Who is Gail O’Grady?
Gail O’Grady is an American Primetime Emmy award-nominated television and film actress, who rose to stardom as Donna Abandando in the procedural crime drama TV series “NYPD Blue” (1993-1999), and as Claire in the comedy film “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo” (1999), among many other roles.
What is Gail O’Grady Doing Now?
Gail is now in her late 50s, and still focused on her stunning acting career. Most recently, she was seen in the comedy film “The Baby Pact” (2021), which is a sequel to “The Wedding Pact” film from 2014, and in addition to Gail, stars Hillary Duff and Leslie Easterbrook.
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Moreover, she is currently working on the thriller film “Deadly Draw”, which is in post-production and scheduled for release late in 2022, co-starring alongside Edward Asner and Musetta Vander.
Gail O’Grady Bio: Age, Childhood, and Education
Gail Ann O’Grady was born on 23 January 1963, in Detroit, Michigan, USA, the daughter of Jim O’Grady and his wife Jan. Gail then spent her childhood in Wheaton, Illinois, where she went to Wheaton North High School, from which she matriculated in 1981.
Instead of pursuing higher education, Gail launched her acting career by appearing in several commercials, before she moved to Los Angeles, feeling she would have many more opportunities.
Career Beginnings
Once in Los Angeles, Gail signed a contract with Montgomery War and continued her career with another string of appearances in commercials, in one of which she appeared next to Michael J. Fox as his neighbor.
She made her on-screen debut in a minor role in the TV series “Werewolf” in 1987, and later the same year, she was Judy in the TV mini-series “Billionaire Boys Club”.
The following year, she made her feature debut as Laura in the romantic comedy-drama film “She’s Having a Baby”, written and directed by John Hughes, and starring Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth McGovern and Alec Baldwin.
The role helped her career in a great way, as she then starred in films “Blackout” and “Spellcaster” the same year, and had a guest role in the TV series “Superboy” (1989).
Gail started the next decade with the lead role in the comedy film “Nobody’s Perfect” (1990), co-starring Chad Lowe and Patrick Breen, and then played Rebecca Bailey in the television drama movie “People Like Us”.
In 1991, she appeared in the television action-drama movie “The Hit Man”, and made a couple of guest appearances in such TV series as “Murder, She Wrote” (1992), and “Time Trax” (1993), before she was chosen for one of her major roles as Donna Abandando in the TV series “NYPD Blue”.
Rise to Prominence
“NYPD Blue” follows the detective squad of the fictional 15th Precinct in Manhattan, and Gail’s character, Dona is the first squad police, administrative aide. She remained in the show until 1996, until her character had an ongoing romance with Detective Medavoy, and was then written out of the series, after featured in 57 episodes of the Primetime Emmy Award-winning series, and receiving three Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and jointly winning the Screen Actors Guild Award in the category for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.
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After leaving the eponymous series, Gail was offered her own comedy show, but after she made a pilot entitled “The Gail O’Grady Project”, it received negative reviews, and wasn’t picked up by any of the networks.
However, this didn’t stop her from making a name for herself in Hollywood. She lined-up several prominent roles before the ‘90s ended, including as Elaine Rigsbee in the award-winning comedy crime-drama film “Walking across Egypt” (1999), and then starred in the television romantic comedy movie “Two of Hearts”, alongside Rob Stewart and Corbin Bernsen.
Moreover, Gail portrayed Claire in the highly popular romantic comedy film “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo”, starring Rob Schneider, William Forsythe and Eddie Griffin.
The 2000s
Gail starred in a number of television movies in the early 2000s, starting with the drama movie “Another Woman’s Husband”, co-starring Lisa Rinna and Dale Midkiff, then the award-winning thriller “Sleep Easy, Hutch Rimes”, and in 2001 she starred in the thriller drama movie “Hostage Negotiator”.
She secured another prominent role in 2002, this time as Helen Pryor in the Primetime Emmy Award-winning historical family drama series “American Dreams”, and through 2005 starred in all 61 episodes with Tom Verica and Brittany Snow.
She continued with television roles, first as Ava Summerlin in the TV comedy series “Hot Properties” (2005), then in a guest-starring role as Mandi in the TV comedy series “Two and a Half Men” (2006), followed in 2007 playing Karen Hardy in the TV series “Hidden Palms”.
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The same year she portrayed Judge Gloria Weldon in the procedural drama series “Boston Legal”, while in 2008 she appeared in a couple of episodes of “Desperate Housewives”.
Next, she starred in the horror film “The House That Jack Built” (2009), and before the decade ended, made several guest appearances in such TV series as “Empire State”, and “CSI: NY”.
The 2010s
Nothing changed for Gail in the recent decade as she continued her career in a stunning fashion. She was Wanda Perkins in the TV series “Hellcats” from 2010 to 2011 and then in 2013, starred in the television movie “Shadow of the Mesa”.
Next, the prominent actress portrayed Stevie Grayson in the TV series “Revenge” from 2014 to 2015, and then starred as Debra Wolf in the film “Mother of the Bride” (2015).
Gail had several other popular roles in the same year, including as Dr. Helen Florentine in the film “Justice Served”, and as Martha Howard in the television movie “The Right Girl”.
Gail next portrayed Ms Fields in the horror-thriller film “Lycan” in 2017, and from 2018 to 2020, she was Krystall Richards in the crime-drama series “Criminal Minds”.
Net Worth
As of early 2022, Gail O’Grady’s net worth has been estimated to be around $3 million, earned through her successful career in the entertainment industry.
Personal Life, Dating, Marriages, Husband, Children
When it comes to her personal life, Gail has been married and divorced six times, mostly very short relationships. Her first husband was Richard Dasko, from 1981 to 1983. She was then married to American actor and writer Jeffrey Byron from 1990 to 1991, while her marriage to Severin Wunderman also lasted for a year, from 1991 to 1992.
She had huge trouble finding a love for a lifetime, as her next marriage again ended after a year, her fourth husband being Steve Fenton, 1995-96.
She next married Anthony J. Pellegrino in 1998 but they divorced in 2000. Her longest marriage lasted four years – the sixth time she said ‘yes’ (but for how long?) was to actor John Stamatakis, and the two were married from 2004 to 2008.
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She didn’t have children with any of her marriage partners, but gave birth to her son Michael Colton O’Grady on 22 May 2004 when 41 years old; the child’s father is her ex-boyfriend Chris Bayers, obviously another short liaison.
She had a short relationship with artist Robert Claypool, and after their break-up, she sought a restraining order against him in 1995, claiming that he was stalking her. However, the court didn’t grant her request, so then sued him for defamation, libel and slander, another ‘no result’!
Appearance and Vital Statistics
The prominent actress has blonde hair and blue eyes. She stands at a height of 5ft 3ins (1.6m), weighs approximately 135lbs (61kgs), with vital statistics of 38-28-36, bra size 34D.
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