Julianna Margulies studied at Sarah Lawrence College then moved to New York to break into acting. Her ER character was originally slated to commit suicide in the show's opening episode, but the plot was changed and Margulies went on to become one of the show's stars. In 1995 she won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress.
Margulies' father, an advertising executive, wrote the famous "Plop plop fizz fizz" jingle for Alka-Seltzer.
Career Highlights: What's Cooking?, A Price Above Rubies, Paradise Road
First Major Screen Credit: ER: Season 01 (1994)
Biography
Raven-haired Julianna Margulies may have become an award-winning TV star on NBC's phenomenally successful ER in the 1990s, but she was ready to exit the series to pursue movies and theater full time by decade's end. Born in Spring Valley, NY, Margulies spent part of her childhood living abroad before settling back in her hometown for a bohemian life with her free-spirit mother. Though she earned a B.A. in art history from Sarah Lawrence College, Margulies performed in college plays and decided to pursue an acting career. Margulies landed her first movie role in 1991, playing a prostitute in the Steven Seagal flick Out for Justice.
With no more movie roles forthcoming, Margulies made a living with theater work and TV guest star stints on Law and Order and Homicide in the early '90s. Margulies subsequently landed a role in the pilot for Michael Crichton's new hospital drama ER in 1994, but her character was slated for death after that single episode. Due to a positive audience response, however, Margulies' compassionate Nurse Hathaway survived the pilot. During her six seasons on the most popular TV drama of the 1990s, Margulies won the Emmy and the SAG Award and became a perennial nominee. Buoyed by her TV fame, Margulies returned to films during her hiatuses, starring as the would-be victim of Bill Paxton's Irish con in Traveler (1996), a POW alongside Glenn Close and Cate Blanchett in the ensemble drama Paradise Road (1997), and as Matthew McConaughey's girlfriend in Richard Linklater's Western-esque bank robber saga The Newton Boys (1998). Continuing to avoid glossy big budget Hollywood fare in favor of a more independent sensibility, Margulies also appeared in Boaz Yakin's A Price Above Rubies (1998) and Gurinder Chadha's multiethnic Thanksgiving tale What's Cooking? (2000). Margulies finally took on a blockbuster of sorts when she voiced one of the pre-historic reptiles in the animated Dinosaur (2000). Despite an offer that would have made her one of the highest paid actresses on TV, Margulies announced in 2000 that six years of ER was enough. While Hathaway departed to a future with George Clooney's Dr. Ross, Margulies moved back to New York to hit the off-Broadway stage with Donald Sutherland in Ten Unknowns (2001). Margulies returned to the small-screen for the female-centric version of the King Arthur legend The Mists of Avalon, before appearing in The Man from Elysian Fields, and opposite Pierce Brosnan in the drama Evelyn. After an appearance in the horror film Ghost Ship, Margulies would not appear in another widely released motion picture until she landed one of the main parts in the 2006 summer phenomenon known simply as Snakes on a Plane. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
Julianna Luisa Margulies
June 8, 1966 (1966-06-08)(age 43) Spring Valley, New York, U.S.
Occupation
Actress
Years active
1991–present
Spouse(s)
Keith Lieberthal (2007–present)
Julianna Luisa Margulies (born June 8, 1966) is an American actress.
After several small television roles, Margulies achieved success in her continuing role as Nurse Carol Hathaway on the NBCmedical dramaER, for which she won an Emmy Award. Since her departure from ER in 2000, Margulies has appeared sporadically in film and television, and has also worked in theater. Her more notable roles include Morgaine in the 2001 miniseries The Mists of Avalon and the voice of the female iguanadon Neera in the animated film Dinosaur (2000).
Her first movie role was as a prostitute looking to go straight in the Steven Seagal film Out for Justice. In 1994, Margulies was cast in a role in the pilot episode of ER as a character who, despondent over her relationship with George Clooney's character, Doug Ross, attempted suicide. Her character was originally intended to die; however, the producers changed the plot and she went on to play the role of Nurse Carol Hathaway for six years. She won an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Drama in 1994, and was nominated for this award every year during her tenure.
In an August 2006 interview with tvguide.com, Margulies said that she was close to accepting an offer to return to ER for a four-episode arc with Noah Wyle that filmed in Hawaii during the 2005-2006 season. However, she decided against it at the last minute. The interview went on to say that she appreciates the fact that the ER producers ask her back each and every year, she "love(s) that they do". Margulies was again invited to return during ER's final season, but the actress turned down the offer, saying that she felt like she left Carol Hathaway in the perfect place and couldn't imagine bettering her departure episode.[5] However, in 2009, Margulies returned to ER for one episode during its 15th and final season.[6]
She had a minor role in 2007's The Darwin Awards. One of her more recent series, Canterbury's Law, premiered on Fox on March 10, 2008. She played the title character, Elizabeth Canterbury, a lawyer described as "a tough-minded defense attorney who isn't afraid to push boundaries in order to protect innocent clients."[7] The series was impacted by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike and was cancelled after 6 episodes. She currently stars in the CBS series The Good Wife with Chris Noth.
Personal life
Margulies and Lieberthal at the Metropolitan Opera opera in 2008
