Amy Brenneman News

Amy Brenneman (full name Amy Frederica Brenneman) was born June 22, 1964.

She is best known for her roles in the TV series NYPD Blue and Judging Amy.

She was born in New London, Conn., to Russell Brenneman, an attorney, and Frederica Brenneman, a state court judge. Amy was raised in Glastonbury, Conn., where she participated in theater as a teenager, both in school and with a local theater group.

She graduated from Harvard University, where she majored in comparative religion, in 1987. While at Harvard, she co-founded Cornerstone Theater Company, which she traveled with for several years after graduation.

In her first major TV role, Brenneman played mob-connected uniform officer Janice Licalsi on the police drama NYPD Blue. Her story arc, which included a romantic relationship with David Caruso's character, ran through the first season (1993-1994) and the first few episodes of the second.

She was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1994 and for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series the next year. After leaving NYPD Blue, Brenneman appeared the films Casper (1995), Heat (1995), Fear (1996), Daylight (1996) and Nevada (1997).

She had a brief recurring role on Frasier in its 1998-1999 season. In 1999, Amy became creator and executive producer of the television series Judging Amy, in which she also starred.

Brenneman portrayed a divorced single mother working as a Family Court Judge in Hartford, Conn. The show's concept was based on the real-life experiences of her mother, Frederica Brenneman, as a superior court judge in Connecticut.

Judging Amy ran on CBS for six seasons and 138 episodes from September 19, 1999 to May 3, 2005, drawing successful ratings each year.

Frederica Brenneman was one of Harvard Law School's first female graduates and became a juvenile court judge in Connecticut when Amy was 3 years old. Amy has said, "I play my mother's job, not my mother."

In March 2007, Brenneman was cast in Private Practice.

In 1995, Brenneman married director Brad Silberling at her parents' house. The couple are founding members of the Cornerstone Theater Company in Los Angeles. Silberling and Brenneman have two children, Charlotte Tucker (March 20, 2001) and Bodhi Russell (June 5, 2005).

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