Patricia Wettig
Encyclopedia
Patricia Wettig is an American actress and playwright
. She is best known for her roles in the television series Thirtysomething, Prison Break
and Brothers & Sisters. In film, she is known for her role in City Slickers
.
, the daughter of Florence (née
Morlock) and Clifford Neal Wettig, a high school basketball
coach. She attended Ohio Wesleyan University
and graduated from Temple University
in 1975. She returned to her studies later in life and received an M.F.A. in playwriting from Smith College
in 2001. Wettig is married to actor and producer Ken Olin
; they have two children, Clifford (b. 1983) and Roxanne (b. 1985). Their daughter, Roxanne
(better known as "Roxy"), was a principal cast member of the MTV series The City, and now has a recurring role on the ABC Drama Brothers and Sisters.
, Guilty by Suspicion
, and The Langoliers
), she is best known for her work on television. She received critical acclaim (and a number of awards) for her role as Nancy Weston on ABC
's thirtysomething. Her portrayal of Nancy's cancer
struggle attracted considerable acclaim and attention. She also portrayed Joanne McFadden on the television program St. Elsewhere
. In addition, Wettig appeared in a number of popular television programs during the 1980s and 1990s including L.A. Law
, Frasier
, Hill Street Blues
, and Remington Steele
.
Wettig is a featured cast member in the ABC series Brothers & Sisters, which debuted in September 2006, where she portrays the Walker family patriarch's mistress, Holly Harper
. Her character was the co-CEO at Ojai Foods with Sarah Walker, the daughter of William Walker. She left the show mid-season during Season 5 after her character Holly Harper
followed her daughter to New York along with her fiance David played by real life husband Ken Olin
.. This season sees the whole Harper family absent from the show. Wettig also had the recurring role of CIA psychotherapist
Dr. Judy Barnett on Alias, which was produced and directed by her husband, former Thirtysomething co-star Ken Olin
. Before joining Brothers & Sisters, she played the fictional Vice President
Caroline Reynolds on the 2005 Fox
television drama, Prison Break
. She turned down Fox's offer of becoming a series regular on Prison Break in order to pursue Brothers & Sisters. In 2007 ABC and FOX agreed that Wettig could briefly reprise her role as Caroline Reynolds, providing off-camera voice-overs and appearing in a scene with Wentworth Miller
.
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
. She is best known for her roles in the television series Thirtysomething, Prison Break
Prison Break
Prison Break is an American television serial drama created by Paul Scheuring, that was broadcast on the Fox Broadcasting Company for four seasons, from 2005 until 2009. The series revolves around two brothers; one has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and the other devises an...
and Brothers & Sisters. In film, she is known for her role in City Slickers
City Slickers
City Slickers is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Ron Underwood and starring Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby, Helen Slater and Jack Palance. Palance won an Academy Award for his performance....
.
Personal life
Wettig, one of four sisters (Pam, Patricia, Phylis and Peggy), was born in Milford, OhioMilford, Ohio
Milford is a city in Clermont and Hamilton counties in the U.S. state of Ohio, along the Little Miami River in the southwestern part of the state. It is a part of Greater Cincinnati. Milford, an abbreviated form of mill ford, was so named because it was the first safe ford across the Little Miami...
, the daughter of Florence (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Morlock) and Clifford Neal Wettig, a high school basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
coach. She attended Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five — a consortium of Ohio liberal arts colleges...
and graduated from Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
in 1975. She returned to her studies later in life and received an M.F.A. in playwriting from Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
in 2001. Wettig is married to actor and producer Ken Olin
Ken Olin
Kenneth Edward "Ken" Olin is an American actor, director and producer. He is known for his starring role on the television series Thirtysomething, and most recently as Executive Producer, director, and recurring guest star of the television series Brothers & Sisters .-Career:As an actor, Olin...
; they have two children, Clifford (b. 1983) and Roxanne (b. 1985). Their daughter, Roxanne
Roxy Olin
Roxanne Elizabeth "Roxy" Olin is an American actress and socialite who appeared on the MTV reality show The City. She also has a recurring role in the ABC drama Brothers and Sisters. She is the daughter of actors Ken Olin and Patricia Wettig. She suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity...
(better known as "Roxy"), was a principal cast member of the MTV series The City, and now has a recurring role on the ABC Drama Brothers and Sisters.
Career
Although Wettig has acted in a number of films (including City SlickersCity Slickers
City Slickers is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Ron Underwood and starring Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby, Helen Slater and Jack Palance. Palance won an Academy Award for his performance....
