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Blair Brown

Blair Brown has built the kind of career that resists being pinned to a single medium. Born in Washington, D.C., on April 23, 1946, she studied acting at the National Theatre School of Canada, graduating in 1969, and gained early notice at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. That stage foundation has remained a steady part of her work, even as film and television brought her to a wider audience. Brown’s first feature role came in 1973’s The Paper Chase, followed by her first major starring role in The Choirboys. Her film work soon ranged from the intensity of Altered States to the romantic comedy of Continental Divide, in which she played opposite John Belushi. The latter earned Brown a Golden Globe nomination. Other credits include One Trick Pony, Stealing Home, Strapless, The Astronaut’s Wife, Space Cowboys, Dogville, Loverboy and The Sentinel. Television gave Brown one of her defining roles in The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd. Playing the title character throughout the show’s five-season run from 1987 to 1991, she received five consecutive Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She also earned Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for portraying Jacqueline Kennedy in the 1983 miniseries Kennedy. Later television audiences encountered her as Nina Sharp in Fringe and as fictional television personality Judy King in Orange Is the New Black, alongside appearances in series including Frasier, Smallville, ER and Ed. Brown has continued returning to the stage throughout her career. Her Broadway work includes Secret Rapture, Arcadia and two runs as Frau Schneider in Cabaret. In 2000, she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for Copenhagen, playing Margrethe, the wife of physicist Niels Bohr. She has also developed an extensive voice career, narrating audiobooks and documentaries. Across all of these forms, Brown’s work is marked by range: romantic lead, comic centerpiece, dramatic authority and experienced stage actor, often within the same career stretch.