Award-winning actress Julianna Marguiles was born on June 8, 1966 in Spring Valley, New York. She lived in France and England, apart from the United States, during her childhood. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, where she appeared in several plays, and later trained with James Price at The Acting Studio in New York City.
She began her acting career in 1991, playing a minor role—a prostitute looking to go straight—in the Steven Seagal starrer Out for Justice. She played occasional roles in television afterwards, including those for Law & Order and ER. Her role in the latter was Carol Hathaway, who attempted suicide after her failed relationship with Doug Ross (George Clooney). She was supposed to die because of the suicide attempt, but the show’s producers changed the plot, and she survived. Her character would later be the emergency room’s nurse manager, a role she would hold for the next six years. She later earned an Emmy nomination for each of her six years on the show, winning the award in 1995. In addition, she also won a Screen Actors Guild Award in 1997 and 1998. She left the show in 2000, amidst a flurry of speculation, after she turned down a $27 million, three-year contract from producers.
Marguiles’ career has been less prominent since her departure from ER. She took several roles on both stage and film, each getting smaller as time passed. Her first films after ER were the drama Evelyn and the horror Ghost Ship; she also had roles in Searching for Debra Winger and Snakes on a Plane. On television, she starred in several miniseries, including The Mists of Avalon, The Grid and The Lost Room, and had recurring roles in Scrubs and The Sopranos. She marked her return to regular television work in 2008, when she took the lead in the legal drama Canterbury’s Law. Her role as beleaguered upcoming lawyer Elizabeth Canterbury wasn’t to last, however, as the series was cancelled after only six episodes.