Kelli Williams
Encyclopedia
Kelli Renee Williams is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Lindsay Dole on the Legal drama The Practice
and as psychologist and deception expert Dr. Gillian Foster on Lie to Me
.
Williams earned her Screen Actors Guild
card before her first birthday by appearing in a diapers commercial, and appeared in several other commercials as a child. She attended elementary school at Lycée Français
, and graduated from Beverly Hills High School
in 1988. While attending school, she was active in the performing arts department. After starring opposite General Hospital's
Steve Burton in the school's production of Romeo and Juliet
, she was signed by an agent.
and as the first victim of the Hillside Strangler
s in NBC's made-for television film The Case of the Hillside Stranglers. Her first feature film appearances were in Zapped Again!
(1990) and There Goes My Baby
(1994) opposite ER's
Noah Wyle
. She also appeared in The Young Riders
in 1991. Also in 1994, she played Jennifer Stolpa in the television movie Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story
. She guest starred on the hit Fox
teen drama Party of Five
on its 1st season in 1994 as a woman named Annie Alcott. She also guest starred in the second season Law & Order episode "Sisters Of Mercy" as a sexually abused meth addict in 1992.
Beginning with Episode 11 titled Moon Cross (aired on February 5, 1995) of the science fiction series Earth 2
, Williams appeared in a multiple episode story arc
in the role of Mary, a human orphan raised on another planet by the indigenous alien species known as the Terrians.
She appeared in 1996 in the 19th episode of the fourth and final season of the TV series Picket Fences
as an Amish woman who was raped.
In 1997, she took her most prominent role as Lindsay Dole Donnell
on the ABC
legal drama The Practice
. She appeared in the series The Lyon's Den
and Hack, as well as two episodes of Scrubs
. Williams appeared as Dr. Natalie Durant on the NBC
television show Medical Investigation
which began in the fall of 2004 and ran for 20 episodes before being canceled.
In August 2008, Williams was cast in a lead role as psychologist Dr. Gillian Foster in the Fox series Lie to Me
, which ran for three seasons and ended in 2011.
In October 2011, she was cast in a guest role as a kidnapped child's mother called Elizabeth Flint in the CBS series The Mentalist.
in 1996. The couple has three children: Kiran Ram (b. May 1998), Sarame Jane (b. February 3, 2001), and Ravi Lyndon (b. July 11, 2003). She told Marie Claire
that she got breast implants when she was 19 and had them removed when she was 22. Williams speaks French and Spanish, and has volunteered with the Young Storytellers Program
.
The Practice
The Practice is an American legal drama created by David E. Kelley centering on the partners and associates at a Boston law firm. Running for eight seasons from 1997 to 2004, the show won the Emmy in 1998 and 1999 for Best Drama Series, and spawned the successful and lighter spin-off series Boston...
and as psychologist and deception expert Dr. Gillian Foster on Lie to Me
Lie to Me
Lie to Me is a 2009-2011 American television series.Lie to Me may also refer to:* Lie to Me , a South Korean drama series* "Lie to Me" , an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
.
Early life
Kelli Williams is the daughter of actress Shannon Wilcox and plastic surgeon John Williams. Her parents divorced when she was 13. She has one brother and two half-brothers.Williams earned her Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
card before her first birthday by appearing in a diapers commercial, and appeared in several other commercials as a child. She attended elementary school at Lycée Français
Lycée Français de Los Angeles
Le Lycée Français de Los Angeles is a bicultural independent, private school based in Los Angeles. Offering preschool – 12th grade, the learning institution was founded by Esther and Raymond Kabbaz in 1964 and is structured as a non-profit organization...
, and graduated from Beverly Hills High School
Beverly Hills High School
Beverly Hills High School is the only major public high school in Beverly Hills, California. Beverly is part of the Beverly Hills Unified School District and located on on the west side of Beverly Hills, at the...
in 1988. While attending school, she was active in the performing arts department. After starring opposite General Hospital's
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....
Steve Burton in the school's production of Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
, she was signed by an agent.
Career
Williams began her career on television, with a second-season role in an episode of the CBS series Beauty and the BeastBeauty and the Beast (TV series)
Beauty and the Beast is an American drama series which first aired on CBS in 1987. Creator Ron Koslow's updated version of the fairy tale has a double focus: the relationship between Vincent , a mythic, noble man-beast, and his Catherine , a savvy assistant District attorney in New York; and a...
and as the first victim of the Hillside Strangler
Hillside Strangler
The Hillside Strangler is the media epithet for two men, cousins Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, who were convicted of kidnapping, raping, torturing, and killing girls and women ranging in age from 12 to 28 years old during a four-month period from late 1977 to early 1978...
s in NBC's made-for television film The Case of the Hillside Stranglers. Her first feature film appearances were in Zapped Again!
Zapped Again!
Zapped Again!, directed by Doug Campbell, is a 1990 direct-to-video film. It was the sequel to Zapped! . It is marketed with the tagline "Emerson High has raised more than its academic standards."-Plot:...
(1990) and There Goes My Baby
There Goes My Baby (film)
There Goes My Baby was directed by Stephen Fisher & Floyd Mutrux, and starred Dermot Mulroney, Rick Schroder, Noah Wyle, Lucy Deakins & Kelli Williams. It is also known under the name The Last Days of Paradise....