, Guilty by Suspicion
Guilty by Suspicion
Guilty by Suspicion is a 1991 film about the Hollywood blacklist and associated activities stemming from McCarthyism and the House Un-American Activities Committee...
, and The Langoliers
The Langoliers
"The Langoliers" is one of four novellas published in the Stephen King book Four Past Midnight in 1990.- Plot summary :On a cross-country red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Boston, ten passengers awaken to find that the crew and most of their fellow passengers have disappeared.The ten remaining...
), she is best known for her work on television. She received critical acclaim (and a number of awards) for her role as Nancy Weston on 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...
's thirtysomething. Her portrayal of Nancy's cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
struggle attracted considerable acclaim and attention. She also portrayed Joanne McFadden on the television program St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...
. In addition, Wettig appeared in a number of popular television programs during the 1980s and 1990s including L.A. Law
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...
, Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
, Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
, and Remington Steele
Remington Steele
Remington Steele is an American television series, co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from 1982 to 1987. The series blended the genres of romantic...
.
Wettig is a featured cast member in the ABC series Brothers & Sisters, which debuted in September 2006, where she portrays the Walker family patriarch's mistress, Holly Harper
Holly Harper
Holly Harper is a fictional character on the American television drama series Brothers & Sisters. She was played by actress Patricia Wettig.-Background:...
. Her character was the co-CEO at Ojai Foods with Sarah Walker, the daughter of William Walker. She left the show mid-season during Season 5 after her character Holly Harper
Holly Harper
Holly Harper is a fictional character on the American television drama series Brothers & Sisters. She was played by actress Patricia Wettig.-Background:...
followed her daughter to New York along with her fiance David played by real life husband Ken Olin
Ken Olin
Kenneth Edward "Ken" Olin is an American actor, director and producer. He is known for his starring role on the television series Thirtysomething, and most recently as Executive Producer, director, and recurring guest star of the television series Brothers & Sisters .-Career:As an actor, Olin...
.. This season sees the whole Harper family absent from the show. Wettig also had the recurring role of CIA psychotherapist
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
Dr. Judy Barnett on Alias, which was produced and directed by her husband, former Thirtysomething co-star Ken Olin
Ken Olin
Kenneth Edward "Ken" Olin is an American actor, director and producer. He is known for his starring role on the television series Thirtysomething, and most recently as Executive Producer, director, and recurring guest star of the television series Brothers & Sisters .-Career:As an actor, Olin...
. Before joining Brothers & Sisters, she played the fictional Vice President
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
Caroline Reynolds on the 2005 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...
television drama, Prison Break
Prison Break
Prison Break is an American television serial drama created by Paul Scheuring, that was broadcast on the Fox Broadcasting Company for four seasons, from 2005 until 2009. The series revolves around two brothers; one has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and the other devises an...
. She turned down Fox's offer of becoming a series regular on Prison Break in order to pursue Brothers & Sisters. In 2007 ABC and FOX agreed that Wettig could briefly reprise her role as Caroline Reynolds, providing off-camera voice-overs and appearing in a scene with Wentworth Miller
Wentworth Miller
Wentworth Earl Miller III is an English-born American actor; model and screenwriter who rose to stardom following his role as Michael Scofield in the Fox Network television series Prison Break.-Early life:...
.
Filmography
| Television | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1982 | Parole | TV movie | |
| 1984 | Remington Steele Remington Steele Remington Steele is an American television series, co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from 1982 to 1987. The series blended the genres of romantic... |
Barbara Frick | 1 episode "Blood Is Thicker Than Steele" |
| 1985 | Hill Street Blues Hill Street Blues Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ... |
Mrs. Florio | 1 episode "The Life and Time of Dominic Florio Jr." |
| 1986 | Stingray Stingray (NBC TV series) Stingray is an NBC television series produced by Stephen J. Cannell that ran from 1985 to 1987. It stars Nick Mancuso, who plays the mysterious character known only as Ray, whose trademark is a black 1965 Corvette Sting Ray.-Plot:... |
Annie Murray | 1 episode "Below the Line" |
| 1986-87 | St. Elsewhere St. Elsewhere St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood... |
Joanne | 6 episodes |
| 1987 | L.A. Law L.A. Law L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,... |
