Lisa Emery
Encyclopedia
Lisa Emery is an American
stage, film, and television actress.
Emery was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
, the daughter of an aspiring actress from Charlottesville, Virginia
and an advertising executive who worked in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
. She attended Hollins University
, where she planned to study painting, but became interested in drama classes instead because "they were having way more fun." After graduation she studied at the Circle in the Square Theatre School
for a year, then began to audition.
Emery's theatre credits include The Matchmaker
, Dinner with Friends
, What the Butler Saw
, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Talley & Son
, Burn This
, Rumors
, Present Laughter
, and The Women, Marvin's Room
, and Abigail's Party
. She was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
for her performances in the latter two.
Emery's film credits include A Map of the World
, Unfaithful, The Night Listener
, and Margot at the Wedding
. On television she had a recurring role on Ed
and has made guest appearances on Law & Order
, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
, Law & Order: Criminal Intent
, Third Watch
, and Damages
.
Charles Isherwood
the New York Times's theater critic admires her acting.
Emery was married to actor Josh Pais
; their son Zane appeared with his mother in Margot at the Wedding.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stage, film, and television actress.
Emery was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, the daughter of an aspiring actress from Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
and an advertising executive who worked in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
The Village of Valley Forge is an unincorporated settlement located on the west side of Valley Forge National Historical Park at the confluence of Valley Creek and the Schuylkill River in Pennsylvania, United States. The remaining village is in Schuylkill Township of Chester County, but once...
. She attended Hollins University
Hollins University
Hollins University is a four-year institution of higher education, a private university located on a campus on the border of Roanoke County, Virginia and Botetourt County, Virginia...
, where she planned to study painting, but became interested in drama classes instead because "they were having way more fun." After graduation she studied at the Circle in the Square Theatre School
Circle in the Square Theatre School
Circle in the Square Theatre School is a non-profit, tax exempt drama school associated with the Circle in the Square Theatre and as such is the only accredited school attached to a Broadway theatre....
for a year, then began to audition.
Emery's theatre credits include The Matchmaker
The Matchmaker
The Matchmaker is a play by Thornton Wilder.The play has a long and colorful history. John Oxenford's 1835 one-act farce A Day Well Spent had been extended into a full-length play entitled Einen Jux will er sich machen by Austrian playwright Johann Nestroy in 1842...
, Dinner with Friends
Dinner with Friends
Dinner with Friends is a 2000 play written by Donald Margulies. It premiered at the 1998 Humana Festival of New American Plays and opened Off-Broadway in New York on November 4, 1999.-Plot summary:...
, What the Butler Saw
What the Butler Saw (play)
What the Butler Saw is a farce written by English playwright Joe Orton. It premièred at the Queen's Theatre in London on 5 March 1969. It was Orton's final play and the second to be performed after his death, following Funeral Games the year before....
, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Talley & Son
Talley & Son
Talley & Son is a play by Lanford Wilson, the third in his trilogy focusing on the Talley family of Lebanon, Missouri. It is set on July 4, 1944, the same day as Talley's Folly and thirty-three years prior to the events in Fifth of July....
, Burn This
Burn This
Burn This is a play by Lanford Wilson.-Plot:It begins shortly after the funeral of Robbie, a young gay dancer who drowned in a boating accident. In attendance were his roommates: choreographer Anna and ad man Larry...
, Rumors
Rumors
Rumors is a farcical play by Neil Simon.At its start, several affluent couples gather in the posh suburban residence of a couple for a dinner party celebrating their hosts' tenth anniversary. When they arrive, they discover there are no servants, the hostess is missing, and the host - the deputy...
, Present Laughter
Present Laughter
Present Laughter is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 and first staged in 1942 on tour, alternating with his lower middle-class domestic drama This Happy Breed...
, and The Women, Marvin's Room
Marvin's Room (play)
Marvin's Room is a play by written by Scott McPherson that premiered off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons on 15 November 1991, and later adapted for a film of the same title in 1996 ....
, and Abigail's Party
Abigail's Party
Abigail's Party is a play for stage and television written and directed in 1977 by Mike Leigh. It is a suburban situation comedy of manners, and a satire on the aspirations and tastes of the new middle class that emerged in Britain in the 1970s...
. She was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play was first awarded at the 1974-1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since...
for her performances in the latter two.
Emery's film credits include A Map of the World
A Map of the World
A Map of the World is a novel by Jane Hamilton. It was the Oprah's Book Club selection for December 1999. It was made into a movie released in 1999 starring Sigourney Weaver, Julianne Moore, David Strathairn, Chloë Sevigny, Louise Fletcher and Marc Donato with a soundtrack by Pat Metheny.- Plot...
, Unfaithful, The Night Listener
The Night Listener (film)
The Night Listener is a 2006 psychological horror film directed by Patrick Stettner. The screenplay by Armistead Maupin, Terry Anderson, and Stettner is based on Maupin's 2000 bestselling novel of the same name, which was inspired by actual events in the author's life.-Plot:Gabriel Noone , a...
, and Margot at the Wedding
Margot at the Wedding
Margot at the Wedding is a 2007 tragicomedy written and directed by Noah Baumbach.The film premiered August 31, 2007 at the 34th Telluride Film Festival.-Plot:...
. On television she had a recurring role on Ed
Ed (TV series)
Ed is an NBC television program co-produced by David Letterman's Worldwide Pants Incorporated, NBC Productions, and Viacom Productions that aired from 2000 to 2004....
and has made guest appearances on Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
, Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
, Third Watch
Third Watch
Third Watch is an American television drama series which first aired on NBC from 1999 to 2005 for a total of 132 episodes, broadcast in 6 seasons of 22 episodes each....
, and Damages
Damages (TV series)
Damages is an American television drama series created by the writing and production trio of Daniel Zelman and brothers Glenn and Todd A. Kessler . It is broadcast in the United States on the DirecTV channel Audience Network after originally airing on FX and is produced by the creators' own...
.
Charles Isherwood
Charles Isherwood
-External Links:* at The New York Times* at Variety...
the New York Times's theater critic admires her acting.
Emery was married to actor Josh Pais
Josh Pais
Josh Pais is an American actor of film and television.He has appeared in many Hollywood films, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as Raphael, Music of the Heart, Scream 3, It Runs in the Family, Little Manhattan and Find Me Guilty. He played Assistant M.E...
; their son Zane appeared with his mother in Margot at the Wedding.