Penny Johnson Jerald Biography

Penny Johnson Jerald (born March 14, 1961) is an American actress. She played Beverly Barnes on the HBO comedy series The Larry Sanders Show, Kasidy Yates on the syndicated science fiction series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Sherry Palmer on the Fox action/drama series 24, Captain Victoria "Iron" Gates on the ABC comedy-drama series Castle, and currently plays Dr. Claire Finn on the Fox network's series The Orville.

Early life

Penny Johnson was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She trained at the Juilliard School, where her classmates in 1982 included Megan Gallagher, Jack Kenny, Jack Stehlin, and Lorraine Toussaint.

Career

Jerald began her career with small guest roles, appearing in The Paper Chase from 1984 to 1986, General Hospital in 1986, and Do the Right Thing in 1989 before playing the title character's unflappable personal assistant, Beverly Barnes, on The Larry Sanders Show. Throughout the 1990s, Jerald guest starred in several television series, including Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Grace Under Fire, Cosby and Family Law.

Following Larry Sanders, Jerald appeared in the 1997 film Absolute Power and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine playing freighter captain Kasidy Yates, the love interest for the series' main character Benjamin Sisko, a recurring role which she played from 1995 to the show's end in 1999. She also had a recurring guest role on ER as Lynette Evans from 1998 to 1999. She then appeared as Roscoe Dellums in the Emmy Award winning TV movie The Color of Friendship. Jerald also guest starred on Frasier, The Practice, Touched by an Angel and The X-Files.

Jerald's arguably most-recognized role came in 2001 when she appeared in the pilot episode of the Kiefer Sutherland-led Fox series, 24, playing Sherry Palmer, the wife of Senator David Palmer. She appeared in all but two of the first season episodes and multiple episodes of the second and third seasons.

In 2003, Jerald played Condoleezza Rice in DC 9/11: Time of Crisis, a TV movie about the September 11 attacks in 2001. She reprised the role in the miniseries The Path to 9/11, which aired September 10-11, 2006.

Jerald also guest-starred on the sitcom Eve, playing Shelly's mother Beverly in four episodes. She guest starred in three episodes of sci-fi series The 4400 in 2007. Penny had a recurring role on ABC midseason drama October Road for the 2007-08 season.

Jerald also teaches acting workshops and produces and directs for Outreach Christian Theater Company, which she and her musician husband Gralin Jerald founded in 1994.

She also had guest appearances on episodes of Tyler Perry's House of Payne.

Jerald joined the cast of ABC's Castle in its fourth season as the new captain of the 12th Precinct, Victoria "Iron" Gates, replacing Ruben Santiago-Hudson's deceased character Roy Montgomery as captain of the precinct.

Personal life

Johnson married Gralin Jerald in 1982 when she was 21, and together they have a daughter, Danyel.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Swing Shift	Genevieve
1984	'	Sue
1991	Goin' to Chicago	Darlene
1993	Fear of a Black Hat	Re-Re
1993	What's Love Got to Do with It	Lorraine Taylor
1994	Molly & Gina	Maria
1995	Automatic	Julia Rodriguez
1997	Absolute Power	Laura Simon
1998	Krippendorf's Tribe	Teacher	Uncredited
2005	Rent	Bohemian	Uncredited
2015	Justice League: Gods and Monsters	President Amanda Waller
2017	Parker's Anchor	Laurie

Television films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	'	Michelle
1985	'	Betty
1990	Kaleidoscope	Paula
1990	Night Visions	Luanne
1993	Class of '61	Lavinia
1993	Empty Cradle	Gail Huddle
1996	'	Laney Roosevelt
1996	Death Benefit	Sylvia Guzman
1996	'	Geraldine
1999	The Test of Love	Hope
2000	'	Roscoe Dellums
2000	Deliberate Intent	Laura Harmon
2003	DC 9/11: Time of Crisis	Condoleezza Rice
2006	'	Condoleezza Rice
2015	Media	Jackie Jones

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	American Playhouse	Jill Hatch	Episode: "The Files on Jill Hatch: Part 1"
1984	T. J. Hooker	Lisa Cody	Episode: "Anatomy of a Killing"
1984	Hill Street Blues	Jackie DeWitt	Episode: "Blues for Mr. Green"
1984-86	'	Vivian Conway	17 episodes
1985	'	Danelle	Episode: "Last Dance"
1985	Simon & Simon	Hanna McKenzie	Episode: "Out-of-Town Brown"
1986	General Hospital	Debbie	Unknown episodes
1987	1st & Ten: The Championship	Phyllis	3 episodes
1987	Women in Prison	Patty	Episode: "Walk This Way"
1988	The Cosby Show	Nurse (uncredited)	Episode: "The Visit"
1988	Simon & Simon	Evelyn Jacobson/Doris Beeman	Episode: "Zen and the Art of the Split-Finger Fastball"
1989	Homeroom	Virginia Harper	13 episodes
1989	Tour of Duty	Jan Hudson	Episode: "For What It's Worth"
1989	She's the Sheriff	Dorothy	2 episodes
1990	Freddy's Nightmares	Elaine Alamo	Episode: "Life Sentence"
1990	Coach	Susan Birch	Episode: "The Day That Moses Came to Town"
1990	Parker Lewis Can't Lose	Ms. Miriam Donnelly	Episode: "Teacher, Teacher"
1991	Columbo	Maxine Jarrett	Episode: "Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health"
1992-98	'	Beverly Barnes	82 episodes
1994	Star Trek: The Next Generation	Dobara	Episode: "Homeward"
1995-99	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	Kasidy Yates	15 episodes
1996	Grace Under Fire	Bailey Alford	2 episodes
1997	Cosby	Penny	Episode: "Brave New Hilton"
1997	'	Elizabeth	Episode: "Pilot"
1998-99	ER	Lynette Evans	9 episodes
2000	Family Law	Christine Webber	Episode: "Family Values"
2001	'	Dr. Hellura Lyle	Episode: "Medusa"
2001	'	Atty. Laura Garrett	Episode: "Awakenings"
2001	Citizen Baines	Denise Willis	Episode: "A Day Like No Other"
2001-04	24	Sherry Palmer	45 episodes
2002	Touched by an Angel	Eleanor	Episode: "The Impossible Dream"
2003	Frasier	Carol	Episode: "Maris Returns"
2005-06	Eve	Beverly Williams	4 episodes
2006	Law & Order	Ms. Booker	Episode: "Choice of Evils"
2007	'	Rebecca Parrish	3 episodes
2007-08	October Road	Dean Leslie Etwood	10 episodes
2009-10	NCIS	Joanne Torrence	2 episodes
2010	Bones	Rachel Adams	Episode: "The X in the File"
2010	Tyler Perry's House of Payne	Maxine	3 episodes
2011-15	Castle	Capt. Victoria Gates	76 episodes
2015	Gods and Monsters Chronicles	President Amanda Waller	Episode: "Bomb"
2017-present	The Orville	Dr. Claire Finn	13 episodes

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1998	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	The Larry Sanders Show
2003	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	24