Who is Lisa Emery?
She’s an actress with 45 credits to her name, however, Lisa Emery is probably known best for her role as Darlene Snell in the series “Ozark”. Her character was one of the main antagonists and a powerful matriarch in this thriller crime-drama about a financial advisor who moves with his family from Chicago, Illinois to the Missouri Ozarks, where he’s forced to launder money to please a drug lord.
The series received numerous awards, accolades and praise,, and Lisa shares with the rest of the crew three nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.
Early life, family, and education
Born under the zodiac sign of Aquarius on 29 January 1952, Lisa Emery recently celebrated her 71st birthday. She hails from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA, holds American nationality and her ethnicity is white. Lisa is the only child of her parents, whose names haven’t been disclosed but it’s known that her mother was an actress, and her father an advertising executive.
When it comes to Lisa’s educational background, she attended a local high school, and upon matriculating in 1970 enrolled at Hollins University. Lisa planned to study painting, however, she realized that she was more interested in drama. She graduated with a BA degree in 1974, and then for a year studied acting at the Circle in the Square Theatre School.
Lisa performed in theatre for years before she auditioning for roles on the screen. She has had a successful career as a stage actress, and has received numerous awards, such as Obies for Performance, and for Special Citations – Obie Awards are off-Broadway’s highest honor.
Roles in series
Lisa made her screen acting debut playing Brenda in the 1985 TV mini-series “Doubletake”. She followed with a guest role in an episode of the series “H. E. L. P.” in 1990, before she was seen playing Dawn Wheeler in eight episodes of the series “As the World Turns”, during 1992 and ‘93. This long-running series began airing in 1956 and aired until 2010, receiving 456 award nominations and winning 90.
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Lisa was next seen as Ruth in “Sex and the City” in 1998, followed by her guest role in an episode of the series “Madigan Men” in 2000. The early 2000s saw Lisa mostly guest-starring in numerous hit series, such as “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (2002), “The Jury” (2004), and “Third Watch” (2005).
In the following years, Lisa was seen in an episode or two of several series, before she was cast to play her most notable role, as Darlene Snell, in “Ozark”, also starring Jason Bateman, Sofia Hublit, and Laura Linney. The show had 181 award nominations and won 23, including four Primetime Emmys, before which Lisa was nominated for the Pena de Prata Award for Best Guest Actor or Actress in a Drama or Limited Series in 2022. Lisa made an appearance in 37 episodes of “Ozark” from 2017 through 2022, and this was her most recent TV series role.
Roles in movies
Lisa made her big screen debut as Rosie in the 1986 movie “Dreamaniac”, followed by her role as Nancy in “How to Be Louise” in 1990. Her next movie role came four years later in the horror “Wolf”, followed by her supporting role as Classroom Reporter in the 1997 romantic comedy “In & Out”, starring Kevin Kline, Tom Selleck and Joan Cusack, who was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. In addition, the movie had 17 other nominations and won seven awards. Lisa was next cast to play Alice Yates in the 1998 movie “Harvest”, but which was poorly rated by the audience.
The early 2000s saw Lisa co-starring in “Unfaithful” (2002), “Marci X” (2003), and “Out There” in 2006. It seems that 2006 was a good year for Lisa, since she was seen in two more movies, entitled “The Night Listener” and “Brother’s Shadow”; in the latter, Lisa had her first lead role, the drama following the story of Jake, the black sheep who returns to his family and tries to take what his late brother had- a beautiful family and successful business. The movie was nominated for the Tribeca Film Festival Jury Award for Best NY, Narrative Feature, and was well-rated by the audience.
Lisa followed with her role in the 2007 romantic comedy “Margot at the Wedding”, and two years later was cast to play Cynthia in “Cold Souls”, followed by her role as Mrs Pressman in “Admission” in 2013.
Most recently, Lisa was seen as Debra in the 2021 crime thriller “Catch the Fair One”, starring Kali Reis, Kendall Morris and Shelly Vincent, which had six award nominations and won three.
Lisa has one upcoming project, the short movie “Little Orange Flags”, currently in development, in which she will play Nana.
Love life and husband
Although she’s been the subject of numerous rumors about her love life, Lisa’s managed to keep most of her previous relationships secret. It’s known that she was married to Josh Pais, also an actor, perhaps still known best for his role as Raphael in the 1990 movie “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”. The two married on 27 August 1990, and their son Zane was born on 23 September 1993. He’s also now an actor, making his debut alongside his mother in the 2007 movie “Margot at the Wedding”.
Lisa and Josh divorced in 2003, and three years later, Josh married Marie Forleo, an entrepreneur. When it comes to Lisa, it seems that she is still single as of early 2023.
Wealth
Lisa stated in one of her interviews that she had no plans for her career on television and in movies, but that she’s pleased with how things turned out in the end. Lisa says she is grateful for the opportunity to play her breakthrough role after waiting for over 30 years.
If you have wondered how rich this veteran actress is, according to sources, as of February 2023, her net worth has been estimated at over $2 million.
