An actress who seems to have talent waiting to burst out of the small featured roles to which she has been assigned, Lisa Gay Hamilton made it to primetime TV in 1997 playing Rebecca Washington, the paralegal receptionist who graduated to full-fledged attorney on the ABC TV series "The Practice". She was cast in the role after several critically-acclaimed stage performances, notably in Athol Fugard's "Valley Song", in which she played a South African teen on the verge of adulthood yearning to become a singer. Hamilton first played the role in 1995 at the prestigious MacArthur Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey, then reprised it Off-Broadway and at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in 1997. A graduate of Juilliard, Hamilton has numerous stage credits, including the New York Shakespeare Festival production of "Measure for Measure", starring Kevin Kline and Andre Braugher. She first appeared on Broadway in 1990 playing the supporting role of Grace in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson" and could be seen as one of Allen Dershowitz' minions in "Reversal of Fortune" (1990). More recently, she appeared as Adam Trese's unhappy wife in "Palookaville" (1995) and was cast by Quentin Tarantino in "Jackie Brown" (1997). Hamilton also made a strong impression playing a member of Alcoholics Anonymous who feels shame because her behavior contributed to a younger bother's substance abuse in "Drunks" (Showtime, 1996; later released theatrically).1997 Hamilton landed a role on the ABC drama "The Practice" as streetwise paralegal Rebecca Washington. In addition to this role, Hamiliton continued to appear on the big screen, In 1999 she played a death row inmate's wife in "True Crime" and appeared in 1998's Toni Morrison adaptation "Beloved." Showing her broad range of acting ability, Hamilton also played Ophelia in a 2000 television production of "Hamlet." She next appeared in 2002's hit action movie "The Sum of All Fears" starring Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman.
Profession(s):
Actor
Sometimes Credited As:
Lisa Gay Hamilton
LisaGay Hamilton
Education
Carnegie-Mellon University Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania theater
New York University New York, New York theater
The Juilliard School New York, New York drama 1988
OBIE Award Performance "Valley Song" 1995 - 1996
2005 Cast in the ensemble "Nine Lives"; Rodrigo García directs a series of vignettes, offering glimpses into the lives of nine women
2002 Cast as Capt. Lorna Shiro in "The Sum of All Fears"
2002 Reunited with director Johnathan Demme to portray Lola in the mystery feature "The Truth About Charlie"
2000 Cast as Ophelia in Campbell Scott's version of "Hamlet" for the Odyssey TV network; released theatrically in 2001
1998 Portrayed the younger version of Oprah Winfrey's character in "Beloved," a feature based on the novel by Toni Morrison
1997 Played the receptionist Rebecca Washington on "The Practice" (ABC)
1996 Made impression in "Drunks" (Showtime; later shown in limited theatrical release)
1995 First performed in Athol Fugard's "Valley Song" in Princeton, New Jersey; took the show to Off-Broadway in NYC and later to L.A.
1990 Broadway debut, "The Piano Lesson"
1985 Made film debut in "Krush Groove"
Moved with family to Long Island, NY, at age 4
