Early life

Holly was born in Bristol, Pennsylvania. Her mother, Michael Ann Holly, is an art historian and the Starr Director of Research and Academic Program at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, and former professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Her father, Grant Holly, is a screenwriter and professor of literature at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. She has two younger brothers: Nick and Alexander Innes Holly (1978-1992). Holly was raised in Geneva, New York, and is a 1981 graduate of Geneva High School, where she was a cheerleader. In 1985, she earned an undergraduate degree in English from Sarah Lawrence College in New York.

Career

Holly's acting career began at the age of 20 when she appeared in Hill Street Blues as Carla Walicki for two episodes. At age 23, she joined the cast of the ABC television soap opera All My Children as Julie Rand Chandler (1986-1989). She portrayed the comic book character Betty Cooper in the TV movie Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again in 1990.

In 1992, Holly's big break came when she was cast as small-town Deputy Sheriff Maxine Stewart opposite veteran movie actor Tom Skerritt on CBS's Picket Fences for four seasons, appearing in every episode except one. She appeared as Mary Swanson, Lloyd Christmas's love interest, in the 1994 Jim Carrey comedy Dumb & Dumber. She portrayed Linda Lee Cadwell, the wife of martial artist and actor Bruce Lee, in 1993's Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story; a doctor in Sydney Pollack's 1995 remake of Sabrina; and Lieutenant Emily Lake in the 1996 comedy Down Periscope with Kelsey Grammer. She starred in the movie Any Given Sunday (1999).

Holly appeared in the music video for Dixie Chicks' single "Goodbye Earl" (2000). She was a member of the cast of NCIS as Director Jenny Shepard from 2005 to 2008, reuniting with her former Chicago Hope co-stars Mark Harmon and Rocky Carroll. Currently, Holly portrays the "worldly and stunning" lead medical examiner Dr. Betty Rogers, a regular character on the CTV series Motive. In 2014, she was reunited with ex-Picket Fences co-star, Tom Skerritt, to star in the movie, Field of Lost Shoes. In 2015, Holly starred in Oz Perkins' horror film February.

Personal life

Holly lives in Canada with her three children; she became a Canadian citizen in 2008.

In 1992, Holly, her father Grant, and their families established the "A" Fund at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in memory of her brother, Alexander, about whom Holly said, "He was a boy filled with dreams, hopes, and plans. Although he was only 14 when he died, he had traveled extensively in Europe and Central America, lived in New York City and Los Angeles, and these experiences produced in him a fascination for architecture and archaeology."

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	Love Lives On	Tracy	Television movie
1985	Seven Minutes in Heaven	Lisa
1986	Band of the Hand	Nikki
1990	Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again	Betty Cooper	Television movie
1990	The Adventures of Ford Fairlane	Jazz
1992	Fugitive Among Us	Suzie Bryant	Television movie
	Live Wire	Suzie Bryant	Uncredited
1993	Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story	Linda Lee
1994	Dangerous Heart	Carol	Television movie
	Dumb and Dumber	Mary Swanson	MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss
1995	Sabrina	Elizabeth Tyson
1996	Beautiful Girls	Darian Smalls
	Down Periscope	Lt. Emily Lake
1997	Turbulence	Teri Halloran	Nominated—Razzie Award for Worst Actress
	A Smile Like Yours	Jennifer Robertson
1998	No Looking Back	Claudia
	Vig	Marybeth	Television movie
1999	Entropy	Claire
	Any Given Sunday	Cindy Rooney
2000	The Last Producer	Frances Chadway
	What Women Want	Gigi
2001	Spirited Away	Chihiro's Mother	Voice (2002 Disney dub)
	Destiny	Unknown	Television movie
	Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot	Ethel Kennedy	Television movie Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film
2002	Changing Hearts	Amber Connors
	King of Texas	Mrs. Rebecca Lear Highsmith	Television movie
	Living with the Dead	James' Wife
	Pavement	Buckley Clarke
	Santa, Jr.	Susan Flynn	Television movie
2004	In Enemy Hands	Mrs. Rachel Travers
	Just Desserts	Grace Carpenter	Television movie
	Caught in the Act	Jodie Colter
2005	The Chumscrubber	Boutique Owner
	Bounty Hunters	Tess	Television movie
	Down and Derby	Kim Davis
	The Godfather of Green Bay	Molly Mahoney
2006	Fatwa	Maggie Davidson
	The Pleasure Drivers	Daphne Widesecker
	Raising Flagg	Rachel Purdy
2009	The Least Among You	Kate Allison
	Crank: High Voltage	Psychiatrist	Uncredited
	The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll	Liza Genson
	Before You Say I Do	Mary Brown	Television movie
	Too Late to Say Goodbye	Heather
2010	You're So Cupid!	Audrey Valentine
	The Final Storm	Gillian Grady
	Chasing 3000	Marilyn
	The Town Christmas Forgot	Annie Benson	Television movie
	Call Me Mrs. Miracle	Lindy Lowe
2011	Scream of the Banshee	Prof. Isla Whelan
2012	Masque	Grace	Short film
	Layover	Suzanne Hollingsworth	Television movie
	Do No Harm	Dr. Thorne
2013	Abducted	Suzanne Hollingsworth
	Field of Lost Shoes
2014	The Town That Came A-Courtin'	Abby Houston
2015	Marshall the Miracle Dog	Susan	Post-production
	After the Ball	Elise	Limited Release
	February

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Hill Street Blues	Carla Walicki	2 episodes
1986	Spenser: For Hire	Emily Brown	Episode: "Home Is the Hero"
1986-89	All My Children	Julie Chandler	Unknown episodes
1990	My Two Dads	Allison Novack	2 episodes
1991	The Antagonists	Kate Ward	Episode: "Con Safos"
1992-96	Picket Fences	Maxine Stewart	87 episodes Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Drama Series Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Nominated—Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Drama Series
1999	Fantasy Island	Heather Finn	Episode: "The Real Thing"
1999-2000	Chicago Hope	Dr. Jeremy Hanlon	22 episodes
2001	Becker	Laura	Episode: "The Buddy System"
2002	Providence	Darla Rosario	Episode: "The Heart of the Matter"
2003	CSI: Miami	Hayley Wilson	Episode: "Grand Prix"
2005-08, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015	NCIS	NCIS Director Jenny Shepard	67 episodes (Main Cast) "A Man Walks Into a Bar...", "Life Before His Eyes", "House Rules" (Archives), "The Lost Boys"
2009	Leverage	Ms. Tobey Earnshaw	Episode: "The Juror #6 Job"
2010	Covert Affairs	Madeline Jarvis	Episode: "Houses of the Holy"
	Flashpoint	Jill Hastings	Episode: "Acceptable Risk"
2010-12	The Adventures of Chuck & Friends	Haulie	14 episodes
2011	Rookie Blue	Superintendent Elaine Peck	Episode: "In Plain View"
2012	Lost Girl	Sadie	Episode: "Midnight Lamp"
	Alphas	Senator Charlotte Burton	3 episodes
2013-present	Motive	Dr. Betty Rogers	26 episodes (Main Cast)

Music videos

• Dixie Chicks - "Goodbye Earl" (2000)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]