Carolyn Glasband | 1 episode "Beef Jerky" |
| 1987–1991 | Thirtysomething | Nancy Krieger Weston | Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Drama Series (1990, 1991) Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Drama Series (1988) Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama (1990) |
| 1988 | Police Story: Cop Killer | Dede Mandell | TV movie |
| 1991 | Silent Motive | Laura Bardell | TV movie |
| 1992 | Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story | Nancy Ziegenmeyer | TV movie |
| 1994 | Parallel Lives Parallel Lives (film) Parallel Lives is a 1994 TV movie, directed by Linda Yellen. The movie resumes some actors and similar patterns of the previous Yellen's work, Chantilly Lace... |
Rebecca Ferguson Stone | TV movie |
| 1995 | The Langoliers The Langoliers "The Langoliers" is one of four novellas published in the Stephen King book Four Past Midnight in 1990.- Plot summary :On a cross-country red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Boston, ten passengers awaken to find that the crew and most of their fellow passengers have disappeared.The ten remaining... |
Laurel Stevenson | Miniseries |
| Nothing But the Truth | Jill Ross | TV movie | |
| Kansas | Virginia 'Giny' Mae Farley | TV movie | |
| Courthouse Courthouse (TV series) Courthouse is a short-lived drama television series that ran from September to November 1995 on CBS. The series was created and executive produced by Deborah Joy LeVine. The series ranked during the Nielsen Media Research... |
Judge Justine Parkes | Lead role, 13 episodes | |
| 1997 | Frasier Frasier Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars... |
Stephanie | 1 episode "To Kill a Talking Bird" |
| 1998–1999 | L.A. Doctors L.A. Doctors L.A. Doctors was an American medical drama television series set in a Los Angeles practice. It ran on CBS during the 1998-99 season.-Premise:... |
Eleanor Riggs-Cattan | 8 episodes |
| 2002 | Breaking News | Alison Dunne | 5 episodes |
| Boomtown | Nora Jean Flannery | 1 episode "Reelin' in the Years" | |
| 2002–2004 | Alias Alias (TV series) Alias is an American action television series created by J. J. Abrams which was broadcast on ABC for five seasons, from September 30, 2001 to May 22, 2006... |
Dr. Judy Barnett | 12 episodes |
| 2005 | Lackawanna Blues Lackawanna Blues Lackawanna Blues is an American play written by Ruben Santiago-Hudson in 2001. It was later adapted as a television movie that aired in 2005. The play dramatizes the character of the author's primary caregiver when he was growing up in Lackawanna, New York, during the 1950s and 1960s.-Play:The... |
Laura's Mother | TV movie |
| 2005–2007 | Prison Break Prison Break Prison Break is an American television serial drama created by Paul Scheuring, that was broadcast on the Fox Broadcasting Company for four seasons, from 2005 until 2009. The series revolves around two brothers; one has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and the other devises an... |
Vice President/President Caroline Reynolds | 18 episodes |
| 2006–2011 | Brothers & Sisters | Holly Harper Holly Harper Holly Harper is a fictional character on the American television drama series Brothers & Sisters. She was played by actress Patricia Wettig.-Background:... |
Left in season 5 |
| 2010 | The 19th Wife The 19th Wife (film) The 19th Wife is a 2010 Lifetime television film and adaptation of David Ebershoff's novel of the same name.-Plot:Amidst a Southern Utah Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints communuity, BeckyLyn is accused of murdering her polygamist husband... |
BeckyLyn | TV movie |
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1991 | Guilty by Suspicion Guilty by Suspicion Guilty by Suspicion is a 1991 film about the Hollywood blacklist and associated activities stemming from McCarthyism and the House Un-American Activities Committee... |
Dorothy Nolan | Domestic Total Gross: $9,480,198 |
| City Slickers City Slickers City Slickers is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Ron Underwood and starring Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby, Helen Slater and Jack Palance. Palance won an Academy Award for his performance.... |
Barbara Robbins | Worldwide Total Gross: $179,033,791 | |
| 1993 | Me and Veronica | Veronica | |
| 1994 | City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold is a 1994 comedy film directed by Paul Weiland. It is the sequel to City Slickers and stars Billy Crystal, Jack Palance, Jon Lovitz and Daniel Stern.... |
Barbara Robbins | Domestic Total Gross: $43,622,150 |
| 1997 | Bongwater Bongwater (film) Bongwater is a 1997 comedy film, based on the book of the same name, set in Portland, Oregon, and stars Luke Wilson, Alicia Witt, Amy Locane, Brittany Murphy, Jack Black, and Andy Dick.-Cast:* Luke Wilson as David* Alicia Witt as Serena... |
Mom | Straight-to-DVD |
| 1998 | Dancer, Texas Pop. 81 Dancer, Texas Pop. 81 Dancer, Texas Pop. 81 is a 1998 comedy film about four friends in the small, fictional American town of Dancer, located in Brewster County, Texas. As the title implies, only 81 people live in this town. Following their high school graduation, the four young men wrestle with their decisions to... |
Mrs. Lusk | |
| Nightmare in Big Sky Country | Judge | ||