Lauren Michael Holly (born October 28, 1963) is an American-Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles as Deputy Sheriff Maxine Stewart on the television series Picket Fences, NCIS Director Jenny Shepard on NCIS, and Dr. Betty Rogers on Motive. In film, she portrayed Mary Swanson in Dumb and Dumber (1994), Linda Lee in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993), Darian Smalls in Beautiful Girls (1996), and Gigi in What Women Want (2000).
Early Life
Holly was born in Bristol, Pennsylvania. Her mother, Michael Ann Holly, is an art historian who served as the Starr Director of Research and Academic Program at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and a professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Her father, Grant Holly, was a screenwriter and professor of literature at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. She has two younger brothers, Nick Holly and Alexander Innes Holly. Holly attended Sarah Lawrence College in New York.
Career
Holly's acting career began at age 20 with appearances on Hill Street Blues and Spenser: For Hire. At age 23, she joined the cast of the ABC soap opera All My Children as Julie Rand Chandler (1986–1989). She portrayed Betty Cooper in the television movie Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again (1990).
Her big break came in 1992 when she was cast as Deputy Sheriff Maxine Stewart on CBS's Picket Fences, a role she played for four seasons. She portrayed Linda Lee Cadwell in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993) and Mary Swanson in Dumb and Dumber (1994). Other notable film roles include Sabrina (1995), Down Periscope (1996), Beautiful Girls (1996), and Any Given Sunday (1999).
Holly joined the cast of NCIS as Director Jenny Shepard from 2005 to 2008. She later starred as Dr. Betty Rogers on the CTV series Motive (2013–2016). She appeared in the Netflix series Designated Survivor (2019) and Tiny Pretty Things (2020), and has had a main role on the series Family Law (2021–2026).
Personal Life
Holly has been married three times. Her first marriage was to actor Danny Quinn (1991–1993). She married actor Jim Carrey in 1996 after they met while filming Dumb and Dumber; they divorced in 1997. In 2001, she married Francis Greco, a Canadian-born investment banker, with whom she adopted three sons: Henry, George, and Alexander Holly-Greco. She became a Canadian citizen in 2008. The couple divorced in 2014.
Filmography (Selected)
Film: Seven Minutes in Heaven (1985), Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993), Dumb and Dumber (1994), Sabrina (1995), Beautiful Girls (1996), Down Periscope (1996), Turbulence (1997), Any Given Sunday (1999), What Women Want (2000), Spirited Away (2002, English voice dub), The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015), Hot Frosty (2024).
Television: All My Children (1986–1989), Picket Fences (1992–1996), Chicago Hope (1999–2000), NCIS (2005–2008), Motive (2013–2016), Designated Survivor (2019), Tiny Pretty Things (2020), Family Law (2021–2026).
