Early life

Baker was born in Midland, Texas, and raised a Quaker in New Mexico, the daughter of John Seawand Baker, a geologist and educator, and his French-born wife, Helene Andree (née Whitton). She studied acting at the California Institute of the Arts in the early 1970s. She later earned a B.A. degree in French in 1977 from UC Berkeley.

Career

Baker began her acting career at San Francisco's Magic Theatre, performing in several of Sam Shepard's plays before getting her break in an off-Broadway production of Fool for Love (1983) opposite Ed Harris. She won an Obie Award for this role. In same year she was cast as Louise Shepard, Alan Shepard's wife, in the drama film The Right Stuff. She later had dramatic performances as a prostitute in Street Smart (1987) and a recovering alcoholic and victim of domestic abuse in Clean and Sober (1988). For her performance in Street Smart, Baker has won National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress and Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female nomination. She later starred in films Dad, Jacknife and Edward Scissorhands.

From 1992 to 1996, Baker starred as Jill Brock, a small-town doctor, in the CBS critically acclaimed drama series, Picket Fences created by David E. Kelley. For her performance in the series she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series three times: in 1993, 1995 and 1996, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Drama in 1994, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series in 1995. She later appeared in David E. Kelley's dramas Ally McBeal, The Practice and had the recurring role as Meredith Peters in Boston Public, for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series in 2001. Baker also received Emmy Award nominations for her guest performance in Touched by an Angel and in the category Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for Door to Door.

Baker has appeared in the over 50 theatrical films in supporting and leading roles. She starred in two movies directed by Rodrigo García: Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2000) and Nine Lives (2005). Her other major credits include The Cider House Rules (1999), Cold Mountain (2003), 13 Going on 30 (2004), The Jane Austen Book Club (2007), Last Chance Harvey (2008), Take Shelter (2011) and Saving Mr. Banks (2013). She starred opposite Tom Selleck in the Jesse Stone television films series in 2000s. Also on television she guest-starred on Nip/Tuck, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Grey's Anatomy, and Medium. She also starred in the short-lived Lifetime drama series Against the Wall in 2011.

In 2016, it was confirmed that Baker will appear in the new series of Netflix The Ranch along with Ashton Kutcher and Elisha Cuthbert.

Personal life

She lives in Southern California with her husband, director/producer Steven Robman. She has a son and daughter with her first husband, Donald Camillieri.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	The Right Stuff	Louise Shepard
1986	A Killing Affair	Maggie Gresham
1987	Street Smart	Punchy
1988	Permanent Record	Martha Sinclair
1988	Clean and Sober	Charlie Standers
1989	Dad	Annie
1989	Jacknife	Martha Flannigan
1990	The Image	Marcie Guilford
1990	Edward Scissorhands	Joyce
1990	Mister Frost	Dr. Sarah Day
1991	One Special Victory	Ellen	Television film
1992	Article 99	Dr. Diana Walton
1992	Jennifer Eight	Margie Ross
1993	Mad Dog and Glory	Lee
1993	Lush Life	Janice Oliver	Television film
1996	To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday	Esther Wheeler
1997	Inventing the Abbotts	Helen Holt
1997	Not in This Town	Tammy Schnitzer	Television film
1997	Weapons of Mass Distraction	Margo Powers
1998	Oklahoma City: A Survivor's Story	Priscilla Salyers	Television film
1999	The Cider House Rules	Nurse Angela
1999	A Season for Miracles	Ruth Doyle	Television film
1999	A Little Inside	Nancy
1999	Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story	Janice Danner	Television film
2000	Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her	Rose
2000	Ratz	Doris Trowbridge	Television film
2001	The Glass House	Nancy Ryan
2001	Ten Tiny Love Stories	Ten
2002	Assassination Tango	Maggie
2002	Door to Door	Gladys Sullivan	Television film
2003	Cold Mountain	Sally Swanger
2004	13 Going on 30	Bev Rink
2005	Spring Break Shark Attack	Mary Jones	Television film
2005	Nine Lives	Camille
2006	All the King's Men	Mrs. Burden
2007	The Jane Austen Book Club	Bernadette
2007	Jesse Stone: Sea Change	Rose Gammon	Television film
2008	Last Chance Harvey	Jean
2008	Shades of Ray	Janet Rehman
2009	Unstable	Betty Walker	Television film
2009	Jesse Stone: Thin Ice	Rose Gammon	Television film
2010	Miss Nobody	Claire McKinney
2010	Jesse Stone: No Remorse	Rose Gammon	Television film
2011	Good Day for It	Rose Carter
2011	Take Shelter	Sarah
2011	Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost	Rose Gammon	Television film
2011	Too Big to Fail	Wendy Paulson
2011	Seven Days in Utopia	Mabel
2011	Machine Gun Preacher	Daisy
2012	Big Miracle	Ruth McGraw
2012	Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt	Rose Gammon	Television film
2012	The Party Is Over	Appoline
2013	Saving Mr. Banks	Tommie
2013	The Trials of Cate McCall	Therapist
2014	Return to Zero	Kathleen Callaghan
2014	Boulevard	Joy Mack
2014	Model Home	Brenda
2015	The Age of Adaline	Connie Jones
2015	Midnight Rider

