Julianna Luisa Margulies (born June 8, 1966) is an American actress.

After several small television roles, Margulies achieved success in her continuing role as Nurse Carol Hathaway on the NBC medical drama ER, for which she won an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Drama. Since her departure from ER in 2000, Margulies has appeared sporadically in film and television, and has also worked in theater.

Early life

Margulies, the youngest of three daughters, was born in Spring Valley, New York, the daughter of Francesca, a ballet dancer and eurythmy teacher, and Paul Margulies, a writer who wrote the Alka-Seltzer catch phrase "Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz, oh what a relief it is".[1][2] Margulies attended grade school at Green Meadow Waldorf School[3] and high school at High Mowing School.[2] As a child, she lived in New York, France, and England. Margulies's parents are Jewish, descended from immigrants from Austria, Hungary, and Romania;[4] her mother converted to Christianity when Julianna was five years old.[5]

Margulies obtained a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College, where she appeared on campus in several plays. She studied with James Price at The Acting Studio, Inc. in New York City shortly after college.

[edit] Career

Her first movie role was as a prostitute looking to go straight in the Steven Seagal film Out for Justice. In 1994, Margulies was cast in a role in the pilot episode of ER as a character who, despondent over her relationship with George Clooney's character, Doug Ross, attempted suicide. Her character was originally intended to die, however, the producers changed the plot and she went on to play the role of Nurse Carol Hathaway for six years. She won an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Drama in 1994, and was nominated for this award every year during her tenure. She was offered a $27 million contract to remain on the show for an additional three years, stretching into Season 9 of the show, however she refused, and left the show in 2000.

Since her departure, Margulies has worked sporadically on stage and screen, in increasingly smaller parts. On stage she has appeared in a MCC Theater production of Kate Robin's Intrigue With Faye, a Lincoln Center production of Jon Robin Baitz's Ten Unknowns, and The Vagina Monologues. Her film work since ER includes Evelyn with Pierce Brosnan and Ghost Ship with Gabriel Byrne and Ron Eldard, with whom she was romantically involved. She starred as the protagonist and narrator (Morgaine) in the 2001 TNT miniseries The Mists of Avalon and participated in the 2002 documentary film Searching for Debra Winger . In 2004, she guest-starred in a two-episode arc in season 4 of the hit TV show Scrubs. She starred in another miniseries on TNT, The Grid in 2004. In April 2006 she appeared in three episodes of the sixth season of The Sopranos, portraying realtor Julianna Skiff. In August 2006, she appeared in Snakes on a Plane, as flight attendant Claire Miller. In December 2006 she played Jennifer Bloom in the Sci Fi Channel miniseries The Lost Room.

In an August 2006 interview with tvguide.com, Margulies said that she was close to accepting an offer to return to ER for a four-episode arc with Noah Wyle that filmed in Hawaii during the 2005-2006 season. However, she decided against it at the last minute. The interview went on to say that she appreciates the fact that the ER producers ask her back each and every year, she "love(s) that they do". Margulies was again invited to return during ER's final season, but the actress turned down the offer, saying that she felt like she left Carol Hathaway in the perfect place, and couldn't imagine bettering her departure episode.[6] However, it was confirmed in January 2009 that Margulies had reconsidered and would return as Nurse Carol Hathaway in one episode during ER's fifteenth and final season alongside George Clooney.[7]

She had a minor role in 2007's The Darwin Awards. Her latest series, Canterbury's Law, premiered on Fox on March 10, 2008. She plays the title character, Elizabeth Canterbury, a lawyer described as "a tough-minded defense attorney who isn't afraid to push boundaries in order to protect innocent clients."[citation needed] The series was cancelled after only a few episodes.