Early life

Brooke Smith was born in New York. Her father, Eugene "Gene" Smith, worked as a publisher. Her mother, publicist Lois Smith (née Lois Eileen Wollenweber), had worked with Robert Redford and other actors and directors. Her high schooling was done at Tappan Zee High School in Orangetown/ Blauvelt, NY. She attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts but, by her own admission, was not asked back for the second year of study. She shared an apartment with Jeff Buckley before he recorded Grace.

Career

Smith has appeared in numerous films, including The Moderns (1988), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), The Night We Never Met (1993), Mr. Wonderful (1993), Vanya on 42nd Street (1994), Last Summer in the Hamptons (1995), Trees Lounge (1996), Kansas City (1996), The Broken Giant (1998), Remembering Sex (1998), Random Hearts (1999), Eventual Wife (2000), Series 7: The Contenders (2001), For Earth Below (2002), Bad Company (2002), Melinda and Melinda (2004), Iron Jawed Angels (2004), Shooting Vegetarians (2005), In Her Shoes (2005), The Namesake (2006), and Interstellar (2014).

Television

Smith appeared as a guest star on the sixth season of Crossing Jordan as Dr. Kate Switzer, as one of Claire Fisher's art teachers on Six Feet Under and on Weeds as the ex-wife of Peter Scottson, the late husband of main character Nancy Botwin.

Brooke originated the role of Andrea in the pilot of the ABC drama Dirty Sexy Money, but was replaced by Sheryl Lee after she became a series regular on Grey's Anatomy.

She has also had roles in Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order, Criminal Minds and The Hunger.

In 2012, Smith also appeared in an episode of the second season of the FX TV series American Horror Story.

Grey’s Anatomy

Smith returned to her role as Dr. Erica Hahn in Season 4 of Grey's Anatomy, in episode 5 “Haunt You Every Day”, in which it was announced that Dr. Hahn would become the hospital’s head of cardiothoracics, sealing Smith as the series’ newest season regular, but was let go after seven episodes into season 5.

On November 3, 2008, Smith told Entertainment Weekly that her character was being written out of Grey’s Anatomy. Smith stated that she was “really, really shocked”, and suggested that network executives’ discomfort with her character’s lesbian relationship might be the reason for her ousting. However, Shonda Rhimes, the show's creator, said that Smith was dismissed from the series because the writers did not find that the "magic and chemistry" that Smith's character had with Sara Ramirez's character, Callie Torres, would sustain in the long run.

Politics

Smith spoke at an Open the Debates rally in Denver, Colorado, at the Magness Arena in opposition to the Commission on Presidential Debates exclusion of third party candidates from the nationally televised Presidential debates and in support of Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader on August 27, 2008.

Personal life

She was a participant in the New York City hardcore punk scene of the late 1980s, as evidenced by her photo gallery submission to the site “Street Boners and TV Carnage”.

Smith married Russian cinematographer Steve Lubensky on January 6, 1999. They have a daughter together, Fanny Grace Lubensky, born March 12, 2003 in New York City. In May 2008, she and her husband adopted a baby girl from Ethiopia, named Lucy Dinknesh Lubensky. They currently live in Upper West Side of New York City and Beachwood Canyon, Los Angeles, California.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	The Moderns	Abigail
1991	The Silence of the Lambs	Catherine Martin
1993	The Night We Never Met	Catha
	Mr. Wonderful	Jan
1994	Vanya on 42nd Street	Sonya	Nominated—Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female Nominated—National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
1995	Last Summer in the Hamptons	Lois
1996	Trees Lounge	Tina
	Kansas City	Babe Flynn
1998	The Broken Giant	Rosemary Smith
	Remembering Sex	Jennifer Sharp
1999	Random Hearts	Sarah
2000	Eventual Wife	Susan
2001	Series 7: The Contenders	Dawn Lagarto
2002	For Earth Below	Dede
	Bad Company	Officer Swanson
2004	Melinda and Melinda	Cassie
	Iron Jawed Angels	Mabel Vernon
2005	Shooting Vegetarians	The Chicken Man
	In Her Shoes	Amy
2006	The Namesake	Sally
2010	A Little Help	Kathy Helms
	Fair Game	Diana
	The Aspern Papers	Tita Bordereau
2013	Labor Day	Evelyn
2014	Interstellar	Nurse
2016	Dude		Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	The Equalizer	Risa	1 episode
1997	The Larry Sanders Show	Tonya	1 episode
1999	Homicide: Life on the Street	Josephine Pitt	1 episode
1998-1999	The Hunger	Lee Cooper	2 episodes
2001	Big Apple	Lois, Mooney's Sister	3 episodes
2002	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Tessa Rankin	1 episode
2004	Six Feet Under	Carolyn Pope	3 episodes
2006	Heist	Sarah	3 episodes
1996-2007	Law & Order	Margot Bell / Ms. Kurland	3 episodes
2007	Crossing Jordan	Dr. Kate Switzer	13 episodes
	Dirty Sexy Money	Andrea Smithson	1 episode
	Weeds	Valerie Scottson	4 episodes
2006-2008	Grey's Anatomy	Erica Hahn	Guest (Season 2-3) Main Cast (Season 4-5): 25 episodes Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2010	Criminal Minds	Barbara Lynch	1 episode
2012	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Delia Wilson	3 episodes
	American Horror Story: Asylum	Johnny Morgan's Therapist	1 episode
2013	Ray Donovan	Frances
2016	Stitchers	Dr. Naomi Burke	1 Episode

[ Source: Wikipedia ]