Law and Order
Register
Advertisement
Judith Light
Judithlight
Character
Elizabeth Donnelly
Date of birth
9 February 1949
Place of birth
Trenton, New Jersey
IMDb profile

Judith Light is an Emmy Award-winning actress who played Bureau Chief, and later Judge Elizabeth Donnelly, in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Light first found fame on television after being recast in the role of Karen Wolek on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. This role was quite lucrative for Light and spawned one of the show's most-remembered storylines; Light's character became a prostitute after she became bored with her life as a housewife. On trial, Karen saved her friend Viki Lord from being convicted of killing her pimp by admitting that she had been a prostitute to the entire town, including her faithful husband. Light won Daytime Emmy Awards in 1980 and 1981.

In 1984, Light was cast in a starring role as Angela Robinson Bower in ABC's prime-time situation comedy Who's The Boss?. The show, which also starred Tony Danza and Alyssa Milano, was ranked in the top 10 of the Nielsen ratings from 1985-86 through 1988-89, peaking at number six during the 1987-88 season. Who's The Boss? ended in May 1992 after eight seasons and 196 episodes.

Light was cast as Claire Meade, the alcoholic mother of Daniel and Alexis Meade, on ABC's Ugly Betty (with Alan Dale, Tony Plana, Becki Newton, Daniel Eric Gold, and a recurring Lorraine Toussaint). In the 2007-2008 season, she was promoted to cast regular. In 2007, Light's performance resulted in her first Primetime Emmy Award nomination, for Guest Actress in a Comedy, which she lost to Elaine Stritch.

From 2013 to 2014, Light played the role of villainous Judith Brown Ryland in the TNT drama series, Dallas with Mitch Pileggi, Brenda Strong, and Emma Bell. She also starred as Shelly Pfefferman on the TV series Transparent (with Amy Landecker and Jeffrey Tambor).

Appearances[]

Advertisement