Career

Born in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, Makkena started her acting career in 1986 and appeared in the TV show Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara (TV series)

Santa Barbara is an American television soap opera, first broadcast in the United States on NBC on July 30, 1984, and last aired on January 15, 1993. The show revolved around the eventful lives of the wealthy Capwell family of Santa Barbara, California...

. She later landed her first movie role in Eight Men Out

Eight Men Out

Eight Men Out is an American dramatic sports film, released in 1988 and based on Eliot Asinof 1963 book 8 Men Out. It was written and directed by John Sayles....

. She has made various guest appearances in TV shows such as 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,...

, Monsters, NYPD Blue

NYPD Blue

NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...

, House

House (TV series)

House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...

, and NCIS

NCIS (TV series)

NCIS, formerly known as NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is an American police procedural drama television series revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which conducts criminal investigations involving the U.S...

.

In 1992 she landed a starring role in the popular movie Sister Act

Sister Act

Sister Act is a 1992 American comedy film released by Touchstone Pictures. Directed by Emile Ardolino, it features musical arrangements by Marc Shaiman and stars Whoopi Goldberg as a Reno lounge singer who has been put under protective custody in a San Francisco convent and has to pretend to be a...

 as the shy but talented singing nun Sister Mary Robert (although her singing voice was dubbed by Andrea Robinson), a role she reprised in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit

Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit

Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit is a 1993 comedy film starring Whoopi Goldberg. Directed by Bill Duke, and released by Touchstone Pictures, it is the sequel to the successful 1992 film Sister Act...

 the following year.

She appeared in various other television roles until 1997, when she starred in Air Bud

Air Bud

Air Bud is a 1997 American family/dramedy film that sparked the franchise centered on the real-life dog, Buddy, a Golden Retriever. The film's title may in fact be wordplay with "Air Jordan", a nickname of basketball superstar Michael Jordan. It is the first film to be distributed together by...

, followed by the independent film Finding North

Finding North

Finding North in a 1998 gay-themed independent comedy-drama. Written by Kim Powers and directed by Tanya Wexler, the film stars Wendy Makkena and John Benjamin Hickey.-Plot:...

. She continued appearing on television shows such as The Job

The Job (TV series)

The Job was a single-camera television comedy drama about a New York City police officer named Mike McNeil -- who indulges in adultery, alcohol, cigarettes and prescription drug abuse—and his fellow 'bumbling detective' pals...

, Oliver Beene

Oliver Beene

Oliver Beene is an American sitcom that premiered on Fox on March 9, 2003. The show was created by Howard Gewirtz. Set in 1962 and 1963, the show chronicled the trials and tribulations of the 11-to-12-year-old Oliver Beene , in first person perspective...

, and Listen Up!

She made a guest appearance on House

House (TV series)

House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...

 in 2007. She also made a guest appearance on 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...

 in 2009.

Makkena also appeared on the pilot episode of Chuck

Chuck (TV series)

Chuck is an action-comedy/spy-drama television program from the United States created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average computer-whiz-next-door" named Chuck, played by Zachary Levi, who receives an encoded e-mail from an old college friend now working for the Central...

 as an unnamed National Intelligence Director. Some casting lists have her appearing as General Mary Beckman, a rank and surname that would be re-used in future episodes for the recurring character of NSA director Gen. Diane Beckman. The actress in that role, Bonita Friedericy

Bonita Friedericy

Bonita Friedericy is an American actress. She currently can be seen in the television series Chuck as NSA Director Diane Beckman. She has also appeared on Malcolm in the Middle, Veronica Mars, Star Trek: Enterprise, Bones, The Nine, The West Wing, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and in the film...

, believes both Beckmans to be the same character. Additionally, Beckman's identification card, shown on "Chuck's Chart" (first seen in the second season episode, "Chuck Versus the Lethal Weapon

Chuck Versus the Lethal Weapon

"Chuck Versus the Lethal Weapon" is the sixteenth episode of the second season of Chuck. It originally aired on March 9, 2009. When Cole Barker escapes after being tortured by Fulcrum and returns to Castle, Sarah Walker and John Casey are assigned to hunt down a scientist codenamed "Perseus", who...

", and clearly referring to Friedericy's character by its reference to her relationship with Roan Montgomery) reads "Gen. M. Beckman".

Among her Broadway credits are Lend Me a Tenor

Lend Me a Tenor

Lend Me a Tenor is a comedy by Ken Ludwig. The play was produced on both the West End and Broadway . Although it received seven Tony Award nominations, it won only one, for Best Actor. A Broadway revival opened in 2010. Lend Me a Tenor has been translated into sixteen languages and produced in...

