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1998 | Sex and the City | Syd | Episode: "Bay of Married Pigs" |
2000 | Cosby | Dr. Ball | Episode: "The Song Remains the Same" |
2008 | New Amsterdam | Tech | Episode: "Soldier's Heart" |
2008 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Anna Nobile | Episode: "Legacy" |
2009 | The Unusuals | Jennifer Goodman | Episode: "42" |
2009 | Ugly Betty | Wedding Planner | Episode: "In the Stars" |
2006, 2010 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Sarah Gallagher / Persephone James | Episodes: "Informed" and "Savior" |
2002, 2009, 2010 | Law & Order | Barbara Speight / Amber Woods | Episodes: "Missing", "Great Satan" and "Love Eternal" |
2010 | Gravity | Sissy Rosenblum | Recurring role, 4 episodes |
2010, 2011 | 30 Rock | Donna Straunk | Episodes: "When It Rains, It Pours" and "It's Never Too Late for Now" |
2012 | The Good Wife | Miss Ledger | Episode: "Don't Haze Me, Bro" |
2012 | Chicago Fire | Sondra Sherman | Episode: "One Minute" |
2011–2012 | Are We There Yet? | Mrs. Phillips | Recurring role, 9 episodes |
2006–2013 | The Venture Bros. | Myra Brandish (voice) | 7 episodes |
2013, 2015 | Orange Is the New Black | Chaplain Royce | Recurring role, 4 episodes |
2014 | Devious Maids | Opal Sinclair | Series regular, 13 episodes |
2016 | The Tick | Dr. Creek | Episode: "The Tick" (pilot) |
2017 | The Blacklist | Kathryn Nemec | Episode: "Requiem" |
2017 | The Sinner | Detective Farmer | 3 episodes |
2018 | The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story | Mary Ann Cunanan | Recurring |
2019 | The Resident | Dawn Long | 1 episode "Flesh of the Flesh (3x02)" |
2022 | Billions | Alaska Faire | Episode: "Succession" |
Cherlynne Theresa Thigpen was an American actress of stage and screen. She was known for her role as "The Chief" of ACME Crimenet in the game show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? and various spinoffs, and for her role as "Luna" in the Playhouse Disney children's series Bear in the Big Blue House. For her varied television work, Thigpen was nominated for six Daytime Emmy Awards. She won a Tony Award in 1997 for portraying Dr. Judith Kaufman in An American Daughter, and also played Ella Farmer on The District (2000–2003). Thigpen first gained attention for her role in the 1971 off-Broadway musical Godspell. Thigpen's character is named Lynne, and she sang "O Bless the Lord, My Soul" in the musical. Thigpen reprised her role as Lynne in the 1973 film version of Godspell, which she also starred in alongside David Haskell and Victor Garber.
Lydia Susanna "Linda" Hunt is an American actress of stage and screen. She made her film debut playing Mrs. Oxheart in Popeye (1980). Her portrayal of the male character Billy Kwan in The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, making her the first person to win an Oscar for portraying a character of the opposite sex. Hunt has also appeared in films such as Dune (1984), Silverado (1985), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Pocahontas (1995), Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World (1998), and Stranger Than Fiction (2006).
Mercedes J. Ruehl is an American screen, stage, and television actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, two Obie Awards, and two Outer Critics Circle Awards.
Peter Frechette is an American actor. He is a stage actor with two Tony Award nominations for Eastern Standard and Our Country's Good, and frequently stars in the plays of Richard Greenberg. He is well known on TV for playing hacker George on the NBC series Profiler and Peter Montefiore on Thirtysomething. In film, he is known for playing T-Bird Louis DiMucci in the musical Grease 2.
Julia Margaret Duffy is an American actress. She began her career in television, appearing in minor guest roles before being cast in the role of Penny Davis in the series The Doctors from 1973 until 1977. She starred in the acclaimed Broadway revival of Once in a Lifetime in 1978.
Frances Hussey Sternhagen was an American actress. Sternhagen was known as a character actress who appeared on- and off-Broadway, in movies, and on television for over six decades. She received numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award and a Saturn Award, as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards.
