Amy Brenneman

Amy Frederica Brenneman was born in New London, Connecticut on June 22, 1964. Her mother Frederica Joanne was a judge of the Connecticut State Superior Court and her father Russell Langdon Brenneman Jr. was an environmental lawyer. Brenneman is the niece of Beryl D. Hines, the famous Cold War-era journalist.

Amy Brenneman attended the Harvard University and majored in comparative religion from there. She married Brad Silberling in 1995 and has two children, Charlotte Tucker, and Bodhi Russell Silberling, with him.

Amy Brenneman became serious about acting during her time at the Harvard University, where she co-founded the Cornerstone Theatre Company. She traveled with the company for several years after her university days were over. This was the beginning of her acting career. She first entered the show business with a role in ‘Middle Ages’, an American comedy-drama series. She appeared in three different episodes of the show in 1992.

Between 1993 and 1994, Brenneman appeared in ‘NYPD Blue’, an American police procedural drama television series, as ‘Det. Janice Licalsi’. This was her first big break on television, and with her stellar performance, she earned her fair share of the spotlight in the industry. Her brilliant performance in the show and the chemistry with David Caruso's character brought her wider recognition among the audience. She was nominated twice for the Primetime Emmy Award, once for the Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1994, and the next year, for the Outstanding Guest Actress.

After her successful stint with ‘NYPD Blue’, Brenneman appeared in a couple of films in small roles before getting her first big role in 1995. She appeared alongside Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in the American crime film ‘Heat’. In the next two years, she appeared in a series of films where she was the lead female actor. Films like ‘Fear’, ‘Daylight’ and ‘Nevada’ gave her the opportunity to work with several popular actors. In ‘Fear’, she appeared alongside Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon, while in the disaster thriller film ‘Daylight,’ she was featured beside Sylvester Stallone.

In 1998, Brenneman appeared in the black comedy film ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ as ‘Mary’. She returned to the television industry became the creator and executive producer of her own television series titled ‘Judging Amy’, an American legal drama series. She portrayed the character of a divorced single mother who works as a Family Court Judge in Hartford. Brenneman was the soul of the show and was hailed by the critics for her brilliant performance. She was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and one Screen Actors Guild Award. She won the 2001 TV Guide Award for Actress of the Year in a Drama Series, and later in 2002, she received the Women in Film Lucy Award. This has been her biggest success in her lengthy acting career to date.

In the next years, Brenneman worked in numerous popular films and television shows. Her work in Rodrigo Garcia’s directorial ‘Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her’ was received warmly by the audience. She also starred in another Rodrigo Garcia drama film titled ‘Nine Lives’ in 2005. She appeared alongside Al Pacino for the second time in her career in the 2007 American thriller film ‘88 Minutes’. She also portrayed the role of ‘Dr. Violet Turner’ in the American medical drama television series ‘Private Practice’, a spin-off of ‘Grey's Anatomy’. She was part of the show from 2007 to 2013.