Merrin Dungey Biography

Merrin Dungey (born August 6, 1971) is an American film and television actress, known for her roles on the television series The King of Queens, Alias, and Summerland. She also appeared as Ursula on the ABC series Once Upon a Time. In October 2016, Dungey began playing series regular Maxine Bohen on the ABC legal drama Conviction.

Early life

Dungey was born and raised in Sacramento, California, the younger daughter of Don Dungey, a general services manager. As a child, she was active in ballet and dance as well as piano. Dungey was also an accomplished ice skater. Dungey graduated in 1989 from Rio Americano High School in Sacramento, California. She earned a degree of Bachelor of Arts from UCLA in 1993. Dungey has one sister, Channing Dungey, who was named president of ABC Entertainment in February 2016.

Career

Dungey had small roles in Hollywood films such as EDtv and Deep Impact and on television series such as Martin, before landing the recurring role of Kelly Palmer on the CBS television series The King of Queens, in which she starred from 1999 to 2007. She appeared in every season in the series except for the 2002-03 season. Dungey is also well known for her role as Francie Calfo on the drama series Alias, in which she starred from 2001 to 2003, as well as an appearance in the 2006 series finale episode All the Time in the World. She also had a recurring role on the FOX sitcom Malcolm in the Middle as Stevie's mother, Kitty Kernaban. At one point in 2001, Dungey was appearing in all three shows (The King of Queens, Malcolm in the Middle, and Alias) at the same time. Dungey then portrayed Susannah in the WB drama series Summerland from 2004 to 2005.

She has also guest-starred on various TV series including Living Single, ER, Murphy Brown, Seinfeld, Friends, The West Wing, Babylon 5, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Dungey appeared in two episodes of Grey's Anatomy that served as a backdoor pilot for Private Practice, but was replaced by actress Audra McDonald for the actual series.

Most recently, Dungey guest-starred on the ABC sitcoms Surviving Suburbia starring Bob Saget, Better Off Ted starring Portia de Rossi, Castle starring Nathan Fillion and HBO's Hung starring Thomas Jane. She portrayed Ellie on the Nick at Nite television series Hollywood Heights in 2012 and the recurring role of Alissa Barnes on ABC's Betrayal in 2013. In 2014 she appeared in a featured role opposite Pierce Brosnan in Some Kind of Beautiful. Also in 2014 she began portraying the recurring role of Ursula on ABC's Once Upon a Time.

Beginning October 3, 2016, Dungey began playing investigator Maxine Bohen on the ABC legal drama Conviction.

Personal life

Dungey married Matthew Drake in a Mariachi style wedding ceremony in Cancun, Mexico, in May 2007. She gave birth to their first daughter in June 2008, and a second daughter in 2011.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Deep Impact	Sheila Bradley
1999	EDtv	Ms. Seaver
2001	The Sky Is Falling	Sheila
2001	Odessa or Bust	Disgruntled Diner	Short film
2002	Scream at the Sound of the Beep	Jill
2011	L!fe Happens	Hester
2014	Some Kind of Beautiful	Angela
2015	The Diabolical	Mrs. Wallace

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Martin	Monique	Episode: "Girlfriend"
1996	Babylon 5	Security Guard #2	Episode: "Messages from Earth"
1996	Living Single	Laura	Episode: "Woman to Woman"
1996	Party Girl	Wanda	4 episodes
1997	Caroline in the City	Female prostitute	Episode: "Caroline and the Buyer"
1997	ER	Daphina	Episode: "When the Bough Breaks"
1997	Murphy Brown	Woman	Episode: "From the Terrace"
1998	Seinfeld	Cashier	Episode: "The Bookstore"
1999-2007	The King of Queens	Kelly Palmer	Recurring role; 40 episodes
1999	Tracey Takes On...	Nancy	Episode: "Drugs"
1999	Saved by the Bell: The New Class	Coach Williams	Episode: "Prescription for Trouble"
1999	The West Wing	Daisy	Episode: "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc"
1999	G vs E	Rebecca Clemens	Episode: "Cliffhanger"
2000	Jesse	Rosemary	Episode: "Kurt Slips, Niagara Falls"
2000-2004	Malcolm in the Middle	Kitty Kenarban	6 episodes
2000	City of Angels	Mrs. Lombard	Episode: "Deliver the Male"
2000	Friends	Hildy, museum official	Episode: "The One Where Paul's the Man"
2000-2001	Grosse Pointe	Joan	4 episodes
2001-2003, 2006	Alias	Francie Calfo/Allison Doren	Main Cast (Season 1-2) Recurring (Season 3) Special Guest Star (Season 5): 47 episodes
2001	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Amy	Episode: "The Doll"
2004-2005	Summerland	Susannah Rexford	Series regular; 26 episodes
2006	Beyond	Debbie Sprague	TV movie
2007	Boston Legal	Sandy Zionts	Episode: "Angel of Death"
2007	Grey's Anatomy	Dr. Naomi Bennett	2 episodes: "The Other Side of This Life (Part 1/Part 2)" (Backdoor pilot for Private Practice)
2009	Masterwork	Rachel West	TV movie
2009-2010	Better Off Ted	Sheila	4 episodes
2009	Surviving Suburbia	Mrs. Devore	Episode: "Nothing for Money"
2010	Castle	Monica Finch	Episode: "Den of Thieves"
2010	The Closer	Ms. Reed	Episode: "Heart Attack"
2010	Hung	Liz	2 episodes
2010	Outlaw	Alison Mills	Episode: "In Re: Curtis Farwell"
2012	Revenge	Barbara Snow	3 episodes
2012	Hollywood Heights	Ellie Moss	Contract role; 17 episodes
2013	90210	Therapist	Episode: "Brother From Another Mother"
2013	How to Live with Your Parents	Morgan	2 episodes
2013	Betrayal	Alissa Barnes	5 episodes
2014-2015	Brooklyn Nine-Nine	Sharon Jeffords	Recurring role; 5 episodes
2014	Episodes	Tonight Show Producer	Episode: "Episode Four"
2014	Trophy Wife	Agent Dawn Johansen	Episode: "The Wedding, Part 1"
2014	Shameless	Nurse	Episode: "Lazarus"
2014-2015	Chasing Life	Dr. Susan Hamburg	15 episodes
2014	Rizzoli & Isles	Nurse	Episode: "It Takes a Village"
2014	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Twyla Owens	Episode: "Road to Recovery"
2014-2015	Once Upon a Time	Ursula	6 episodes
2015	Backstrom	Eleanor Deering	Episode: "Enemy of My Enemies"
2015	48 Hours 'til Monday		TV movie
2016-present	Conviction	Maxine Bohen	Series regular
2017	Big Little Lies	Detective Adrienne Quinlan	Post-production