Bio
Gail O'Grady is an American actress best known for her television roles as Donna Abandano in NYPD Blue and as Helen Pryor in American Dreams.
She also had a starring role as Wanda Perkins, mother and life long embarrassment to Marti (Aly Michalka), on the comedy-drama television series Hellcats, from 2010-2011.
She also starred in the short-lived drama series Hidden Palms, which aired on the CW network in the USA in 2007. The show is a coming-of-age drama about a troubled teen who moves to a gated community in Palm Springs, where he uncovers some dark secrets.
O'Grady starred in a recurring role on Desperate Housewives as a married woman having an affair with the teenaged son of Felicity Huffman's character.
On Boston Legal, her multi-episode arc as the sexy and beautiful Judge Gloria Weldon, James Spader's love interest and sometime nemesis, garnered much praise.
O'Grady also starred as Ava in the comedy Hot Properties. Prior to that, she starred as Helen Pryor in the critically acclaimed series American Dreams.
But O'Grady will always be remembered as the warm-hearted secretary Donna Abandando on the series NYPD Blue, for which she received three Emmy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress in a Dramatic Series.
O'Grady has made guest appearances on some of television's most acclaimed series, including Cheers, Designing Women, Ally McBeal and China Beach. She has also appeared in numerous television movies and miniseries.
She starred in Hallmark Channel's All I Want for Christmas and Lifetime's While Children Sleep and Sex and the Single Mom, which was so highly rated that it spawned a sequel in which she also starred.
Other television credits include The Mentalist, Vegas, CSI, Two and a Half Men, Monk, Two of Hearts, Nothing Lasts Forever and Billionaire Boys Club.
In the feature film arena, O'Grady has worked with some of the industry's most respected directors, including John Landis, John Hughes and Carl Reiner, and has starred with several acting legends.
She appeared in Walking Across Egypt with Ellen Burstyn, That Old Feeling with Bette Midler, She's Having a Baby with Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern, and Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo opposite Rob Schneider.
Born in Detroit, O'Grady now resides in Los Angeles.