Sharon Lawrence - Career

Career

Lawrence is best known for the role of Sylvia Costas in the ABC drama series NYPD Blue (1993–1999), for which she was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series three times. She co-starred with Betty White and Alfred Molina on the short-lived sitcom Ladies Man from 1999 to 2001. She was also a regular on the series Wolf Lake.

Lawrence played Maisy Gibbons, a housewife/prostitute in Desperate Housewives. She was also the star of the short-lived sitcom Fired Up (1997–98). She has guest starred in Caroline in the City, Boston Legal, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Monk, and played Amelia Earhart in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "The 37s." She had a supporting role on the short-lived CW teenage drama series Hidden Palms, as Tess Wiatt, and was seen in the Canadian cable television drama The Line in 2009.

In 2009, Lawrence was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal as Izzie Stevens' mother on Grey's Anatomy. She also recently guest-starred on Community in the episode titled "The Politics of Human Sexuality".

In April 2010, Sharon Lawrence joined Josh Schwartz's CBS sitcom pilot Hitched. The ensemble comedy revolves around newlyweds Rachel (Kristin Kreuk) and Brett (Jack Carpenter), who must deal with their family and friends. Lawrence, 48, will play the nosy but well-meaning mother of Rachel. In October 2010, she began a recurring role on One Tree Hill as Sylvia Baker, the mother of Julian Baker (Austin Nichols) who comes to Tree Hill from Los Angeles to plan the upcoming wedding of Julian and Brooke Davis (Sophia Bush). More recently, she played the birthmother of Dr Maura Isles (Sasha Alexander) in Rizzoli & Isles, although in real life the actresses are only 12 years apart.