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Ally Walker

Ally Walker took an unusually winding route to the screen. Born in Tullahoma on August 25, 1961, and raised in Santa Fe, she originally planned to become a scientist. Walker earned a biochemistry degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1983 and worked sequencing DNA before turning toward modeling, commercials and acting. Her early television work included Santa Barbara and the NBC crime drama True Blue, followed by appearances on Matlock, L.A. Law and Tales from the Crypt. On film, she played the female lead opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme in Roland Emmerich’s Universal Soldier and appeared as a grouchy roommate in Cameron Crowe’s Singles, both released in 1992. Her first star-billed film role came with the 1994 thriller When the Bough Breaks, while supporting parts in While You Were Sleeping, Steal Big Steal Little and Kazaam showed her moving easily between thrillers, romance and broad comedy. Walker’s defining lead role arrived with Profiler. As Dr. Samantha Waters, she anchored the NBC crime drama for its first three seasons and received both a Saturn Award nomination and a Satellite Award for her performance. Later roles kept her closely connected to complicated crime stories, from guest appearances on The Shield, Southland and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit to her recurring turn as ATF Agent June Stahl, a major antagonist on Sons of Anarchy. She also led the police drama The Protector as an LAPD homicide detective balancing her work with life as a single mother. Her career has extended behind the camera as well. Walker directed and produced the documentary For Norman... Wherever You Are, then made her scripted feature directing and writing debut with Sex, Death and Bowling. Alongside later television work in Longmire, Colony and Ghosted, that move into filmmaking reflects the range of a career spanning film, television, voice acting, writing and directing.