Personal life

Reed was born in Tacoma, Washington, the daughter of Vernie and Norma Reed. She received her B.F.A. at the University of Washington. Reed has been married to Sandy Smolan since 1988. Since 2004, she has resided in Hancock Park, Los Angeles, California, with her husband and two children, Reed and Lily.

Career

Reed earned a Drama Desk Award for the off-Broadway play Getting Out and an Obie Award for "sustaining excellence in performance in theater". She was a regular in the cast of the 1977 CBS drama The Andros Targets. She had minor film and television work in the 1980s. She won a CableAce Award for Best Actress for the HBO series Tanner '88 (1988). She also co-starred with Daryl Hannah in the film Clan of the Cave Bear 1985.

Her notable film roles include The Long Riders (1980), The Right Stuff (1983), The Best of Times (1986), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Bean (1997), and Proof of Life (2001).

Reed played Janice Pasetti in the quirky NBC sitcom Grand, and then played a judge and single mother in the short-lived NBC sitcom The Home Court. She has provided the voice for the character Ruth Powers in various episodes of the animated TV series The Simpsons and guest-voiced in an episode of the 1994-1995 animated series The Critic. She played a main role in Jericho and has appeared as the mother of main character Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) on Parks and Recreation.

In 2005 Reed portrayed executive producer Esther Shapiro in Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure, a fictionalized television movie based on the creation and behind the scenes production of the 1980s prime time soap opera Dynasty.

Reed has also worked for Storyline Online, reading Stellaluna.

Filmography

• Spencer's Pilots (1976) TV series guest star, 1 episode
• The Andros Targets (1977) TV series .... Sandi Farrell (regular cast)
• All's Well That Ends Well (1978) (TV) .... Helena
• Melvin and Howard (1980) .... Bonnie Dummar
• The Long Riders (1980) .... Belle Starr
• Until She Talks (1981) (TV) .... College Girl
• Inmates: A Love Story (1981) (TV) .... Sunny
• Eyewitness (1981) .... Linda Mercer
• Young Doctors in Love (1982) .... Nurse Norine Sprockett
• Heart of Steel (1983) (TV) .... Valerie
• The Right Stuff (1983) .... Trudy Cooper
• I Want to Live (1983) (TV) .... Edie Bannister
• The Goodbye People (1984) .... Nancie Scot
• Scandal Sheet (1985) (TV) .... Helen Grant
• The Best of Times (1986) .... Gigi Hightower
• The Clan of the Cave Bear (1986) .... Iza
• Rachel River (1987) .... Mary Graving
• L.A. Law .... Norma Heisler (1 episode, 1988)
• Tanner '88 .... T.J. Cavanaugh (11 episodes, 1988)
• Hemingway (1988) TV mini-series .... Mary Welsh
• Chattahoochee (1989) .... Earlene
• Kindergarten Cop (1990) .... Detective Phoebe O'Hara
• Cadillac Man (1990) .... Tina
• Caroline? (1990) (TV) .... Grace Carmichael
• Redlands (1990) (V) .... Maude
• Grand .... Janice Pasetti (26 episodes, 1990)
• Bob Roberts (1992) .... Carol Cruise
• Passed Away (1992) .... Terry Scanlan Pinter
• Woman with a Past (1992) (TV) .... Dee Johnson
• The Simpsons .... Ruth Powers (3 episodes, 1992-2003)
• Family Album (1993) TV series .... Denise Lerner (unknown episodes)
• Born Too Soon (1993) (TV) .... Elizabeth Mehren
• Junior (1994) .... Angela
• Radioland Murders (1994) .... Female Writer
• The Critic .... Jay's No.1 Fan (1 episode, 1994)
• The Home Court (1995) TV series .... Judge Sydney J. Solomon (unknown episodes)
• Deadly Whispers (1995) (TV) .... Carol Acton
• Buford's Got a Gun (1995) (TV) .... Laurie
• Critical Choices (1996) (TV) .... Arlene
• The Man Next Door (1996) (TV) .... Wanda Gilmore
• Bean (1997) .... Alison Langley
• Santa Fe (1997) .... Nancy Vigil
• Carriers (1998) (TV) .... Holly Parker
• Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998) .... Judge Lambrey
• Standing on Fishes (1999) .... Janice
• Proof of Life (2000) .... Janis Goodman
• The Kennedys (2001) (TV) .... Pamela Kennedy
• Judging Amy .... Sarah (1 episode, 2003)
• Book of Days (2003) (TV) .... Grady
• JAG .... Major General Willsey (1 episode, 2004)
• Tanner on Tanner .... T.J. Cavanaugh (4 episodes, 2004)
• Jane Doe: Now You See It, Now You Don't (2005) (TV) .... Fran Henkel
• Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure (2005) (TV) .... Esther Shapiro
• Life of the Party (2005) .... Evelyn
• Pepper Dennis .... Lynn Dinkle (4 episodes, 2006)
• Jericho .... Gail Green (23 episodes, 2006-2008)
• Eli Stone .... Mrs. Stone (2 episodes, 2008)
• Parks and Recreation .... Marlene Griggs-Knope (recurring, 2009—2015 )
• The Beast .... Paulson (1 episode, 2009)
• United States of Tara .... Beverly (4 episodes, 2009-2011)
• Grey's Anatomy .... Mrs. Banks (1 episode, 2010)
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation .... (2 episodes, 2011 & 2012)
• Criminal Minds (2014) .... Mary Bidwell (1 episode)
• NCIS: Los Angeles (2015) .... Roberta Deeks (2 episodes)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]