Judy Reyes is an American actress, model and producer, best known for her roles as Carla Espinosa on the NBC/ABC medical comedy series Scrubs (2001–2009), as Zoila Diaz in the Lifetime comedy-drama Devious Maids (2013–2016), and as Annalise "Quiet Ann" Zayas in the TNT crime comedy-drama Claws (2017—2022). Reyes also appeared in films All Together Now (2020), Smile (2022), and Birth/Rebirth (2023), for which she received Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Performance nomination.
Melinda Page Hamilton is an American actress, best known for her role as Odessa Burakov in the Lifetime comedy-drama series Devious Maids, and for her leading role in the independent film Sleeping Dogs Lie (2006). She has had recurring roles on Desperate Housewives, Mad Men, and Big Love.
Valerie Mahaffey is an American character actress and producer. She began her career starring in the NBC daytime soap opera The Doctors (1979–81), for which in 1980 she was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
Adina Elizabeth Porter is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Lettie Mae Thornton on the HBO fantasy horror series True Blood (2008–2014), Kendra James on the HBO drama series The Newsroom (2012–2014), and Indra on the CW science fiction drama series The 100 (2014–2020). She received further recognition for her roles as Sally Freeman, Lee Harris, Beverly Hope, Dinah Stevens, and Chief Burleson on the first, sixth, seventh, eighth, and tenth seasons of the FX anthology series American Horror Story (2011–present).
Ana Ortiz is an American actress and singer. Having pursued a career in ballet and singing from a young age, she eventually attended University of the Arts. Ortiz began her acting career in theatre, in early 2000s starred in the short-lived NBC sitcoms Kristin (2001) and A.U.S.A. (2003), and had recurring roles on Over There and Boston Legal.
Lois Arlene Smith is an American character actress whose career spans eight decades. She made her film debut in the 1955 drama film East of Eden, and later played supporting roles in a number of movies, including Five Easy Pieces (1970), Resurrection (1980), Fatal Attraction (1987), Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), Falling Down (1993), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), Dead Man Walking (1995), Twister (1996), Minority Report (2002), The Nice Guys (2016), Lady Bird (2017), and The French Dispatch (2021).
Kathleen Ann Chalfant is an American actress. She has appeared in many stage plays, both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, as well as making guest appearances on television series, including the Law & Order franchise.
Jayne Houdyshell is an American actress. Known for her character actor role on stage and screen she has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award, two Obie Awards, and a Drama Desk Award.
Linda Marie Emond is an American stage, film, and television actress. Emond has received three Tony Award nominations for her performances in Life (x) 3 (2003), Death of a Salesman (2012), and Cabaret (2014).
Mariana Klaveno is an American actress best known for her television roles as Lorena Ball (Krasiki) in the HBO series True Blood, as the psychopath Abby in the Lifetime movie While the Children Sleep, and as movie actress Peri Westmore in the Lifetime comedy-drama Devious Maids. In 2014, she starred as Detective Janice Lawrence in the CBS crime drama series Stalker.
Rebecca Wisocky is an American actress. Best known for her role as Evelyn Powell in the Lifetime comedy-drama series Devious Maids (2013–16), as of 2021 she is starring as Hetty Woodstone on the CBS sitcom Ghosts.
Elizabeth Rodriguez is an American actress. She began her career appearing in films Fresh (1994), Dead Presidents (1995), I Think I Do (1997) and Blow (2001). She played Detective Gina Calabrese in the 2006 film adaptation of Miami Vice.
Devious Maids is an American television comedy-drama and mystery series created by, produced by ABC Studios, and executive produced by Cherry, Sabrina Wind, Eva Longoria, Paul McGuigan, Larry Shuman, David Lonner, John Mass, Paul Presburger, and Michael Garcia. It is based on the Mexican series Ellas son... la alegría del hogar. It originally aired on Lifetime for four seasons from June 23, 2013, to August 8, 2016.
The second season of the American television comedy-drama series Devious Maids began airing on Lifetime on April 20, 2014. The season consists of 13 episodes.