Lauren Holly Biography:

A prominent and gifted leading lady and celebrity, Lauren Holly found success as an actress in both television and film. Acknowledged first as the hard-hitting but sensitive Deputy Maxine Stewart on the Emmy Award winning “Picket Fences” (CBS, 1992-96), Holly gained critical praise for her superior performance in “Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story” (1993) and received cheers for her comedic skill opposite comedy super-star, Jim Carrey in the funny hit, “Dumb & Dumber” (1994). Carrey and Holly fell in love in real life.

The couples relationship off screen shot her to celebrity stardom almost overnight, with the tabloids and Hollywood press following their every move throughout their stormy romance and marriage during the mid 1990s. The spotlight was so firmly fixated on the Jim Carrey association or what hair color Lauren Holly would introduce next, that it was sometimes forgotten that the actress was a intelligent and charming leading and supporting player. 

In 2006, Holly returned to her television roots as NCIS Director Jenny Shepard on the CBS series “Navy NCIS” (CBS, 2003- ), laying to rest any concerns that her past onscreen success, both on the big and small screen, was a coincidence.

Born Lauren Michael Holly on Oct. 28, 1963 in Bristol, PA to parents Grant Holly and Michael Ann, Holly grew up in Geneva, NY. The child of two University professors, Holly grew up in an scholastic household, with her father teaching English Literature at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, while her mother instructed on art history at the University of Rochester and served as chair of the department. After graduating from Geneva High School in 1981, where she was a cheerleader and busy student, Lauren Holly then attended Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY, graduating in 1985 with a BA in English Literature. Instead of following in her parents academic footsteps, Holly relocated to Los Angeles after graduation, to chase her dream of acting.

Just a year after moving to L.A., Holly was hired for a role on the admired daytime soap “All My Children” (ABC, 1970- ). Playing the charming Julie Rand Chandler on the series, Holly quickly received a soap-cult fan following and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy in 1987. Next, Holly appeared in a recurring role on "My Two Dads" (NBC), before being cast in her first starring role portraying Betty Cooper in the television movie “Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again” (1990). Hopeful to find success on the movie screen, Holly appeared opposite Andrew Dice Clay in the foolish and piggish “The Adventures of Ford Fairlane” (1990). While the film was not a huge box office hit, it helped lead Holly to her breakout role on television.

Cast as Deputy Maxine Stewart on the critically much-admired David E. Kelly drama “Picket Fences” (CBS, 1992-1996), Holly swiftly became a household name, so much so, that she got her first leading feature role soon after appearing “Picket Fences.” In the film “Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story” (1993) working with Jason Scott Lee, Holly gave an touching and smooth performance as Linda Lee, wife of the infamous, doomed martial artist. Well received by critics, this performance helped launch Holly’s big screen career.

Though Holly had earlier turned down the Courtney Cox role in “Ace Ventura, Pet Detective” (1994) because of scheduling conflicts with “Fences,” she was offered another chance to work with rising star Jim Carrey in the comedy “Dumb and Dumber” (1994). A box office smash hit, “Dumb and Dumber” earned more than $250 million worldwide. In Holly’s personal life, the film started a romance between the actress and Jim Carrey; the couple were married in 1996. Like many Hollywood marriages, however, Carrey's celebrity status complicated the couple's relationship leading them to divorce a year later.

Lauren Holly continued to find work in a variety of good films - she played the fiancée of playboy Greg Kinnear in the 1995 remake of “Sabrina,” directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Harrison Ford; she appeared in the Ted Demme drama “Beautiful Girls” (1996) working with such talent as Matt Dillon, Rosie O'Donnell, Natalie Portman and Uma Thurman; and starred opposite Kelsey Grammer in the comedy “Down Periscope” (1996). 

Holly then once again joined with her “Sabrina” co-star Greg Kinnear in 1997 to play a couple trying to have a baby in the romantic comedy “A Smile Like Yours” (1997). Playing against type in Edward Burns’ “No Looking Back” (1998) with Jennifer Esposito, Holly drew from her skill as a waitress growing up to portray the character of Claudia, a small town waitress.

Lauren Holly was next cast in a number of supporting roles; appearing in the Oliver Stone sports drama “Any Given Sunday” (1999) starring Al Pacino and Cameron Diaz, in Nancy Meyers’ “What Women Want” (2000) with Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt, and joined the cast of “Chicago Hope” (CBS, 1994-2000) in a returning role during the final season. 

Marrying investment banker Francis Greco in 2001, the actress moved to Forrest Park, IL to to raise a family. She continued to work, starring in the TV movies “Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot” (2001), and “King of Texas,” (2002) a western variation of Shakespeare’s “King Lear” opposite Patrick Stewart. Holly also appeared in the independent film “The Chumscrubber” (2005) starring Glenn Close, and the political thriller “Fatwa” (2006). Coming back to series television in 2006, Holly joined the cast of the CBS crime drama “Navy NCIS,” as NCIS Director Jenny Shepard.

In 2008, Lauren appeared in the Mark Young comedy biography "The Least Among You", inspired by the true story about a black college graduate forced to serve probation after the 1965 Watts riots at an all-white seminary that wants black followers not leaders. 

• Born:
  on 10/28/1963 in Bristol, Pennsylvania
• Job Titles:
  Actor

Family

• Brother: Alexander Holly. Died in 1992 fire in home at age 14
• Brother: Nick Holly. Born 1971
• Father: Grant Holly. Formed "Hollycould" Productions with daughter
• Mother: Michael Holly. chair of the department of fine arts at the University of Rochester
• Son: Alexander Joseph Greco. born in May 2001; adopted by Holly and her husband in June 2001 at age five weeks
• Son: George Greco. adopted by Holly and her husband Francis Greco
• Son: Henry Charles Greco. adopted on Dec 2, 2003, by Holly and her husband Francis Greco

Significant Others

• Husband: Francis Greco. met in 2000; announced engagement in January 2001; married on March 11, 2001 in Canada
• Husband: Jim Carrey. first met in 1991 when she auditioned for "Ace Ventura"; re-met in 1994 during filming of "Dumb and Dumber"; separated briefly in 1996; reconciled and married on September 23, 1996; filed for divorce in July 1997; divorced finalized in 1998
• Companion: Edward Burns. began relationship during filming of "No Looking Back"; both reportedly claim they were "just friends"
• Companion: Todd Gustawes. dated from October 1998 to summer 1999

Education

• Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, New York, English literature, BA, 1985

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