Laura Ballard
Encyclopedia
Laura Ballard is a fictional police detective of the Baltimore Police Department on Homicide: Life on the Street
. She was played by Callie Thorne
. Ballard was born on November 20, 1968 and first appeared in Season 6 after changing police departments from Seattle. She came into the unit and quickly impressed Lieutenant Al Giardello
, who saw her as a young and promising detective, and after a rocky start won over Detective Frank Pembleton
as well. She was often partnered with Detective Stuart Gharty
, whom she generally got along well with.
Ballard has an adult-onset allergy to shellfish, but she does not discover this until she goes into anaphylactic shock following a crab dinner with Gharty and is rushed to the hospital in the episode "Saigon Rose". At the end of Season 6, Ballard and Gharty were both wounded during a shootout with Nathaniel Lee Mahoney, also known as "Junior Bunk", in the homicide unit's squadroom; Bunk killed three uniformed officers before several other detectives shot him dead. Ballard suffered a serious injury to her foot, but fully recovered between Seasons 6 and 7 and began dating Detective Paul Falsone
early in Season 7.
In the episode "Bones of Contention", Falsone questions Ballard about her ethnic heritage prior to bringing her home to dinner with his Italian mother, shortly after the start of their relationship. She explains that Ballard is a Swedish name which belongs to her stepfather. She herself is Armenian, Assyrian, and, she says, "LBJ — little bit Jewish." In the same episode, Giardello warns Falsone about the regulations against intimate fraternization among members of the same shift, and Falsone and Ballard agree to stop seeing each other rather than risk discipline or a forced transfer out of Giardello's shift. However, this agreement merely led to their continuing their relationship in secret.
In the 1999 episode "A Case of Do or Die", Ballard reveals to Falsone that she was engaged once, but could not follow through with the wedding. In an emotional scene at the waterfront, Ballard says, "I walked out on him. It was two weeks before the wedding and I just took off. I didn't even tell him why."
Ballard became close friends with Detective Terri Stivers
. The two of them worried about the perception of female cops, particularly after the beating of the unit's third female detective, Rene Sheppard
. Although Ballard expressed her concerns to Sheppard gently, Sheppard became angry nonetheless. Still, the two detectives worked smoothly together on a case involving girl-gang members, and were pleased that they didn't have to call on their male colleagues to come in and "save the day".
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
. She was played by Callie Thorne
Callie Thorne
Calliope "Callie" Thorne is an American actress known for her current role as Dr. Dani Santino on the USA Network series Necessary Roughness...
. Ballard was born on November 20, 1968 and first appeared in Season 6 after changing police departments from Seattle. She came into the unit and quickly impressed Lieutenant Al Giardello
Al Giardello
Alphonse Michael Giardello, Sr. is a fictional character from the television drama Homicide: Life on the Street. The character was played by Yaphet Kotto...
, who saw her as a young and promising detective, and after a rocky start won over Detective Frank Pembleton
Frank Pembleton
Francis Xavier "Frank" Pembleton is a fictional homicide detective on the television drama series Homicide: Life on the Street portrayed by Emmy Award winning actor Andre Braugher. He is a primary character of the show through the first six seasons...
as well. She was often partnered with Detective Stuart Gharty
Stuart Gharty
Stuart Gharty is a fictional character played by Peter Gerety in the television series Homicide: Life on the Street.He is introduced in the season four one-shot episode "Scene of the Crime", as a cowardly patrolman who allows two drug dealers to murder each other rather than venture into a housing...
, whom she generally got along well with.
Ballard has an adult-onset allergy to shellfish, but she does not discover this until she goes into anaphylactic shock following a crab dinner with Gharty and is rushed to the hospital in the episode "Saigon Rose". At the end of Season 6, Ballard and Gharty were both wounded during a shootout with Nathaniel Lee Mahoney, also known as "Junior Bunk", in the homicide unit's squadroom; Bunk killed three uniformed officers before several other detectives shot him dead. Ballard suffered a serious injury to her foot, but fully recovered between Seasons 6 and 7 and began dating Detective Paul Falsone
Paul Falsone
Paul Falsone is a fictional police detective of the Baltimore Police Department on Homicide: Life on the Street. He was played by Jon Seda. Born on January 6, 1969, Falsone was introduced as a long-time member of the Auto Squad at the end of Season 5, where his natural talents proved useful in...
early in Season 7.
In the episode "Bones of Contention", Falsone questions Ballard about her ethnic heritage prior to bringing her home to dinner with his Italian mother, shortly after the start of their relationship. She explains that Ballard is a Swedish name which belongs to her stepfather. She herself is Armenian, Assyrian, and, she says, "LBJ — little bit Jewish." In the same episode, Giardello warns Falsone about the regulations against intimate fraternization among members of the same shift, and Falsone and Ballard agree to stop seeing each other rather than risk discipline or a forced transfer out of Giardello's shift. However, this agreement merely led to their continuing their relationship in secret.
In the 1999 episode "A Case of Do or Die", Ballard reveals to Falsone that she was engaged once, but could not follow through with the wedding. In an emotional scene at the waterfront, Ballard says, "I walked out on him. It was two weeks before the wedding and I just took off. I didn't even tell him why."
Ballard became close friends with Detective Terri Stivers
Terri Stivers
Terri Stivers is a fictional police detective of the Baltimore Police Department on Homicide: Life on the Street. She was played by actress Toni Lewis....
. The two of them worried about the perception of female cops, particularly after the beating of the unit's third female detective, Rene Sheppard
Rene Sheppard
Rene Sheppard is a fictional police detective of the Baltimore Police Department on Homicide: Life on the Street, played by Michael Michele. At 29, Sheppard first appeared in Season 7. Rene was Miss Anne Arundel County sometime prior to joining the Baltimore Police Department...
. Although Ballard expressed her concerns to Sheppard gently, Sheppard became angry nonetheless. Still, the two detectives worked smoothly together on a case involving girl-gang members, and were pleased that they didn't have to call on their male colleagues to come in and "save the day".