 (1989) and Side Man

Side Man

Side Man is a memory play by Warren Leight. His inspiration was his father Donald, who worked as a sideman, in jazz parlance a musician for hire who can blend in with the band or star as a solo performer, according to what is required by the gig.-Plot:...

 (1998).

She also guest-starred in NCIS

NCIS (TV series)

NCIS, formerly known as NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is an American police procedural drama television series revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which conducts criminal investigations involving the U.S...

 as Dr. Rachel Cranston, a psychologist conducting evaluations on Gibbs and his team. She was later revealed to also be the elder sister of the deceased Caitlin Todd

Caitlin Todd

Special Agent Caitlin "Kate" Todd is a fictional character in the CBS drama NCIS, and was portrayed by actress Sasha Alexander.The character was introduced in the show's first episode "Yankee White" replacing Robyn Lively's character Vivian Blackadder which had appeared in the JAG Season 8 episodes...

.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Eight Men Out Eight Men Out Eight Men Out is an American dramatic sports film, released in 1988 and based on Eliot Asinof 1963 book 8 Men Out. It was written and directed by John Sayles....	Kate Jackson
1992	Sister Act Sister Act Sister Act is a 1992 American comedy film released by Touchstone Pictures. Directed by Emile Ardolino, it features musical arrangements by Marc Shaiman and stars Whoopi Goldberg as a Reno lounge singer who has been put under protective custody in a San Francisco convent and has to pretend to be a...	Sister Mary Robert
1993	Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit is a 1993 comedy film starring Whoopi Goldberg. Directed by Bill Duke, and released by Touchstone Pictures, it is the sequel to the successful 1992 film Sister Act...	Sister Mary Robert
1994	Camp Nowhere Camp Nowhere Camp Nowhere is a 1994 film directed by Jonathan Prince, written by Andrew Kurtzman and Eliot Wald, and starring Jonathan Jackson, Christopher Lloyd, Melody Kay, Andrew Keegan, and Marnette Patterson. The film also features Jessica Alba in her first film role...	Dr. Celeste Dunbar
1995		Maggie	Short film
1997		Jean Leary
1997	Air Bud Air Bud Air Bud is a 1997 American family/dramedy film that sparked the franchise centered on the real-life dog, Buddy, a Golden Retriever. The film's title may in fact be wordplay with "Air Jordan", a nickname of basketball superstar Michael Jordan. It is the first film to be distributed together by...	Jackie Framm
1998	Finding North Finding North Finding North in a 1998 gay-themed independent comedy-drama. Written by Kim Powers and directed by Tanya Wexler, the film stars Wendy Makkena and John Benjamin Hickey.-Plot:...	Rhonda Portelli
1999	4 a.m.: Open All Night	Woman	Short film
2004	Noise	Del
2009	State of Play State of Play (film) State of Play is a 2009 French-British-American political thriller film. It is an adaptation of the six-part British television serial of the same name which first aired on BBC One in 2003. The plot of the six-hour serial was condensed to fit a two-hour movie format, with the location changed to...	Greer Thornton

