Biography
This page uses content from the Dana Delany biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.
Dana Welles Delany (born March 13, 1956 in New York City) is an American film, stage, and television actress.
Known mainly for her two-time Emmy Award winning performance as Colleen McMurphy on the ABC television show China Beach (1988-1991), Delany has been active in film, television, and stage since the late 1970s.
After growing up in Connecticut, Delany attended Phillips Academy in Andover, then Wesleyan University.
Her early career included a TV role on Love of Life (1979), performing on Broadway in A Life (1980), then back to TV on As the World Turns (1981). The west coast production of the controversial play Bloodmoon (1983-1984) took Dana to Hollywood. The next few years consisted of small parts in various films and TV guest spots, including an appearance on Moonlighting (1985) and three notable episodes on Magnum P.I. (1986).
She was cast as Colleen McMurphy on China Beach, airing from 1988 to 1991, bringing intense media attention to the actress. This role not only garnered two Emmy awards, but two other Emmy nominations, and two Golden Globe nominations.
Leveraging this newfound fame, she appeared in feature films such as Light Sleeper (1992), Housesitter (1992), Tombstone (1993), and Fly Away Home (1996) and TV movies such as Promise to Keep (1991), and Wild Palms (1993).
She took on controversial roles, such as Margaret Sanger in the TV movie Choices of the Heart (1995), Mistress Lisa in the 1994 feature film adaptation of the Anne Rice book Exit to Eden, and an Emmy nominated role as a gun-owning mother in an episode of the TV series Family Law (1999) (which was not rerun, due to sponsorship withdrawal).
Delany provided voice-over work as Lois Lane in the Warner Bros. animated production of Superman, starting in the mid 1990s, and continuing through 2005. This resulted in her being one of the few to be mentioned by name in the Animaniacs theme song.
During the latter part of the 1990s and early 2000s, she focused on roles in TV series, such as the short-lived Pasadena (2001) and Presidio Med (2002); TV movies like True Women (1997), Resurrection (1999), A Time to Remember (2003) and Baby for Sale (2004); and feature films by indie film producers, such as The Outfitters (1999), Mother Ghost (2002), and Spin (2003).
During this period, she found time to get back to the stage, on and off Broadway, in Translations (1995 - Broadway), Dinner With Friends (2000 - New York City, Los Angeles, Boston), and Much Ado About Nothing (2003 - San Diego).
Additionally, from 2004 to 2006, Delany has played many guest roles on TV shows such as Law & Order:SVU, Boston Legal, Kojak, Related, The L Word, and Battlestar Galactica. Dana also starred in a pilot for a series titled Kidnapped (2005), which was picked up by NBC TV for the 2006 fall season.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Kidnapped | Ellie Cain | |
| 2006 | The Woman with the Hungry Eyes | Theda Bara (voice) | |
| 2006 | Superman: Brainiac Attacks | Lois Lane | |
| 2004 | Spin | Margaret Swift-Bejarano | |
| 2004 | Justice League Unlimited: For the Man Who Has Everything | Loana (voice) | |
| 2004 | Baby for Sale | Natalie Johnson | |
| 2003 | Justice League: A Better World, Part 1 | Lois Lane (voice) | |
| 2003 | Justice League: Only a Dream, Part 2 | Lois Lane (voice) | |
| 2003 | Justice League: Hereafter, Part 1 | Lois Lane (voice) | |
| 2003 | Intimate Portrait: Dana Delany | Herself | |
| 2002 | Conviction | Martha | |
| 2001 | Final Jeopardy | Alexandra Cooper | |
| 2000 | The Right Temptation | Anthea Farrow-Smith | |
| 1999 | Sirens | Sally Rawlings | |
| 1999 | Outfitters | Cat Bonfaim | |
| 1998 | The Patron Saint of Liars | Rose Cleardon Abbott | |
| 1998 | Rescuers: Stories of Courage - Two Couples | Johtje Vos | |
| 1998 | The Curve | Dr. Ashley | |
| 1998 | Wide Awake | Mrs. Beal | |
| 1997 | True Women | Sarah Ashby McClure | |
| 1996 | For Hope | Hope Altman | |
| 1996 | The Adventures of Mowgli | Bagheera (voice) [English version] | |
| 1996 | Fly Away Home | Susan Barnes | |
| 1996 | Superman: The Animated Series | Lois Lane | |
| 1995 | Live Nude Girls | Jill | |
| 1995 | Choices of the Heart: The Margaret Sanger Story | Margaret Sanger | |
| 1994 | Exit to Eden | Lisa Emerson | |
| 1994 | The Enemy Within | Betsy Corcoran | |
| 1993 | Batman: Mask of the Phantasm | Andrea Beaumont | |
| 1993 | Tombstone | Josephine Marcus | |
| 1993 | Donato and Daughter | Lieutenant Dena Donato | |
| 1993 | Wild Palms | Grace Wyckoff | |
| 1992 | Housesitter | Becky Metcalf | |
| 1992 | Light Sleeper | Marianne | |
| 1990 | A Promise to Keep | Jane Goodrich | |
| 1988 | Moon over Parador | Jenny | |
| 1988 | Masquerade | Anne Briscoe | |
| 1988 | Patty Hearst | Gelina | |
| 1986 | Where the River Runs Black | Sister Ana | |
| 1986 | A Winner Never Quits | Nora | |
| 1984 | Threesome | Laura Shaper | |
| 1984 | Almost You | Susan McCall | |
| 1981 | The Fan | Saleswoman |
Personal and public life
Since the mid-1990s, Delany has served on the board of the Scleroderma Research Foundation, and with her friend Sharon Monsky, she helped campaign for support in finding a cure for scleroderma. Working with director Bob Saget, Dana starred in the TV movie For Hope (1996), based on Saget's sister Gay, who had died as a result of the disease.
Since the mid-1990s, she has had a notable World Wide Web presence. She has participated in several online chat events promoting various projects. Her Official Web Site, online since 1996, includes a guestbook in which she participates.
External links
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify the biographical information on this page under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.
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