Amy Carlson

For the religious leader, see Love Has Won.

Amy Carlson
Born	Amy Lynn Carlson July 7, 1968 Elmhurst, Cook, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater	Knox College
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1992–present
Partner	Syd Butler (2004–present)
Children	2

Amy Lynn Carlson (born July 7, 1968) is an American actress, known for her many distinctive roles such as Linda Reagan in the CBS police procedural Blue Bloods, as Alex Taylor on the NBC drama Third Watch, and Josie Watts in the NBC daytime soap opera Another World.

Early life

Carlson was born in Elmhurst, Cook, and was raised in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, the daughter of schoolteacher parents, Barbara Jane (Hultman) and Robert Eugene Carlson. She is of Swedish descent, with roots in Småland. As a child, she was interested in theater and an avid reader. She also played baseball in the Glen Ellyn Boys' Baseball league, and she marched in the town parade to celebrate the teams. When Carlson was 13, her family (consisting of her parents, and three siblings) moved for a year to Amman, Jordan, where her parents had been hired to teach at the American Community School. While in Jordan, Carlson ran in and won the very first 10K race that allowed for women to participate.

After returning to the United States, Carlson attended Glenbard West High School. She lettered in cross country and track every year. During her senior year, she competed in the first girl's 3200 meter relay with her little sister, Lori, running the anchor leg.

Career

1986–1992: College and early career

She was introduced to Hollywood when she worked as a background actor in the film Lucas starring Charlie Sheen, Corey Haim, and Winona Ryder. Later she followed her older sister Betsy to Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. While in college, Carlson was active in the school's theatre department, appearing in Fifth of July, Noises Off, A Lie of the Mind, and School for Scandal. She also got her first taste of directing when she directed Wallace Shawn's Aunt Dan and Lemon her senior year. Carlson graduated cum laude with a degree in East Asian Studies with a concentration in theater.

After graduating college, Carlson moved to Chicago where she studied improv with Charna Halpern at the Harold ImprovOlympic, and took acting classes at The Actor's Center with Victor D'Altorio and Eileen Vorbach. She also appeared in many small theater productions including Dark City, Revenge of the Cheerleader with Warren Leight and Theater of the Film Noir at the Folio Theater Company, among many others. She also appeared in three episodes of The Untouchables starring William Forsythe and Tom Amandes as three different characters. Carlson also appeared in three episodes of Missing Persons with Daniel J. Travanti as three different characters. On Missing Persons, she met Jorja Fox and not only did they share birthdays, they became lifelong friends. Other credits from Chicago include improv with Harold ImprovOlympic. She also played in Legacy of Lies a made for TV movie with Joe Morton. While waitressing by day at Bistro 110 and Chicago Cubs and White Sox parks, and acting in theater by night, Carlson was flown from Chicago to New York and tested for the soap opera Another World.

1993–2003: Television contracts, films and relief work

Carlson in 2002

Carlson landed the role of Josie Watts and moved to New York in late December 1993 to make her soap opera debut on Another World. During her first year, she traveled with World Vision to Rwanda to work on an awareness campaign after the war. She used her status on the soap opera to write several articles about the suffering in Rwanda that she witnessed for the large base of fans in soap opera magazines, such as Soap Opera Weekly. Later, she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1998 but after her contract ended, she decided it was time to move on. She immediately flew to Toronto to shoot Thanks of a Grateful Nation, about Persian Gulf War syndrome.

Carlson moved to Los Angeles for the first and only time in 1998, where she guest-starred in a number of prime time shows including NYPD Blue, had a recurring role on the show Get Real which starred Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg, and filmed If These Walls Could Talk Part 2 directed by Martha Coolidge. While in LA, she tested against Mariska Hargitay and Angie Harmon for the role that Mariska won in Law and Order: SVU. Soon after, Les Moonves placed her in the CBS TV Series Falcone as Donny Brasco's wife, shot in Toronto. Falcone brought her back East where she remained, guest starring in Law and Order: SVU and filming independent films such as Winning Girls Through Psychic Mind Control directed by Barry Alexander Brown starring Bronson Pinchot and Ruben Santiago-Hudson. In it, Carlson played a down and out lounge singer and the production used the voice of the at the time up and coming singer, Regina Spektor.

In the pilot season of 1999, Carlson worked on a pilot about firefighters called "St. Michael's Crossing" with Michael Chiklis. The show did not get picked up because of a competing show about first responders called Third Watch. In 2000, Carlson joined the NBC series Third Watch, where she starred from 2000 to 2003. she had the particular honor and meta experience of playing a firefighter during 9/11 in New York City. Her role and connection to the FDNY led her to be active in recovery efforts downtown and she spent time at St. Paul's Chapel of Trinity Church doing relief work while Ground Zero was still burning.

