Stockard Channing Biography

Stockard Channing (born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard; February 13, 1944) is a three-time Emmy and one-time Tony Award winning American stage, film and television actress.

She is known for her portrayal of First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing; for playing Betty Rizzo in the film Grease; and for her role as Ouisa Kittredge in the play Six Degrees of Separation and its later film version.

Early life and education

Channing was born in New York City, the daughter of Mary Alice (née English), who came from a large Brooklyn-based Irish Catholic family, and Lester Napier Stockard (died 1960), who was in the shipping business. She grew up on the Upper East Side.

Channing is an alumna of The Madeira School, a Virginia boarding school for girls, after starting out at The Chapin School in New York City. She studied history and literature at Radcliffe College and graduated in 1965.

Career

Early career

Channing started her acting career with the experimental Theatre Company of Boston and eventually performed in the group's Off-Broadway 1969 production of the Elaine May play Adaptation/Next. She performed in a revival of Arsenic and Old Lace (play) directed by Theodore Mann as part of the Circle in the Square at Ford's Theatre program in 1970. In 1971, she made her Broadway debut in Two Gentlemen of Verona "? The Musical, working with playwright John Guare. She also appeared on Broadway in 1973 in a supporting role in No Hard Feelings at the Martin Beck Theatre

Channing made her television debut on Sesame Street in the role of the The Number Painter's female victim. She landed her first lead role in the 1973 television movie The Girl Most Likely to..., a black comedy written by Joan Rivers about an ugly duckling woman whose car accident leads to plastic surgery; newly beautiful, she vows murderous revenge on all who had scorned her. For the role, Channing went through considerable transformation, with the syndicated column "TV Scout" reporting months later, "It was a great make-up job "? at least the part that made very pretty Stockard look so ugly. She had her cheeks puffed out with cotton and her nose was wadded, too, to make it thick and off-center. Very thick eyebrows were drawn on her face and she wore padded clothes to make her look fat. Making her look beautiful was easy."

After a few small parts in feature films, Channing co-starred with Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson in Mike Nichols' The Fortune (1975). On May 22, 1977, Stockard along with Ned Beatty starred in the pilot for the short-lived TV series Lucan. Lucan, played by Kevin Brophy, was a 20-year-old who spent the first 10 years of his life running wild in the forest. After being raised by wolves, Lucan strikes out on his own in search of his identity. In 1978, at the age of 33, Channing took on the role of high school teenager Betty Rizzo in the hit musical Grease. Her performance earned her the People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Supporting Actress. That year, she also played Peter Falk's secretary in the Neil Simon film The Cheap Detective.

1980s

Channing starred in two short-lived sitcoms on CBS in 1979 and 1980: Stockard Channing in Just Friends and The Stockard Channing Show. In both shows, she co-starred with actress Sydney Goldsmith, who played her best friend in both. Her Hollywood career faltered after these failures, so Channing returned to her theatre roots.

She played the female lead in the Broadway show, They're Playing Our Song (1980"81). Channing then took the part of the mother (Sheila) in the 1981 Long Wharf Theater (New Haven) production of Peter Nichols' A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. She reprised the role in the Roundabout Theater Company production, first Off-Broadway in January 1985 and then on Broadway in March 1985, and won the 1985 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.

Channing continued her return to the stage by teaming up again with playwright John Guare. She received Tony Award nominations for her performances in his plays, The House of Blue Leaves (1986) and Six Degrees of Separation (1990), for which she also won an Obie. The Alan Ayckbourn play Woman in Mind received its American premiere Off-Broadway in February 1988 at the Manhattan Theatre Club. The production was directed by Lynne Meadow and the cast included Channing in the role of Susan, for which she won a Drama Desk Award for Best Actress. When once asked if Susan was Channing's most fully realized character, the actress replied:

Well, you like to think that they're all fully realized because what you're doing is different from what anyone else is seeing. You do a character but how much of it is on film, or how much of it is seen by an audience, is really up to the director, the piece, or the audience. And so, I just do these people. And flesh them out. I think anything else is not my job.

Channing also garnered recognition for her work in television during this time. She was nominated for an Emmy for the CBS miniseries Echoes in the Darkness (1987) and won a CableACE Award for the Harvey Fierstein-scripted Tidy Endings (HBO, 1988). Channing also appeared in 1989's Staying Together.

1990s

Channing reprised her lead role as an Upper East Side matron in the film version of Six Degrees of Separation. She was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for her performance. She then made several films in quick succession: To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar as Carol Ann and Smoke (both 1995); a cameo appearance in The First Wives Club, Up Close and Personal (as Marcia Mcgrath), and Moll Flanders (all 1996). For Smoke she was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress and for Moll Flanders she was nominated for the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress, Drama.

Channing kept busy with film, television and stage roles throughout the late 1990s. She starred in the USA Network film An Unexpected Family in 1996 and in its sequel, An Unexpected Life, in 1998. She was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award as Best Supporting Female for her performance as one-half of an infertile couple in The Baby Dance (also 1998). On stage, she performed at Lincoln Center in Tom Stoppard's Hapgood (1995) and in the 1997 revival of Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes. During this period, Channing voiced Barbara Gordon in the animated series, Batman Beyond, and in one episode of King of the Hill.

