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Addison Forbes Montgomery Kate Walsh was born on October 13, 1967 in San Jose, California, but was raised in Tucson, Arizona. She grew up with a big Irish-Italian Catholic family, and was a student at the University of Arizona, where she participated in regional theater. In the 1980's, Walsh tried her hand in modeling, and did most of her work abroad, particularly in Japan.
She started the foundation of her showbiz career by studying at the famous Piven Theater Workshop in Chicago. Walsh also acted in the National Public Radio's production of Born Guilty. Then, she starred in theater productions like Moon Under Miami and Troilus and Cressida. She worked on independent films such as Normal Life and Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer II, but has also done big movie productions like Kicking and Screaming and Bewitched. Eventually, she became a regular on The Mike O'Malley Show, The Drew Carey Show and the Mind of a Married Man. Her smaller television projects include guest-starring in the hit television series,
CSI , and performing in the comedy sketches of Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
At present, she plays Addison Shepherd in the television show Grey's anatomy. Her role on the show gave her the opportunity to reunite with actress
Sandra Oh , with whom she previously shared the big screen in the film Under the Tuscan Sun. To add to her acting achievements, Walsh was deemed Best Actress at the New York Independent Film & Video Festival for her work in the short film, Model Trapper. In 2007, Walsh and the rest of the cast of Grey's Anatomy earned a SAG award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast in a TV Series- Drama. In the same year, it was announced that Walsh would be the star of the Grey's Anatomy spin-off, Private Practice.
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