2004–2017: Prime Time Highlights and Children

After leaving Third Watch, Carlson went on to star on Peacemakers, a CSI-inspired show, shot in Vancouver and set in the late 1800's, starring opposite Tom Berenger and Peter O'Meara. When the show was not renewed, she worked on several TV shows and films including a Law and Order episode entitled "Dead Wives Club". Soon Dick Wolf was calling to sign her to Law & Order: Trial by Jury where she co-starred alongside Bebe Neuwirth, Jerry Orbach, Kirk Acevedo, Fred Thompson, and Scott Cohen. The series attracted tremendous guest stars whom she was thrilled to work with such as Bradley Cooper, Angela Lansbury, Candice Bergen, Elisabeth Moss, and more. After giving birth to her daughter, Lyla Forest in 2006, Carlson continued to work on a variety of film and television roles such as Guest Starring roles on Criminal Minds and Fringe. When her son Nigel was 10 months old she landed the role of Linda Reagan on Blue Bloods. Carlson continued in the role of Linda through the seventh season of Blue Bloods. During her hiatus, she played Erin Callan in Too Big to Fail directed by Curtis Hanson from the book written by Andrew Ross Sorkin chronicling the financial meltdown of 2008 working alongside James Woods. She was also written for the role of Christina Cassertes, by her friend David Cross in his directorial debut film, Hits. After seven years on Blue Bloods, Carlson's contract came to an end. In the eighth-season premiere episode, which aired on September 29, 2017, it was revealed that Linda—who was a nurse—had died in a helicopter crash while transporting a patient.

2018–present: Current work

Carlson in 2014

Following Blue Bloods, Carlson worked recurring roles on The Society and The Village. She also shot films Sunny Daze, The Incoherents, A Bread Factory Part One, and the indie horror film Know Fear. Just prior to COVID-19 shutdowns, Carlson co-wrote, directed and starred in a short film, The Letter, co-written by Syd Butler. She cast her friend from Law and Order: Trial by Jury, Scott Cohen as her co-star. Her work was honored with best director and actor at the Hollywood International Women's Film Festival, as well as awards with the Cannes Indie Film Festival, Hudson Valley Film Festival and Dark Women Film Festival.

During the 2020 pandemic, Carlson and her partner Syd Butler along with his bandmate Seth Jabour (Les Savy Fav, 8G Band), who together form the band Office Romance, finished and released their second album and first full length album, Holidays of Love. She wrote the lyrics for the album during the lockdown in NYC, while finishing the final edit of her short, The Letter.

In 2021, Carlson began shooting as a recurring cast member on FBI: Most Wanted, opposite her friend and co-star from Another World, Julian McMahon.

Personal life

Carlson resides in New York City with her long-time partner Syd Butler and two children, bass guitar player of the 8G Band on Late Night with Seth Meyers and of indie rock band Les Savy Fav, and owner of the independent label Frenchkiss Records.

Awards

In 2018, Carlson was presented with the Muhammad Ali Award for Gender Equality. In 2021, she won a Knox College Alumni Achievement Award.

Publications

In 2016, Carlson wrote an essay called "The Long March" (to women's rights) for Gettysburg Replies, a book filled with essays mimicking the original Gettysburg Address by including the same number of words - 272.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	The Babe	Girl on Stairs
2000	Everything Put Together	Jane
2002	Winning Girls Through Psychic Mind Control	Kathy
	Stella Shorts	Hippy Girl	Video
2007	Anamorph	Alexandra Fredericks
2010	Trio	—	Short film
2011	Green Lantern	Jessica Jordan
2014	Hits	Christina Casserta
2015	Sight Unseen	Rachel Sampson
2016	Natural Selection	Laura
2017	The Landline	Carla
2018	A Bread Factory, Part One	Grace
2020	The Letter

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Legacy of Lies	Marianna Nania	TV movie
1993	Missing Persons	Helena Brusich	"Pilot", "I'm Gonna Miss Him Too...", "Right Neighborhood... Wrong Door"
1993–1994	The Untouchables	Various	"Pilot: Parts 1 & 2", "Mind Games"
1993–1998	Another World	Josephine "Josie" Watts	Main role
1998	Thanks of a Grateful Nation	Tammy Boyer	TV miniseries
1999	Martial Law	Cassie McGill	"Big Trouble"
	Get Real	Dr. Sedgwick	Recurring role
	St. Michael's Crossing	Kelly McGloin	TV movie
2000	NYPD Blue	Lisa Marantz	"Along Came Jones"
	If These Walls Could Talk 2	Michelle	TV movie
	Falcone	—	"Windows"
	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Kate Armstrong	"Friends & Lovers"
	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Patricia Andrews	"Asunder"
2000–2003	Third Watch	Alex Taylor	Main role
2002	ER	Alex Taylor	"Brothers and Sisters"
2003	Peacemakers	Katie Owen	Main role
2004	Law & Order	Collette Connolly	"The Dead Wives Club"
2005	Franklin Charter	Maggie Keeler	TV movie
2005–2006	Law & Order: Trial by Jury	A.D.A. Kelly Gaffney	Main role
2006	Drift	Lauren	TV movie
2007	The Kidnapping	Rachel McKenzie
	NCIS	Karen Sutherland	"Corporal Punishment"
2008	Criminal Minds	Cece Hillenbrand	"Tabula Rasa"
2010	Fringe	Maureen Donovan	"Unearthed"
2010–2017	Blue Bloods	Linda Reagan	Main role
2011	Too Big to Fail	Erin Callan	TV movie
2013	This One Time	—	"Amy Carlson"
2016	A Midsummer's Hawaiian Dream	Helen	TV movie
2019	The Village	Julie Tucker	Episode: "In Your Bones"
	The Society	Amanda Pressman	Recurring role
2020	FBI: Most Wanted	Jackie Ward	Recurring role

External links

• Amy Carlson at IMDb