Channing was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress three times in the 1990s: in 1991, for Six Degrees of Separation; in 1992, for Four Baboons Adoring the Sun; and in 1999, for The Lion in Winter.

The West Wing

In 1999, Channing took on the role of First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing. She was a recurring guest star for the show's first two seasons; she became a regular cast member in 2001. In the seventh and final season of The West Wing (2005"2006), Channing appeared in only four episodes (including the series finale) because she was co-starring (with Henry Winkler) in the CBS sitcom Out of Practice at the same time. Out of Practice was cancelled by CBS after one season.

Beyond The West Wing

Channing received several awards in 2002. She won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her work on The West Wing. That same year, she also won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress in a Television Movie or Miniseries for her portrayal of Judy Shepard in The Matthew Shepard Story, a docudrama about Matthew Shepard's life and murder.

Channing received the 2002 London Film Critics Circle Award (ALFS) for Best Actress of the Year for her role in the film The Business of Strangers. For The Business of Strangers she was also nominated for the American Film Institute Best Actress award. In 2003, she was awarded the Women in Film [[Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards#THE LUCY AWARD|Lucy Award]].

In 2005, Channing won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children/Youth/Family Special for Jack (2004), a Showtime television movie about a young man struggling to understand why his father left the family for another man. Channing played Jack's mother.

She was selected for the second narrator of the Animal Planet hit series Meerkat Manor in 2008, replacing Sean Astin, who did the first three seasons. In November 2008, she returned to Broadway as Vera Simpson in the musical Pal Joey, and was nominated for the 2009 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.

In 2005, Channing starred in Out of Practice with Henry Winkler, with the two receiving Emmy nominations for their roles. Channing played the role of Lydia Barnes, ex-wife of Stewart Barnes (Henry Winkler), and had two sons and a lesbian daughter (Christopher Gorham, Paula Marshall, Ty Burrel, Jennifer Tilly). The show aired for one season (22 episodes).

She returned to the stage in June 2010, to Dublin's Gaiety Theatre to play Lady Bracknell in Rough Magic Theatre Company's production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. Channing appeared in the play Other Desert Cities Off-Broadway at Lincoln Center and then on Broadway, as of October 2011. Channing was nominated for the Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Actress in a Play and the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for Other Desert Cities.

Channing's latest film is A Fonder Heart (2011).

Personal life

Channing has been married and divorced four times; she has no children. She married Walter Channing in 1963 and kept the amalgamated name "Stockard Channing" after they divorced in 1967. Her second husband was Paul Schmidt, a professor of Slavic languages (1970"76), and her third was writer-producer David Debin (1976"80). Her fourth husband was businessman David Rawle (1980"88). She has been in a relationship with cinematographer Daniel Gillham for more than 20 years; they met on the set of A Time of Destiny. The couple reside in Maine when not working.

In 2005, Channing pleaded no contest to driving under the influence and received 36 months' probation.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	The Hospital	E.R. Nurse	Uncredited
1972	Up the Sandbox	Judy Stanley	Uncredited
1975	The Lion Roars Again	Unknown	Short film
1975	The Fortune	Freddie	Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture - Female
1976	Sweet Revenge	Vurrla Kowsky
1976	The Big Bus	Kitty Baxter
1978	The Cheap Detective	Bess
1978	Grease	Betty Rizzo	People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Supporting Actress
1979	The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh	Mona Mondieu
1982	Safari 3000	J.J. Dalton
1983	Without a Trace	Jocelyn Norris
1986	Heartburn	Julie Siegel
1986	The Men's Club	Nancy
1988	A Time of Destiny	Margaret
1989	Staying Together	Nancy Trainer
1991	Meet the Applegates	Jane Applegate
1991	Married to It	Iris Morden
1992	Bitter Moon	Beverly	Uncredited
1993	Six Degrees of Separation	Ouisa	Nominated-Academy Award for Best Actress Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Actress " Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated-Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress Nominated-National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
1995	Smoke	Ruby McNutt	Nominated-Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
1995	To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar	Carol Ann
1995	Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree	Miss Adelaide
1996	Up Close & Personal	Marcia MacGrath	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress " Romance
1996	Edie & Pen	Pen
1996	Moll Flanders	Mrs. Allworthy	Nominated-Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress " Motion Picture
1996	The First Wives Club	Cynthia Swann Griffin	National Board of Review Award for Best Cast
1998	Twilight	Lt. Verna Hollander
1998	Lulu on the Bridge	Celia's agent	Uncredited
1998	Practical Magic	Aunt Frances	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress " Comedy or Romance
1999	The Venice Project	Chandra Chase
2000	Other Voices	Dr. Grover
2000	Isn't She Great	Florence Maybelle
2000	Where the Heart Is	Sister Husband
2001	The Business of Strangers	Julie Styron
2001	Pearl Harbor: Death of the Arizona	Narrator
2002	Life or Something Like It	Deborah Connors
2002	Behind the Red Door	Julie
2003	Bright Young Things	Mrs. Melrose Ape
2003	Le Divorce	Margeeve Walker
2003	Anything Else	Paula Chase
2004	Home of the Brave	Narrator
2004	From the Bottom Up	Unknown	Short film
2005	Red Mercury	Penelope
2005	Must Love Dogs	Dolly
2005	3 Needles	Olive Cowie
2007	Sparkle	Sheila
2010	Multiple Sarcasms	Pamela

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1973	The Girl Most Likely to...	Miriam Knight	Television movie
1977	Lucan	Micky MacElwaine	Episode: "Pilot"
1979	Silent Victory	Kitty O'Neil	Television movie
1979	Just Friends	Susan Hughes	13 episodes
1980	The Stockard Channing Show	Susan Goodenow	13 episodes
1987	The Room Upstairs	Leah Lazenby	Television movie
1988	Tidy Endings	Marion	Television movie
1989	Perfect Witness	Liz Sapperstein	Television movie Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
1994	Road to Avonlea	Viola Elliot	Episodes: "Enter Prince Charming", "The Minister's Wife" Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for "The Minister's Wife"
1996	The Prosecutors	Ingrid Maynard	Television movie
1996	An Unexpected Family	Barbara Whitney	Television movie Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie Nominated-Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
1997	King of the Hill	Mrs. Holloway	Episode: "The Company Man"
1998	The Baby Dance	Rachel Luckman	Television movie Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Actress " Miniseries or Television Film Nominated-Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie Nominated-Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
1998	An Unexpected Life	Barbara Whitney	Television movie
1999–2000	Batman Beyond	Commissioner Barbara Gordon	9 episodes
1999–2006	The West Wing	Abbey Bartlet	69 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2000"01, 2003"05) Nominated-Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series (2002, 2004) Nominated-Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2003"05)
2000	The Truth About Jane	Janice	Television movie Nominated-Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
2001	Walking with Prehistoric Beasts	Narrator (American version)	Television series
2001	A Girl Thing	Dr. Beth Noonan	Television movie
2002	Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister	Margarethe	Television movie
2002	The Matthew Shepard Story	Judy Shepard	Television movie Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Nominated-Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress " Series, Miniseries or Television Film
2003	Hitler: The Rise of Evil	Klara Hitler	Television movie
2003	The Piano Man's Daughter	Lily Kilworth	Television movie
2004	Jack	Anne	Television movie Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special
2005–2006	Out of Practice	Dr. Lydia Barnes	21 episodes Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
2010	Sundays at Tiffany's	Vivian Claremont	Television movie
2012–2013	The Good Wife	Veronica Loy	3 episodes

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1976	Golden Globe Awards	New Star of the Year " Actress	The Fortune
1978	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Supporting Actress " Motion Picture	Grease
1985	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Play	A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
1985	Tony Awards	Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play	A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
1986	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Play	House of Blue Leaves
1986	Tony Awards	Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play	House of Blue Leaves
1988	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Play	Woman in Mind
1990	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie	Perfect Witness
1991	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Play	Six Degrees of Separation
1991	Drama League Awards	Distinguished Performance	Six Degrees of Separation
1991	Tony Awards	Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play	Six Degrees of Separation
1992	Tony Awards	Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play	Four Baboons Adoring the Sun
1994	Academy Awards	Best Actress	Six Degrees of Separation
1994	Chicago Film Critics Association Awards	Best Actress	Six Degrees of Separation
1994	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress " Motion Picture Musical or Comedy	Six Degrees of Separation
1994	National Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Actress	Six Degrees of Separation
1994	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series	Road to Avonlea
1995	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Play	Hapgood
1996	National Board of Review	National Board of Review Award for Best Cast	The First Wives Club
1996	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role	Smoke
1997	Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	Favorite Supporting Actress " Romance	Up Close & Personal
1997	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie	An Unexpected Family
1997	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actress " Motion Picture	Moll Flanders
1997	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie	An Unexpected Family
1999	Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	Favorite Supporting Actress " Comedy or Romance	Practical Magic
1999	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress " Miniseries or Television Film	The Baby Dance
1999	Independent Spirit Awards	Best Supporting Female	The Baby Dance
1999	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie	The Baby Dance
1999	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie	The Baby Dance
1999	Tony Awards	Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play	The Lion in Winter
2000	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	The West Wing
2001	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	The West Wing
2001	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie	The Truth About Jane
2002	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	The West Wing
2002	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie	The Matthew Shepard Story
2002	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series	The West Wing
2002	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	The West Wing
2003	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	The West Wing
2003	Satellite Awards	Best Actress " Miniseries or Television Film	The Matthew Shepard Story
2003	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie	The Matthew Shepard Story
2003	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	The West Wing
2004	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	The West Wing
2004	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series	The West Wing
2004	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	The West Wing
2005	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	The West Wing
2005	Daytime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special	Jack
2005	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	The West Wing
2006	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	Out of Practice
2009	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Musical	Pal Joey
2009	Tony Awards	Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical	Pal Joey
2012	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Musical	Other Desert Cities
2012	Tony Awards	Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play	Other Desert Cities

In 2002, she was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.