Tamara Tunie

Tamara Tunie Biography

Tamara Renee Tunie (born March 14, 1959) is an American film, stage and television actress, director and producer. She is best known for her portrayal of attorney Jessica Griffin on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns, and medical examiner Melinda Warner on the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. From 2000 to 2007 (and again briefly in 2009 & 2010), she appeared on both series simultaneously. Tunie has also appeared in film, most notably playing the key supporting role of Margaret Thomason in the 2012 film Flight.

Life and career

Tunie was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Homestead, the daughter of Evelyn (ne Hawkins) and James W. Tunie. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theatre from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA.

Tunie is best known for her roles as attorney Jessica Griffin on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns, and medical examiner Melinda Warner on the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She is also known for her recurring roles as Lillian Fancy in NYPD Blue (1994-1997) and as Alberta Green in the first season of Fox's 24. Tunie also guest starred in many television series, including Spenser: For Hire, Tribeca, SeaQuest DSV, New York Undercover, Swift Justice, Feds, Chicago Hope, Sex and the City, and Law & Order: Trial by Jury.

Tunie worked twice with Al Pacino; she portrayed his press secretary in the 1996 film City Hall and the possessed wife of a partner in his law firm in the 1997 film The Devil's Advocate. Her other film credits include Wall Street (1987), Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989), Rising Sun (1993), Eve's Bayou (1997), and The Peacemaker (1997).

In 2001, she received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Awards for her role in film The Caveman's Valentine, based on George Dawes Green's novel of the same name, opposite Samuel L. Jackson. She won a Tony Award in 2007 for the production of the Broadway musical Spring Awakening and a Drama Desk Award.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Sweet Lorraine	Julie
1987	Wall Street	Carolyn
1989	Bloodhounds of Broadway	Cynthia Harris
1993	Rising Sun	Lauren Smith
1996	Rescuing Desire	Van
1996	Quentin Carr	Detective	Short film
1996	City Hall	Leslie Christos
1996	'
1997	Spirit Lost	Anne
1997	Eve's Bayou	Narrator (voice)
1997	'	Jody
1997	'	Mrs. Jackie Heath
1998	Snake Eyes	Anthea
2001	'	Sheila
2007	Afterlife	Nicole	Short film
2012	Missed Connections	Felicity Gray
2012	Flight	Margaret Thomason
2014	Fall to Rise	Annika	Filming

Made-for-TV films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Rebound: The Legend of Earl "The Goat" Manigault	Miss Marcus
2013	Captain Blackout	Jessica Winters	Post-production

Producer

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2010	See You in September	Executive Producer and Director

Television

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1986	Spenser: For Hire	Nina	Episode: "Shadowsight"
1986-95, 2000-07, 2009, 2010	As the World Turns	Jessica Griffin	Nominated Image Awards - Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series (2003,2004) Nominated Soap Opera Digest Awards - Outstanding Supporting Actress (1995,2003)
1989	Family Feud	Herself	Episode: "The Young & the Restless vs. As the World Turns"
1993	Tribeca	Tori	Episode: "The Box" Episode: "Honor"
1994-97	NYPD Blue	Lillian Fancy	Episode: "Up on the Roof" ('94) Episode: "Good Time Charlie" ('94) Episode: "Caulksmanship" ('96) Episode: "Taillight's Last Gleaming" ('97) Episode: "I Love Lucy" ('97)
1995	SeaQuest DSV	Laura	Episode: "The Siamese Dream" Also known as SeaQuest 2032
1995-98	New York Undercover	Janice/Lana Brooks	Episode: ""Bad Girls" ('95 as Janice) Episode: "Sign o' the Times" ('98 as Lana Brooks)
1996	Swift Justice	Jessie McKenna	Episode: "Bad Medicine"
1996	Law & Order	Caroline Bennett	Episode: "Deadbeat"
1997	Prince Street		Episode: "Pilot"
	Feds	Martha Kershan	Episode: "Missing Pieces"
	Chicago Hope	Lennie Gaghan	Episode: "Leggo My Ego"
1999	Sex and the City	Eileen	Episode: "The Cheating Curve"
2000	The American Experience	Self	Voice Episode: "Jubilee Singers: Sacrifice and Glory"
2000-present	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Dr. Melinda Warner	Recurring role (2000-2005, 2011-present) Main cast member (2005-2011)
2001	A Day's Work, a Day's Pay	Narrator	Documentary
2002	24	Alberta Green	Episode: "9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m." Episode: "10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m." Episode: "11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m." Episode: "12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m." Episode: "1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m." Episode: "2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m."
2003	Nefertiti: Resurrected	Narrator	Documentary
2005	I Love the '90s: Part Deux	Herself	VH1 Documentary
	Party Planner with David Tutera	Herself	Episode: "Tamara Tunie's Fire & Ice Party"
	The Tony Danza Show	Herself	Episode: "#1.124"
	Law & Order: Trial by Jury	Dr. Melinda Warner	Episode: "Day"
2006	Black Sorority Project: The Exodus	Spirit	Documentary/voice
2008	After Hours with Daniel Boulud	Herself	Reality TV Episode: "Bayona"
2009	Miss Universe 2009	Herself	Judge
2010	Showing Up	Herself	Documentary
2011	Days of our Lives	Judge Weston	2 episodes
2013	The Good Wife	Serafina Norvy	Episode: "Boom De Yah Da"
2013	Golden Boy	Mrs. Nevel	Episode: "Scapegoat"

This webpage uses material from the Wikipedia article "Tamara_Tunie" and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. Reality TV World is not responsible for any errors or omissions the Wikipedia article may contain.

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