Sela Ward | |
|---|---|
 Ward in 2010 | |
| Born | Sela Ann Ward (1956-07-11)July 11, 1956 (age 69) Meridian, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Alabama |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Known for | Sisters Once and Again CSI: NY |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Sela Ann Ward (born July 11, 1956)[1][2] is an American actress. Her breakthrough TV role was as Teddy Reed in the NBC drama seriesSisters (1991–96), for which she received her firstPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1994. She received her second Primetime Emmy Award andGolden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama for the leading role of Lily Manning in theABC drama seriesOnce and Again (1999–2002). Ward later had the recurring role ofStacy Warner in theFox medical dramaHouse, also starred asJo Danville in theCBS police proceduralCSI: NY (2010–13)[3] and starred as Dana Mosier in the CBS police procedural seriesFBI (2018–19).[4]
She also played supporting roles in films, includingThe Man Who Loved Women (1983),Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985),Nothing in Common (1986),Hello Again (1987),The Fugitive (1993),My Fellow Americans (1996),The Badge (2002),The Day After Tomorrow (2004),The Guardian (2006),The Stepfather (2009),Gone Girl (2014), andIndependence Day: Resurgence (2016).
Ward was born inMeridian, Mississippi, to Annie Kate (née Boswell), a homemaker, and Granberry Holland "G.H." Ward, Jr., an electrical engineer. Her father is a native of Meridian while her mother was born inChoctaw County, Alabama, before moving to Meridian as a child.[5][6][7] Ward is the eldest of four children with a sister, Jenna, and two brothers, Joseph Brock and Granberry Holland Ward III. She graduated fromLamar School in Meridian.[8]
Ward attended theUniversity of Alabama, where she was Homecoming Queen, aCrimson Tidecheerleader, and joinedChi Omega sorority.[9] She double-majored in fine art and advertising. She graduated in 1977.[10]
While working inNew York City as astoryboard artist for multimedia presentations, Ward beganmodeling to supplement her income. She was recruited by theWilhelmina agency and was soon featured in television commercials promotingMaybelline cosmetics.[citation needed]
Ward eventually moved to California to pursue acting and landed her first film role in the 1983Burt Reynolds vehicleThe Man Who Loved Women. Her first regular role in a television drama series, as a socialite onDennis Weaver's short-livedCBS series,Emerald Point N.A.S., followed in the same year. Ward continued to land guest roles in both television and films throughout the 1980s, most notably oppositeTom Hanks in 1986'sNothing in Common. In 1991 she was cast as thebohemianalcoholic Teddy Reed onSisters, for which she received her first Emmy forOutstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1994.[9] She portrayed Helen Kimble, the wife of Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford), inThe Fugitive, one of the top films of 1993.
Ward won aCableACE Award for her portrayal of the late television journalistJessica Savitch in the 1995 TV filmAlmost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story.[9]Almost Golden remains Lifetime's most watched TV film to date.
In 1995, Ward was passed over for aBond girl role for the 1995 movieGoldenEye, learning that even though then-BondPierce Brosnan was 42, thecasting director said "What we really want is Sela, but Sela ten years ago".[11] In response, she developed and produced a documentary,The Changing Face of Beauty, about American obsession with youth and its effect on women. Later on, Ward would voice the part of former model turned villain Page Monroe in an episode ("Mean Seasons") ofThe New Batman/Superman Adventures, which focused primarily on the media's obsession with youth.[12]
Ward succeededCandice Bergen as commercial spokesperson forSprint'slong distance telephone service from 1999 until 2002. She also appeared onFrasier as supermodel/zoologist Kelly Easterbrook in the fifth season opener ("Frasier's Imaginary Friend"). When she read for the role of Lily Brooks Manning on the seriesOnce and Again, its creators (Edward Zwick andMarshall Herskovitz ofthirtysomething fame) initially deemed Ward "too beautiful" for the average single mother to identify with. Ward received her second lead actress Emmy and aGolden Globe Award.[9]
In 2004, she played the role of a private investigator in the television filmSuburban Madness. The same year, she also appeared in the filmThe Day After Tomorrow withDennis Quaid andJake Gyllenhaal. In 2005, she began a recurring role in the Fox dramatic seriesHouse as Stacy Warner, the hospital's attorney and formidable ex-partner of the protagonist Dr.Gregory House (played byHugh Laurie). In 2006, Ward's character was written off the show. However, she made her last guest appearance in theseries finale (which aired on May 21, 2012).
