Debra Monk

A classically-trained actress with her roots in the theater, buxom performer Debra Monk spent years specializing in portrayals of matronly types, including aunts, mothers and policewomen, onstage and onscreen. Monk made one of her first film appearances as Aunt Dorothy in Norman Rene's fantasy comedy Prelude to a Kiss (1993), opposite Alec Baldwin and Meg Ryan; then moved into a lengthy series of additional A-list Hollywood projects including Fearless (1993), For Love or Money (1993), Quiz Show (1994) and Extreme Measures (1996). In the mean time, Monk also continued her stage work in such Manhattan-area productions as Death Defying Acts (1995) and Redwood Curtain (1997), for which she netted a substantial degree of acclaim. Monk found even greater success on the small screen, however, with two ongoing roles on popular series: that of Katie Sipowicz on Steven Bochco's NYPD Blue and that of Louise O'Malley on Grey's Anatomy. In 2008, Monk landed a supporting role opposite John Malkovich and Colin Hanks in the bittersweet showbusiness drama The Great Buck Howard (2008).

~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide