Kelli Williams
| Kelli Williams | |
|---|---|
| Born | Kelli Renee Williams June 8, 1970 Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Spouse | Ajay Sahgal (1996 – present), 3 children |
Kelli Renee Williams (born June 8, 1970, in Los Angeles, California) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Lindsay Dole on the Legal drama The Practice and as psychologist and deception expert Dr. Gillian Foster on Lie to Me.
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[edit] Early life
Kelli Williams is the daughter of actress Shannon Wilcox and plastic surgeon John Williams. Her parents divorced when she was 13. She has one brother and two half-brothers.[1]
Williams earned her Screen Actors Guild card before her first birthday by appearing in a diapers commercial, and appeared in several other commercials as a child.[2] She attended elementary school at Lycée Français,[1] and graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1988. While attending school, she was active in the performing arts department. After starring opposite General Hospital's Steve Burton in the school's production of Romeo and Juliet, she was signed by an agent.[2]
[edit] Career
Williams began her career on television, with a second-season role in an episode of the CBS series Beauty and the Beast and as the first victim of the Hillside Stranglers in NBC's made-for television film The Case of the Hillside Stranglers. Her first feature film appearances were in Zapped Again! (1990) and There Goes My Baby (1994) opposite ER's Noah Wyle. She also appeared in The Young Riders in 1991. Also in 1994, she played Jennifer Stolpa in the television movie Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story. She guest starred on the hit Fox teen drama Party of Five on its 1st season in 1994 as a woman named Annie Alcott. She also guest starred in the second season Law & Order episode "Sisters Of Mercy" as a sexually abused meth addict in 1992.
Beginning with Episode 11 titled Moon Cross (aired on February 5, 1995) of the science fiction series Earth 2, Williams appeared in a multiple episode story arc in the role of Mary, a human orphan raised on another planet by the indigenous alien species known as the Terrians.
She appeared in 1996 in the 19th episode of the fourth and final season of the TV series Picket Fences as an Amish woman who was raped.[citation needed]
In 1997, she took her most prominent role as Lindsay Dole Donnell on the ABC legal drama The Practice. She appeared in the series The Lyon's Den and Hack, as well as two episodes of Scrubs. Williams appeared as Dr. Natalie Durant on the NBC television show Medical Investigation which began in the fall of 2004 and ran for 20 episodes before being canceled. Also in 2004, she starred in the television movie A Boyfriend for Christmas.
In August 2008, Williams was cast in a lead role as psychologist Dr. Gillian Foster in the Fox series Lie to Me, which ran for three seasons and ended in 2011.[3]
In October 2011, she was cast in a guest role as a kidnapped child's mother called Elizabeth Flint in the CBS series The Mentalist.
[edit] Personal life
Williams married author Ajay Sahgal in 1996. The couple has three children: Kiran Ram (b. May 1998), Sarame Jane (b. February 3, 2001), and Ravi Lyndon (b. July 11, 2003).[4] She told Marie Claire that she got breast implants when she was 19 and had them removed when she was 22.[5] Williams speaks French and Spanish,[1] and has volunteered with the Young Storytellers Program.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Lee, Luaine (June 16, 2010). "Kelli Williams of 'Lie to Me' has showbiz in her blood". http://www.modbee.com/2010/06/16/1213080/kelli-williams-of-lie-to-me-has.html. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
- ^ a b David Martindale. "Kelli Williams Courts Success on "The Practice"". Ultimate TV. http://kelliwilliams.tripod.com/3991.html. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
- ^ "Pilot News: Kelli Williams Helps Tim Roth Tell a Lie". TV Guide. August 2008. http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-News-Blog/Todays-News/Lie-Pilot-Kelli/800044513. Retrieved August 5, 2008.
- ^ "Motherhood helps Kelli Williams in 'Lie to Me' role". April 12, 2009. http://celebritybabies.people.com/2009/04/12/motherhood-helps-kelli-williams-in-lie-to-me-role/. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
- ^ "Marie Claire Magazine Q&A". Marie Claire. April 2001. http://members.shaw.ca/kelliwilliams/qamc.htm. Retrieved January 7, 2008.
- ^ "The Young Storytellers Foundation: Actors". http://youngstorytellers.com/?id=9. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
