Who Am I? September 2025

I was born at the tail end of the baby-boom generation in N.Y.C. during the presidency of LBJ. My dad was of English descent whose family was prominent in colonial America. He worked as a venture capitalist. My mom was of German-Jewish descent and worked as a speech teacher. My folks divorced when I was in grade school; however, my mom got remarried to a Jewish vet whose U.S. army unit helped liberate the Dachau Concentration Camp and who later became an art dealer. I attribute most of my Jewish identity to Ben, my dear step-father.

I attended the well-regarded Dwight-Englewood School in New Jersey; however, I graduated from a K-12 Quaker school founded in the eighteenth century located in the East Village. Later on I attended Sarah Lawrence College and U.S.C. where I majored in theater. I also studied acting at Michael Howard Studios and the H B Studio in Greenwich Village.

I found jobs in daytime soap operas as a teen. Since then I have appeared in over 40 films and am recognized as an actress, director and producer; however, most of you know me from a TV role on TNT where I played a deputy police chief named Brenda from 2005-2012. I married a fellow thespian and we’ve been married for almost 40 years. In 2012 I appeared on a P.B.S. program called “Finding Your Roots” where I found out that my spouse was also my 10th cousin, once removed!

I am active in various volunteer organizations especially ones that work for ‘Tikkun Olam.’ I am a board member of the Natural Resources Defense Council – an N.G.O. that is dedicated to protecting wildlife and ensuring a safe and healthy environment of all living things. That’s me in the photo below.

(1a)Who Am I? (1b) A close cousin of mine was an actress and model who was one of Andy Warhol’s stars and appeared in many of his short films. What was her name? (1c)What was the name of that Quaker school I graduated from? (2a)What is my husband’s name? (2b)In what TV movie did we first meet? (2c)I played 2 Jewish characters on screen. What were the names of those films? (3a)In what film did I play Tom Cruise’s sweetheart? (3b)Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward’s actual daughter appeared in their film, “The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the Moon Marigolds.” I once appeared in a film as their screen daughter. What was the name of that film? (4a)Finally, I appeared in a film as a banker’s wife with an attraction to both motorcycles and a more upscale life. The setting for that film was New England but we actually shot parts of the film in Madison, Ringwood, and Wayne, N.J. What was the name of that film? (4b) I co-starred in 2 films with my husband who is also a well-known actor. What is his name and what were the names of those 2 films? (4c)I have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Where exactly is that star?