(1994) opposite ER's
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...
Noah Wyle
Noah Wyle
Noah Strausser Speer Wyle is an American film, television and theatre actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. John Truman Carter III in the Medical drama ER. He has also played Steve Jobs in the 1999 docudrama Pirates of Silicon Valley and Flynn Carsen in The Librarian franchise...
. She also appeared in The Young Riders
The Young Riders
The Young Riders is an American Western television series created by Ed Spielman that presents a fictionalized account of a group of young Pony Express riders based at the Sweetwater Station in the Nebraska Territory during the years leading up to the American Civil War...
in 1991. Also in 1994, she played Jennifer Stolpa in the television movie Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story
Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story
Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story is a 1994 American television film.Snowbound is based on a true story. Jim and Jennifer Stolpa and their infant son Clayton are 500 miles from their home in Castro Valley, California, when they lose their way and are stranded in an endless wilderness of...
. She guest starred on the hit 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...
teen drama Party of Five
Party of Five
Party of Five is an American teen drama television series that aired on Fox for six seasons, from September 12, 1994, until May 3, 2000.Critically acclaimed, the show suffered from low ratings and after its first season was slated for cancellation...
on its 1st season in 1994 as a woman named Annie Alcott. She also guest starred in the second season Law & Order episode "Sisters Of Mercy" as a sexually abused meth addict in 1992.
Beginning with Episode 11 titled Moon Cross (aired on February 5, 1995) of the science fiction series Earth 2
Earth 2
Earth 2 may refer to:* Earth 2 , a science fiction TV series that aired in 1994–1995* Earth 2 , an album by doom metal band Earth* one of several realms in the fictional universe of DC Comics:...
, Williams appeared in a multiple episode story arc
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
in the role of Mary, a human orphan raised on another planet by the indigenous alien species known as the Terrians.
She appeared in 1996 in the 19th episode of the fourth and final season of the TV series Picket Fences
Picket Fences
Picket Fences is a 60-minute American television drama about the residents of the fictional town of Rome, Wisconsin, created and produced by David E. Kelley. The show initially ran from September 18, 1992, to June 26, 1996, on the CBS television network in the United States...
as an Amish woman who was raped.
In 1997, she took her most prominent role as Lindsay Dole Donnell
Lindsay Dole
Lindsay Suzanne Dole was one of the lead characters on ABC's The Practice, a television drama about a law firm in Boston, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Dole was played by Kelli Williams. Her character tried civil cases and was Bobby Donnell's wife until they separated in season 7.Lindsay obtained...
on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
legal drama The Practice
The Practice
The Practice is an American legal drama created by David E. Kelley centering on the partners and associates at a Boston law firm. Running for eight seasons from 1997 to 2004, the show won the Emmy in 1998 and 1999 for Best Drama Series, and spawned the successful and lighter spin-off series Boston...
. She appeared in the series The Lyon's Den
The Lyon's Den
The Lyon's Den is a 2003 television series set in Washington, D.C. The legal drama starred Rob Lowe as a lawyer called Jack Turner, newly appointed as partner of a long-established law firm that, as the plot revealed, harbored some dark secrets...
and Hack, as well as two episodes of Scrubs
Scrubs (TV series)
Scrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of the fictional Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced screenplay, slapstick, and surreal vignettes...
. Williams appeared as Dr. Natalie Durant on 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...
television show Medical Investigation
Medical Investigation
Medical Investigation was an American medical drama television series that began September 9, 2004, on NBC. It ran for 20 one-hour episodes before being cancelled in 2005...
which began in the fall of 2004 and ran for 20 episodes before being canceled.
In August 2008, Williams was cast in a lead role as psychologist Dr. Gillian Foster in the Fox series Lie to Me
Lie to Me
Lie to Me is a 2009-2011 American television series.Lie to Me may also refer to:* Lie to Me , a South Korean drama series* "Lie to Me" , an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
, which ran for three seasons and ended in 2011.
In October 2011, she was cast in a guest role as a kidnapped child's mother called Elizabeth Flint in the CBS series The Mentalist.
Personal life
Williams married author Ajay SahgalAjay Sahgal
Ajay Sahgal is a Canadian-born American novelist, television writer, screenwriter, director and producer.-Career:His novel "Pool" was published in 1994 by Groove/Atlantic. He wrote, directed and produced the comedy short "It's A Shame About Ray"...
in 1996. The couple has three children: Kiran Ram (b. May 1998), Sarame Jane (b. February 3, 2001), and Ravi Lyndon (b. July 11, 2003). She told Marie Claire
Marie Claire
Marie Claire is a monthly women's magazine first published in France but also distributed in other countries with editions specific to them and in their languages. While each country shares its own special voice with its audience, the United States edition focuses on women around the world and...
that she got breast implants when she was 19 and had them removed when she was 22. Williams speaks French and Spanish, and has volunteered with the Young Storytellers Program
Young storytellers program
The Young Storytellers Foundation is dedicated to developing literacy, self-expression and self-esteem in elementary school children. The Young Storytellers Program currently serves elementary school students in Southern California, including the cities of Los Angeles, Culver City, Santa Monica,...
.