Patricia Anne Wettig is an American actress and playwright. She is best known for her role as Nancy Weston in the television series Thirtysomething, for which she received a Golden Globe Award and three Primetime Emmy Awards. After her breakthrough role in Thirtysomething, Wettig has appeared in a number of films, include Guilty by Suspicion , City Slickers, , and The Langoliers. She returned to television playing a leading role in the 1995 short-lived drama Courthouse and later played Caroline Reynolds in the Fox drama Prison Break and Holly Harper in the ABC family drama Brothers & Sisters.
Wettig began her career on stage and worked as a personal dresser for Shirley MacLaine. On television, she appeared in episodes of 1980s dramas Remington Steele, Hill Street Blues and L.A. Law, before taking a recurring role as Joanne McFadden in the NBC medical drama series St. Elsewhere from 1986 to 1987. Later in 1987, Wettig was cast as Nancy Weston in the ABC drama series thirtysomething. For her role in Thirtysomething, Wettig received critical acclaim. Her portrayal of Nancy's cancer struggle attracted considerable acclaim and attention. She won three Primetime Emmy Awards: for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1988, and for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1990 and 1991. In 1991, she won Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama. The series ended in 1991 after four seasons. Later that year, she made her big screen debut in the drama filmGuilty by Suspicion starring opposite Robert De Niro and Annette Bening. She played Billy Crystal's wife in the comedy filmsCity Slickers and '. In 1993, she had a leading role in the comedy-drama filmMe and Veronica. Wettig has starred in a number of mede-for-television movies, include ' and Parallel Lives. She played the role of Laurel Stevenson in the 1995 Stephen King's miniseries The Langoliers. Later in 1995, she returned to television with a leading role of tough female judge in the CBS drama series Courthouse. Wettig intended to leave the show due to "creative differences", with sources saying that she wanted the show to be more of a star vehicle for her, rather than an ensemble cast, but the show was cancelled before her character could be written out. In 2002, Wettig was a regular cast member in the short-lived Bravo drama series Breaking News. From 2002 to 2004, she played the recurring role of CIApsychotherapist Dr. Judy Barnett on Alias. From 2005 to 2007, Wettig appeared in 18 episodes of Fox television drama, Prison Break, playing fictional Vice President Caroline Reynolds. She turned down Fox's offer of becoming a series regular on Prison Break in order to pursue the ABC comedy-drama series Brothers & Sisters, which debuted in September 2006. Wettig starred in the series as the Walker family patriarch's mistress, Holly Harper. She left the show midway through the show's fifth and final season after her character Holly Harper followed her daughter to New York along with her fiance David played by real life husband Ken Olin. In 2012, Wettig joined the national tour for Larry Kramer's production, The Normal Heart. In 2014, she starred in the unsold the CW drama pilot Identity opposite Ahna O'Reilly In 2019, she played a leading role in the episode of Netflix anthology series Heartstrings. In 2020, ABC ordered a sequel for Thirtysomething and Wettig set to return alongside Olin, Timothy Busfield and Mel Harris.
Personal life
Wettig is married to actor and producer Ken Olin; they have a son Clifford and a daughter Roxy.