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992-1996	Picket Fences	Dr. Jill Brock	87 episodes
1997	Ally McBeal	Katherine Dawson	Episode: "The Affair"
1998	The Practice	Evelyn Mayfield	2 episodes
1999	Hey Arnold!	Dr. Bliss	Episode: "Helga on the Couch"
2000	Touched by an Angel	Ellen	Episode: "Buy Me a Rose"
2000	Chicago Hope	Mary Wyzinski	Episode: "Everybody's Special at Chicago Hope"
2001-2002	Boston Public	Meredith Peters	14 episodes
2004	Monk	Sylvia Fairbourn	Episode: "Mr. Monk Goes to Jail"
2005	Nip/Tuck	Gail Pollack	2 episodes
2005-2010	Medium	Marjorie Dubois	5 episodes
2007	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Hannah Curtis	Episode: "Sin"
2007	Gilmore Girls	Mia	Episode: "Gilmore Girls Only"
2008	Grey's Anatomy	Anna Loomis	2 episodes
2009	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Camille Hayes-Fitzgerald	Episode: "Playing Dead"
2010	Law & Order	Camille Peterson	Episode: "Crashers"
2011	Against the Wall	Sheila Kowalski	12 episodes
2011	Criminal Minds	Linda Collins	Episode: "A Family Affair"
2012	Private Practice	Dianne	Episode: "I'm Fine"
2014	Those Who Kill	Marie Burgess	5 episodes
2015	Big Time in Hollywood, FL	Diana	10 episodes
2016	Colony	Phyllis	Recurring role
2016	The Ranch	TBA	Recurring role

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
1984	Obie Award	Best Performance by an Actress	Fool for Love	Won
1984	Theatre World Award	Theatre World Award	Fool for Love	Won
1988	Boston Society of Film Critics Award	Best Supporting Actress	Street Smart	Won
1988	Independent Spirit Award	Best Supporting Female	Street Smart	Nominated
1988	National Society of Film Critics Award	Best Supporting Actress	Street Smart	Won
1993	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Picket Fences	Won
1994	Golden Globe Award	Best Actress - Television Series Drama	Picket Fences	Won
1994	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Picket Fences	Nominated
1994	Viewers for Quality Television	Best Actress in a Quality Drama Series	Picket Fences	Won
1995	Golden Globe Award	Best Actress - Television Series Drama	Picket Fences	Nominated
1995	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Picket Fences	Won
1995	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series	Picket Fences	Won
1995	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Picket Fences	Nominated
1995	Viewers for Quality Television	Best Actress in a Quality Drama Series	Picket Fences	Won
1996	Golden Globe Award	Best Actress - Television Series Drama	Picket Fences	Nominated
1996	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Picket Fences	Won
1996	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Picket Fences	Nominated
2000	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series	Touched by an Angel	Nominated
2000	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture	The Cider House Rules	Nominated
2001	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series	Boston Public	Nominated
2003	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie	Door to Door	Nominated
2005	Gotham Awards	Best Cast	Nine Lives	Nominated
2005	Locarno International Film Festival	Best Actress	Nine Lives	Won
2011	Gotham Awards	Best Cast	Take Shelter	Nominated
2013	Phoenix Film Critics Society Award	Best Cast	Saving Mr. Banks	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]