Susan Sullivan Biography

Susan Michaela Sullivan (born November 18, 1942) is an American actress, with credits in daytime and prime-time programs. Sullivan is best known for her roles as Lenore Curtin Delaney on the daytime soap opera Another World (1971-76), as Lois Adams in the ABC sitcom It's a Living (1980-81), as Maggie Gioberti Channing on the primetime soap opera Falcon Crest (1981-89), as Kitty Montgomery on ABC sitcom Dharma & Greg (1997-2002), and as Martha Rodgers in Castle (2009-2016).

Life and career

Sullivan was born in New York City, the daughter of Helen (Rockett) and Brendan Sullivan, an advertising executive. She was raised in the Long Island village of Freeport, Nassau County, New York, where she graduated from Freeport High School in 1960. She earned a BA in drama from Hofstra University in 1964. She got her acting start in the 1960s playing opposite Dustin Hoffman in the Broadway play Jimmy Shine. She landed a contract with Universal Studios in 1969, guest-starring on several shows. It was during this time that she played parts in daytime dramas.

Starting with a role on A World Apart in 1970, she moved to a five-year stint as Lenore Moore Curtin Delaney on the daytime soap opera Another World. Taking over from Judith Barcroft, Sullivan played the role from 1971 to 1976. Sullivan played Charlton Heston's girlfriend Ann, a new character written into the TV version of the film Midway in 1976. She then played Dr. Elaina Marks opposite Bill Bixby in the Incredible Hulk pilot in 1977 and portrayed Poker Alice opposite James Garner as Bret Maverick and Charles Frank as Ben Maverick in The New Maverick the following year.

She played the role of Maggie Porter in the television drama Rich Man, Poor Man Book II. She played Dr. Julie Farr in Having Babies from 1978 to 1979, and was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, which was made into two television movies and later a short-lived weekly series in 1978. During a week in 1978, she was a panelist on Match Game '78. In 1980, she appeared on the sitcom It's a Living, playing head waitress Lois Adams.

In 1981, Sullivan won the role of Maggie Gioberti in the CBS primetime soap drama Falcon Crest, replacing Samantha Eggar who had appeared in the original pilot. The series became a huge hit and Maggie became Sullivan's most prominent role to date. She appeared on the series from 1981 to 1989, during which time she was nominated for three Soap Opera Digest Awards. At the time Sullivan decided to leave the show in 1989, she had appeared in every episode of the series up to that date (207 out of the 227 episodes produced). Sullivan appeared in the first episode of season 9, when her character drowned.

Following Falcon Crest, Sullivan appeared on The George Carlin Show, co-starred on the short-lived political drama The Monroes in the mid-1990s, and played a supporting role in the movie My Best Friend's Wedding (as the mother of Cameron Diaz's character). On Dharma & Greg, she played the snooty country-club matriarch, Kitty Montgomery, from 1997 to 2002. The series reunited Sullivan with actor Mitchell Ryan (who played her husband Edward), with whom she had worked on Having Babies. She appeared in four episodes in season three of Hope and Faith as Nancy Lombard, Faith's therapist. Sullivan voiced Queen Hippolyta in the animated television series Justice League Unlimited. She has also appeared in the television series Brothers & Sisters, Joan of Arcadia and Two and a Half Men.

