Sharon Lawrence

Sharon Elizabeth Lawrence (born June 29, 1961) is an American actress.

She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism in 1983.

Lawrence began her acting career on Broadway in the 1987 revival of Cabaret.

In 1990, she performed in Fiddler on the Roof.

She appeared in a number of television movies and series in the 1990s, like Cheers and Star Trek: Voyager.

From 1993 to 1999, she starred as Sylvia Costas in the ABC drama series, NYPD Blue.

The role garnered her three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series, and Satellite Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama.

She received three additional Emmy Awards nominations for her later television performances.

In 1993 she was cast as Assistant District Attorney Sylvia Costas in the ABC police drama series NYPD Blue created by Steven Bochco.

Her consistently praised performance earned the actress three Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series nominations from 1993 to 1996, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series in 1996.

In 1996 she left the show for her own comedy series Fired Up on NBC.

The series was canceled after two seasons.

After her NYPD Blue breakthrough, Lawrence starred in the sitcoms Fired Up (1997-98) and Ladies Man (1999-2001).

She later returned to NYPD Blue as a regular, and left the show in 1999, after her character was killed.

Lawrence starred with Betty White and Alfred Molina on the short-lived sitcom Ladies Man from 1999 to 2001.

Her film credits include Gossip (2000), Middle of Nowhere (2012) and Solace (2015).

In 2021, she starred in the Paramount+ neo-Western series, Joe Pickett.

Lawrence was born in Charlotte, North Carolina.

She moved from Charlotte to Raleigh in her junior year of high school and graduated from Needham B. Broughton High School.

She played Velma Kelly in the Broadway musical Chicago in 2000.

In film, she co-starred in Gossip (2000), Little Black Book (2004), and The Alibi (2006).

Lawrence guest starred on many television dramas and sitcoms in the 2000s.

She played Maisy Gibbons, a housewife/prostitute in season one of Desperate Housewives.

She also appeared in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Boston Legal, Monk, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Mentalist, and Body of Proof.

She starred in TV movie Atomic Twister as Corrine McGuire.

she starred in the CBS supernatural drama Wolf Lake in 2001, and the CW teen drama Hidden Palms in 2007.

Lawrence had notable recurring performances in Desperate Housewives, Drop Dead Diva, Rizzoli & Isles, The Ranch, Shameless and Queen Sugar.

She also had a series regular role on the CBS supernatural drama Wolf Lake from 2001 to 2002.

She had a regular role on the short-lived CW teenage drama series Hidden Palms (2008), as Tess Wiatt, and was seen in the Canadian cable television drama The Line in 2009.

In 2009, Lawrence was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal as Izzie Stevens' mother on Grey's Anatomy.

She also played the lead character mother in a Lifetime comedy-drama Drop Dead Diva from 2009 to 2013.

Also, she played the birth mother of Dr. Maura Isles (Sasha Alexander) in the TNT television series Rizzoli & Isles, although in real life the actresses are only 12 years apart.

In recent years, Lawrence has starred in several independent films.

In April 2010, Lawrence joined Josh Schwartz's CBS pilot Hitched.

In October 2010, she began a recurring role on One Tree Hill as Sylvia Baker, the mother of Julian Baker (Austin Nichols) who comes to Tree Hill from Los Angeles to plan the upcoming wedding of Julian and Brooke Davis (Sophia Bush).

In 2013 she was cast in Chris Carter's thriller drama series The After.

The show was set to premiere on Amazon Studios in 2014.

Amazon canceled the series before its premiere on January 5, 2015.

In March 2015, Lawrence was cast in the ABC comedy-drama pilot Mix.

In 2017, Lawrence starred in the CBS short-lived comedy series Me, Myself and I.