Ward was originally offered both the role ofMegan Donner onCSI: Miami andSusan Mayer onDesperate Housewives, but turned both down. Ward was reluctant to commit to another lead role in an hour-long series because of the time away from her family it would require.[13]
Although she was on a brief hiatus from television, she continued to appear in feature films. She starred oppositeKevin Costner inThe Guardian in 2006 and starred in the thrillerThe Stepfather in 2009. In July 2010, Ward signed on to star in the police dramaCSI: NY, at theseventh season's start.[3] Ward remained on the show until the ninth and final season's end in February 2013.[14]
Ward appeared as newswoman Sharon Schieber inGone Girl (2014), and co-starred inIndependence Day: Resurgence, released June 2016, in which she played the President of the United States, President Lanford.[15] She also played the leading role alongsideNick Nolte in the political comedy seriesGraves.[16] She was in a leading role alongsideMissy Peregrym,Zeeko Zaki andJeremy Sisto in the crime seriesFBI.[4]
On May 23, 1992, Ward married entrepreneur Howard Elliott Sherman. They have two children: Austin and Anabella.[17]
After meeting twofoster children during a holiday trip home to Mississippi in 1997,[18] Ward decided to meet a broader need for abused and neglected children by initiating and partially funding the creation of a permanent group home and emergency shelter, as well as transition houses. Hope Village for Children opened in Ward's hometown of Meridian in January 2002, housed on a 30-acre (12 ha) property once used as aMasonic-owned and operated orphanage, and is intended to serve as a pilot for a nationwide network of similar shelters. Hope Village had a capacity of 44 residents and served an average of 300 children per year as of 2015[update].[19]
In 2002, Ward published her autobiography,Homesick: A Memoir, throughHarperCollins'ReganBooks imprint.[20] In 2014, Ward was a part of her first group art exhibition at KM Fine Arts.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | The Man Who Loved Women | Janet Wainwright | |
| 1985 | Rustlers' Rhapsody | Colonel's Daughter | |
| 1986 | Nothing in Common | Cheryl Ann Wayne | |
| 1987 | Hello Again | Kim Lacey | |
| Steele Justice | Tracy | ||
| 1989 | The Haunting of Sarah Hardy | Sarah Hardy | |
| 1991 | Child of Darkness, Child of Light | Sister Anne | |
| 1992 | Double Jeopardy | Karen Hart | |
| 1993 | The Fugitive | Helen Kimble | |
| 1996 | My Fellow Americans | Kaye Griffin | |
| 1998 | 54 | Billie Auster | |
| 1999 | Runaway Bride | Pretty Woman in Bar | Cameo |
| 2000 | Catch a Falling Star | Sydney Clarke | |
| 2002 | The Badge | Carla Hardwick | |
| 2004 | Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights | Jeannie Miller | |
| The Day After Tomorrow | Dr. Lucy Hall | ||
| 2006 | The Guardian | Helen Randall | |
| 2009 | The Stepfather | Susan Harding | |
| 2014 | Gone Girl | Sharon Schieber | |
| 2016 | Independence Day: Resurgence | President Elizabeth Lanford |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983–84 | Emerald Point N.A.S. | Hilary Adams | 22 episodes |
| 1985 | I Had Three Wives | Emily | Episode: "Til Death Do us Part" |
| 1986 | Hotel | Isabel Atwood | Episode: "Hornet's Nest" |
| L.A. Law | Lynette Pierce | 2 episodes | |
| 1987 | Night Court | Heather | Episode: "Christine's Friend" |
| 1989 | Bridesmaids | Caryl | Television film |
| 1990 | Rainbow Drive | Laura Demming | Television film |
| 1991–96 | Sisters | Teddy Reed | 127 episodes |
| 1995 | Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story | Jessica Savitch | Television film |
| 1997 | Frasier | Kelly Easterbrook | Episode: "Frasier's Imaginary Friend" |
| Stories of Courage: Two Women | Marie-Rose Gineste | Television film | |
| 1999 | The New Batman Adventures | Page Monroe/Calendar Girl | Voice, episode: "Mean Seasons" |
| 1999–2002 | Once and Again | Lily Manning | 63 episodes |
| 2000 | Catch a Falling Star | Sydney Clark | Television film |
| 2004 | Suburban Madness | Bobbi Bacha | |
| 2005–06 | House | Stacy Warner | 10 episodes |
| 2010–13 | CSI: NY | Jo Danville | 57 episodes |
| 2016–17 | Graves | Margaret Graves | 20 episodes |
| 2018 | Westworld | Juliet | 1 Episode |
| 2018–19 | FBI | Special Agent in Charge Dana Mosier | 21 Episodes |
A roughly 0.9 miles (1.4 km) stretch of 22nd Avenue in Meridian (from 6th Street southeast to theInterstate 20 highway interchange)[21] has been named the "Sela Ward Parkway" in her honor.[22][23]
Her teenage years were spent at a private school, Lamar, and she joined a junior sorority.
{{cite web}}:Cite uses generic title (help)The Meridian City Council on Tuesday discussed a project to enhance a section of 22nd Avenue known as Sela Ward Parkway that runs from near the old Village Fair Mall to Front Street.
