Alison LaPlaca is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 actress best known for the role of acid-tongued yuppie Linda Phillips in the Fox

Fox Broadcasting Company

Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

 sitcoms

Situation comedy

A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...

 Duet

Duet (TV series)

Duet is an American sitcom that aired on Fox from April 19, 1987 to August 20, 1989...

and its spin-off

Spin-off (media)

In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...

 Open House

Open House (TV series)

Open House is an American sitcom that aired on Fox from August 27, 1989 to July 21, 1990. The series was a spin-off of the Fox series Duet...

, both of which aired in the late 1980s.

Early life and career

LaPlaca is a graduate of Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois

Lincolnshire, Illinois

Lincolnshire is a village in the Vernon Township region of Lake County, in the U.S. state of Illinois. The village is a suburb of Chicago, a city in the adjacent Cook County. Its population was 6,108 at the time of the 2000 census. Lincolnshire was incorporated on August 5, 1957, from the...

, a suburb of Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

. She attended Illinois Wesleyan University

Illinois Wesleyan University

Illinois Wesleyan University is an independent undergraduate university located in Bloomington, Illinois. Founded in 1850, the central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854 with the first building erected in 1856...

, where she majored in drama. She performed in a circus show, Circus Fantastic, at Marriott's Great America, now Six Flags Great America

Six Flags Great America

Six Flags Great America is a Six Flags theme park in the Chicago metropolitan area, located in Gurnee, Illinois. It first opened in 1976 as Marriott's Great America. Six Flags purchased the park from the Marriott Corporation in 1984, making it the seventh park in the chain...

.

Shortly after moving to Hollywood, LaPlaca landed the part of Elyse in TV sitcom version of Barry Levinson's film Diner

Diner (film)

Diner is a 1982 comedy-drama film written and directed by Barry Levinson. Levinson's screen directing debut, Diner is the first in his "Baltimore films", which also include the subsequent Tin Men, Avalon and Liberty Heights.-Plot:...

. That pilot did not get picked up, and soon thereafter La Placa got a part in the made-for-TV movie Listen to Your Heart (1983).

Later career

The following year LaPlaca earned a regular spot on Suzanne Pleshette is Maggie Briggs (1984). LaPlaca also played opposite Kirstie Alley in the 1990 movie Mad House, with co-star John Larroquette.

LaPlaca has guest-starred on series including ER

ER (TV series)

ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...

, Cheers

Cheers

Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...

, Family Ties

Family Ties

Family Ties is an American sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. The sitcom reflected the move in the United States from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s to the conservatism of the 1980s. This was particularly expressed through the relationship between young...

, Desperate Housewives

Desperate Housewives

Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...

, and Friends

Friends

Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...

(as Rachel

Rachel Green

Rachel Karen Green is a fictional character on the popular U.S. television sitcom Friends, portrayed by Jennifer Aniston. Aniston received an Emmy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Golden Globe for her performances.-Background:...

's boss, Joanna). She was a regular on The Jackie Thomas Show

The Jackie Thomas Show

The Jackie Thomas Show is an American sitcom that aired on the ABC network from December 1992 to March 1993. The series received widespread attention due to its creators Roseanne Arnold, then starring in the fifth season of her top-rated comedy Roseanne, and her husband and Roseanne co-producer Tom...

(1992), Tom

Tom (TV series)

Tom is an American sitcom which premiered in mid-season 1994 on CBS. Tom was cancelled after eleven episodes.-Cast:*Tom Arnold as Tom Graham*Alison LaPlaca as Dorothy Graham*Jason Marsden as Mike Graham*Andrew Lawrence as Donnie Graham...

(1994), and the NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 sitcom The John Larroquette Show

The John Larroquette Show

The John Larroquette Show is a situation comedy that ran on the NBC network from 1993 to 1996. The show, created by Don Reo, was a vehicle for John Larroquette following his run as Dan Fielding on Night Court. The series took place in a seedy bus terminal in St. Louis, Missouri and focused on the...

from 1994 to 1996. La Placa was a guest villainess on Batman: The Animated Series

Batman: The Animated Series

Batman: The Animated Series is an American animated series based on the DC Comics character Batman. The series featured an ensemble cast of many voice-actors including Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Arleen Sorkin, and Loren Lester. The series won four Emmy Awards and was nominated...

, voicing the role of Baby Doll, a disgruntled has-been former sitcom star.

She has been married to TV actor/director Philip Charles MacKenzie

Philip Charles MacKenzie

Philip Charles MacKenzie is an American actor and television director. He is best known for his role as Donald Maltby on Brothers, and as Ted Nichols on Open House, which he worked on with his current wife Alison LaPlaca.-Career:...

 since 1992.

External links