Since 2009, she has co-starred alongside Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic and Molly Quinn in Castle. Her character Martha Rodgers' acting career has somewhat paralleled her own, including references to appearances on soap operas. A clip of Sullivan's appearance in the pilot film for The Incredible Hulk has been shown onscreen, alleged to be Rodgers' appearance on the series.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1967	The Winter's Tale	Perdita	TV movie
1968	Macbeth	Third Witch	TV movie
1970	The Best of Everything	April Morrison	Series regular
1970-1971	A World Apart	Nancy Condon	Series regular
1972	Between Time and Timbuktu	Nancy	TV movie
1971-1976	Another World	Lenore Moore Curtin Delaney	Series regular
1975	Medical Center	Joanna Courtney	Episode: "No Hiding Place"
1975	S.W.A.T.	Julia	Episode: "The Vendetta"
1975	McMillan & Wife	Maggie Arnaud	Episode: "Requiem for a Bride"
1975	Petrocelli	Janet Wilson	Episode: "Too Many Alibis"
1976	Kojak	Kelly McCall	Episode: "Both Sides of the Law"
1976	Bert D'Angelo/Superstar	Sharon Andress	Episode: "Scag"
1976	Bell, Book and Candle	Rosemary	TV movie
1977	The City	Carol Carter	TV movie
1977	The Incredible Hulk Pilot	Dr. Elaina Marks	TV movie
1976-1977	Rich Man, Poor Man Book II	Maggie Porter	Series regular (20 episodes)
1977	Roger & Harry: The Mitera Target	Cindy St. Claire	TV movie
1977	The Magnificent Magical Magnet of Santa Mesa	C.B. Macauley	TV movie
1977	Having Babies II	Dr. Julie Farr	TV movie
1978	Julie Farr, M.D.	Dr. Julie Farr	Series regular, 7 episodes Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
1978	Deadman's Curve	Rainbow	TV movie
1978	Having Babies III	Dr. Julie Farr	TV movie
1978	The Comedy Company	Linda Greg	TV movie
1978	Killer's Delight	Dr. Carol Thompson
1978	The New Maverick	'Poker' Alice Ivers	TV movie
1979	Breaking Up Is Hard to Do	Diane Sealey	TV movie
1979	The Love Boat	Dr. Emily Bradford	Episode: "No Hiding Place"
1980	Taxi	Nora Sutton	Episode: "What Price Bobby?"
1980	Marriage Is Alive and Well	Sara Fish	TV movie
1980	The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd	Frances Mudd	TV movie
1980	City in Fear	Madeleine Crawford	TV movie
1980-1981	It's a Living	Lois Adams	Series regular; 13 episodes
1981	Fantasy Island	Dorothy Nicholson	Episode: "Perfect Husband, The/Volcano"
1983	Cave-In!	Senator Kate Lassiter	TV movie
1986	Rage of Angels: The Story Continues	Mary Beth Warner	TV movie
1981-1989	Falcon Crest	Maggie Gioberti Channing	Series regular (207 episodes) Nominated - Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role: Prime Time (1988-89)
1990	Doctor Doctor	Laura Stratford	Episode: "Family Affair"
1991	Perry Mason: The Case of the Ruthless Reporter	Twyla Cooper	TV movie
1994	A Perfect Stranger	Kaye	TV movie
1994-1995	The George Carlin Show	Kathleen Rachowski	Recurring role; 7 episodes
1995	The Monroes	Kathryn Monroe	Series regular (8 episodes)
1997	My Best Friend's Wedding	Isabelle Wallace
1997	Two Came Back	Patricia Clarkson	TV movie
2001	Puzzled	Anabel Norton
1997-2002	Dharma & Greg	Kitty Montgomery	Series regular (119 episodes) Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film (1999) Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1998, 2000)
2003	Dead Like Me	Mary Kate Hourihan	Episode: "Business Unfinished"
2003	I'm with Her	Rosalyn	Episode: "Meet the Parent"
2004	Joan of Arcadia	Rich Woman God	Episode: "The Gift"
2005	Judging Amy	Patricia Millhouse	Episodes: "Hard to Get" and "Too Little, Too Late"
2005-2006	Hope & Faith	Nancy Lombard	4 episodes
2006	Two and a Half Men	Dorothy	Episode: "Walnuts and Demerol"
2007	Brothers & Sisters	Miranda Jones	Episode: "Game Night"
2006-2007	The Nine	Nancy Hale	7 episodes
2009-2016	Castle	Martha Rodgers	Series regular