Sharon Lawrence has the depth and passion needed for a long-running drama, the range and timing to land her own comedy series, the verve to star in high-profile theatre productions, and the vision to produce her own films. The result is a wide and multi-faceted career.
She recently completed filming the first season of HIDDEN PALMS, Kevin Williamson’s new series for the CW network. Her most recent stage work was with the renowned Williamstown Theatre Festival appearing as Reno Sweeny in ANYTHING GOES. Last March she starred in the original movie AUGUSTA, GONE, earning praise for her portrayal in the true telling of a mother and daughter’s struggle with teen drug abuse for Lifetime receiving the Spirit of Youth award from the National Runaway Hotline.
In the summer of 2005 she received rave reviews for her star turn at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor in the ‘30’s comedy of manners, No Time For Comedy by S. N. Behrman and for her leading role in the new play Dialectics of the Heart at Santa Monica’s Edgemar’s Center for the Arts . At the Geffen Playhouse in the acclaimed revival of Lerner and Lowe’s Paint Your Wagon, Sharon created the new role of Lily Shakespeare in the David Rambo adaptation. This was her second appearance at the Geffen after her ferocious portrayal in the British play, Under the Blue Sky. She also starred in the popular 9/11 drama, The Guys with Keith David at The Berkeley Repertory Theater. For UCLA’s Reprise! Sharon starred in the 70’s feminist hit I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It On The Road and Company. Recent movie work includes Lies and Alibis with Rebecca Romjin and John Leguizamo for Sony and Little Black Book with Holly Hunter and Brittany Murphy for Revolution Studios.
Sharon’s work has been seen recently in primetime dramas such as Monk, Boston Legal, and in Desperate Housewives as Maisy Gibbons, the stay-at-home prostitute. Watch for her on upcoming episodes of Monk with Tony Shaloub. Her last series regular role was in the critically acclaimed Wolf Lake for CBS starring Lou Diamond Phillips and Tim Matheson.
Also on CBS, Sharon starred on the hit Judging Amy playing a celebrity attorney. On the other side of the law, she made a special guest star appearance in NBC’s Law and Order: SVU in which she played a sociopath serial killer and prostitute.
As co-star of the two-season CBS comedy, Ladies Man, she played opposite Alfred Molina as his spouse, Donna Stiles, a complex wife, mom, step mom and daughter-in-law. On Ladies Man, Sharon was a member of one of the most seasoned casts on primetime television, which included Betty White and Stephen Root, and she gave a performance that required many disciplines acquired during a career that has spanned every genre from musical comedy to serious drama. On hiatus from her first season of Ladies Man in 2000, Sharon starred as Velma Kelly, the sexy murderess, in the smash hit musical Chicago at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway. This marked Sharon’s first appearance on a Broadway stage since becoming famous for creating an indelible character, Sylvia Costas Sipowicz, on NYPD Blue, in 1993.
Sharon garnered a Screen Actor’s Guild Award and three Emmy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress on the multiple Emmy Award-winning ABC drama series while portraying Sylvia, the compassionate and headstrong District Attorney who falls in love with, and marries, Detective Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz).
Her comedic guest turn as a high-strung, chain-smoking headhunter on the NBC hit comedy Caroline in the City in the 1995-1996 season was so well-received that it generated an all-network bidding war which resulted in an overall NBC deal for Sharon. This resulted in her starring role in the NBC sitcom Fired Up and made her one of the few actresses in 1997 to be featured on two prime-time series – one drama, and one comedy - on competing networks. She has starred in many films for television and produced under her deal with NBC FIVE DESPERATE HOURS co-starring Giancarlo Esposito.
Sharon is on the Board of the Women In Film Foundation and is active in supporting Global Green USA, The Creative Coalition and the Alzheimer’s Association.
