Biography of Maura Tierney

Maura Tierney was born on February 3, 1965, in Boston, Massachusetts. Ms. Maura Tierney was raised in Hyde Park by her father, Joe, an eight-term Boston City Councilor and mayoral candidate, now a lawyer, and her mother, Pat, currently a real-estate agent. Maura has two younger siblings, including a sister, Dierdre, for whom she acted as matron of honour when she married in 1998. Contrary to popular belief, Maura Tierney is not related to actress Gene Tierney.

Ms. Maura Tierney went on to attend the Circle in the Square theatre school at New York University, but ended up six credits short of graduation. During this time, Maura Tierney met filmmaker Richard Shepard, with whom Maura Tierney would become close friends with and appear in all of his writing/directing works to date: The Linguini Incident (her big screen debut), Mercy, Oxygen, and the upcoming Mexico City (with a vocal cameo). She also reads his scripts long before they are produced. During Maura Tierney years at NYU, she performed in several productions, including Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, Baby With the Bathwater, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Talking With, and Food. For a period of time, Maura Tierney lived in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen, at one point selling t-shirts door-to-door in college dorms. She eventually relocated to Los Angeles, where she landed an agent. However, success was not yet imminent. The Van Dyke Show, her first foray into series television, was cancelled after only two months, and her first lead film role was in the awful Dead Women in Lingerie, which is conspicuously absent from Maura Tierney official resume.

After several smaller film roles and failed pilots like Flying Blind, Norman Lear cast Maura Tierney in his All in the Family spin-off 704 Hauser as the vibrant Jewish girlfriend of a conservative black student. While the show was neither hailed by audiences or critics, it garnered considerable attention and controversy because of its origin. The series was cancelled after 5 episodes, more than a year after the original pilot was shot, but less than a year later, Maura Tierney became a last-minute hire for a pilot called The Station. The Station would eventually become NewsRadio, and, coupled with a supporting role in Primal Fear, it succeeded in bringing her to the attention of the industry and the public alike.

Ms. Maura Tierney has been married to actor Billy Morrissette since 1994, although they have been together since 1988. The couple do not have any children, but they do own a black pug named Rose Kennedy. The two of them were both hired as co-stars in a sitcom starring Ralph Macchio, but found the whole thing so awful that they were too happy to get fired. (Maura claims that she deserved it, he didn't.) The couple also make cameos in the film The Thin Pink Line, unreleased in North America. Mr. Morrissette's other credits include a regular role on the short-lived FOX network series Danger Theatre and a recurring role on Mad About You.
However, he is most famous for a "Got Milk?" commercial, in which he inadvertently confesses to his fiancee that her diamond engagement ring is a fake. Most recently, he directed Maura Tierney in an independent film based on his own script, a MacBeth update titled Scotland P.A. (formerly McBeth's).

Nowadays, Maura Tierney continues to maintain a high profile both on TV and on film. She is a regular cast member on NBC's long-running series ER and has played major roles in Liar Liar, Forces of Nature, Instinct, Welcome to Mooseport, and Oxygen, to name but a few.

Filmography of Maura Tierney

All movies with Maura Tierney

• Welcome to Mooseport (2004) with Maura Tierney playing as Sally Mannis
• Melvin Goes to Dinner (2003) with Maura Tierney playing as Leslie
• Nazi, The (2002) with Maura Tierney playing as Helen
• Insomnia (2002) with Maura Tierney playing as Rachel Clement
• Scotland, Pa. (2001) with Maura Tierney playing as Pat McBeth
• "ER" (1994) TV Series with Maura Tierney playing as Dr. Abby Lockhart (2000-)
• Mexico City (2000/I) (voice) with Maura Tierney playing as Pam on Phone
• "Sammy" (2000) TV Series (voice) with Maura Tierney playing as Kathy Kelly
• Oxygen (1999) with Maura Tierney playing as Madeline Foster
• Instinct (1999) with Maura Tierney playing as Lynn Powell
• Forces of Nature (1999) with Maura Tierney playing as Bridget
• Primary Colors (1998) with Maura Tierney playing as Daisy
  ... aka Mit aller Macht (1998) (Germany)
  ... aka Perfect Couple (1999) (Japan: English title)
  ... aka Primary Colors (1998) (France)
• Liar Liar (1997) with Maura Tierney playing as Audrey Reede
• Mercy (1996) with Maura Tierney playing as Simonet
• Primal Fear (1996) with Maura Tierney playing as Naomi Chance
• "NewsRadio" (1995) TV Series with Maura Tierney playing as Lisa Miller
  ... aka "Station, The" (1995)
• "704 Hauser" (1994) TV Series with Maura Tierney playing as Cherlyn Markowitz (1994)
  ... aka "704 Hauser Street" (1994) (UK)
• Out of Darkness (1994) (TV) with Maura Tierney playing as Meg
• Temp, The (1993) with Maura Tierney playing as Sharon Derns
• Fly by Night (1993) with Maura Tierney playing as Denise
• White Sands (1992) with Maura Tierney playing as Noreen
• Dead Women in Lingerie (1991) with Maura Tierney playing as Molly Field
• Linguini Incident, The (1991) with Maura Tierney playing as Cecelia
• Flying Blind (1990) (TV) with Maura Tierney playing as Donna
• "Van Dyke Show, The" (1988) TV Series with Maura Tierney playing as Jillian Ryan
• Crossing the Mob (1988) (TV) with Maura Tierney playing as Michelle
• Student Exchange (1987) (TV) with Maura Tierney playing as Kathy Mopey

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