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (TV series) Santa Barbara is an American television soap opera, first broadcast in the United States on NBC on July 30, 1984, and last aired on January 15, 1993. The show revolved around the eventful lives of the wealthy Capwell family of Santa Barbara, California...	Katie Timmons	TV series
1989	Dream Street	Harry's Ex-Wife	Episode: "True Love"
1991	Monsters Monsters (TV series) Monsters is a syndicated horror anthology series which originally ran from 1988 to 1991 and reran on the Sci-Fi Channel during the 1990s. As of 2011, Monsters airs on NBC Universal's horror/suspense-themed cable channel Chiller in sporadic weekday marathons.In a similar vein to Tales from the...	Maggie Price	Episode: "Desirable Alien"
1991	Dead and Alive: The Race for Gus Farace	Brenda	TV movie
1991	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,...	Officer Nicki Sandoval	Episode: "A Death in the Family"
1992	Black Magic	Sally Rowe	TV movie
1993	Class of '96 Class of '96 Class of '96 is an American drama series that aired on Fox from January to May 1993. The series was created by John Romano and filmed mostly at the University of Toronto.-Synopsis:...	Margaret Parsons	Episode: "The Accused"
1993	'	Mae Mordabito	6 episodes
1994	NYPD Blue NYPD Blue NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...	Det. Sharon LaSalle	3 episodes
1994	Touched by an Angel Touched by an Angel Touched by an Angel is an American drama series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994 and ran for 211 episodes and nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and produced by Martha Williamson, the series stars Roma Downey, as an angel named Monica, and Della...	Robin Dunwoody	Episode: "The Heart of the Matter"
1995	Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story is a 1995 American television film on NBC.-Plot:The film recounts the events in the life of Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer which led to her retirement from the Washington National Guard under the U.S...	Mary Newcombe	TV movie
1995	Strange Luck Strange Luck Strange Luck is an American television series that aired on FOX, created by Karl Schaefer and starring D. B. Sweeney in the role of Chance Harper, a freelance photographer afflicted with a bizarre tendency to always be in the wrong place at the right time. As Chance himself says, "If I go to a...	Louise Brooks	Episode: "The Box"
1996	Death Benefit	Wynn Burkholder	TV movie
1996	On Seventh Avenue	Nadine Jacobs	TV movie
1997	Lies He Told	Patty	TV movie
1997	C-16: FBI	Melanie Harmon	Episode: "Orange Kid"
1997	Dellaventura		Episode: "Fathers"
1998	Trinity Trinity (TV series) Trinity is a British drama series which was broadcast on ITV2 from September to November 2009. The series is set in the fictional "Trinity College" of "Bridgeford University", and stars Charles Dance, Claire Skinner, Antonia Bernath, Christian Cooke, Reggie Yates and Isabella Calthorpe.-Plot...		Episode: "No Secrets" Episode: "Hang Man Down"
1999-2000	Judging Amy Judging Amy Judging Amy is an American television drama that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS-TV. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly...	Susie Nixon	8 episodes
2001-2002		Karen McNeil	6 episodes
2002	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,...	Janet Weston	Episode: "Born Again"
2002	Philly Philly (TV series) Philly is a television series created by Steven Bochco that focused on criminal defense attorney Kathleen Maguire . It lasted a full season and was canceled due to low ratings...	Amanda Royce	Episode: "San Diego Padre"
2003-2004	Oliver Beene Oliver Beene Oliver Beene is an American sitcom that premiered on Fox on March 9, 2003. The show was created by Howard Gewirtz. Set in 1962 and 1963, the show chronicled the trials and tribulations of the 11-to-12-year-old Oliver Beene , in first person perspective...	Charlotte Caraline Beene	24 episodes
2004-2005	Listen Up!	Dana Kleinman	18 episodes
2006	Ghost Whisperer Ghost Whisperer Ghost Whisperer is an American television supernatural drama, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005 to May 21, 2010.The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon , who has the ability to see and communicate with ghosts...	Jean Godfrey	Episode: "A Grave Matter"
2007	House House (TV series) House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...	Dr. Julie Whitner	Episode: "Needle in a Haystack Needle in a Haystack (House) "Needle in a Haystack" is the thirteenth episode of the third season of House and the fifty-ninth episode overall.-Plot:House arrives at the hospital to discover a wheelchair-accessible van in his usual parking space. He seeks out the van's owner, who turns out to be the hospital's new researcher,... "
2007	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation CSI: Crime Scene Investigation CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...	Doris Babinkian	Episode: "Ending Happy Ending Happy "Ending Happy" is the twenty-first episode of the seventh season of the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.-Plot:The CSIs are called to a crime scene at a brothel in Bryant County where Lorenzo "Happy" Morales, a boxer, is found dead in a swimming pool. He has two puncture wounds in... "
2007		Suzanne	Episode: "Confessions" Episode: "Man of the Year"
2007	Chuck Chuck (TV series) Chuck is an action-comedy/spy-drama television program from the United States created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average computer-whiz-next-door" named Chuck, played by Zachary Levi, who receives an encoded e-mail from an old college friend now working for the Central...	National Intelligence Director	Episode: "Pilot"
2009	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...	Ellen Van Kuren	Episode: "Transitions"
2009	Desperate Housewives Desperate Housewives Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...	Fran Schulman	Episode: "Marry Me a Little"
2009	Without a Trace Without a Trace Without a Trace is an American television drama which originally ran on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009. The series was set in New York City and concerned a fictitious FBI Missing Persons Unit.-Premise:...	Jubilee	Episode: "True"
2009	Numb3rs NUMB3RS Numb3rs is an American television drama which premiered on CBS on January 23, 2005, and concluded on March 12, 2010. The series was created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, and follows FBI Special Agent Don Eppes and his mathematical genius brother, Charlie Eppes , who helps Don solve crimes...	Kath Berry	Episode: "Shadow Markets"
2010	Numb3rs NUMB3RS Numb3rs is an American television drama which premiered on CBS on January 23, 2005, and concluded on March 12, 2010. The series was created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, and follows FBI Special Agent Don Eppes and his mathematical genius brother, Charlie Eppes , who helps Don solve crimes...	Kath Barry	Episode: "Growin' Up"
2010		Judge Joan Anderson	Episode: "An Innocent Man"
2010	Miami Medical	Didi	Episode: "What Lies Beneath"
2011	NCIS NCIS (TV series) NCIS, formerly known as NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is an American police procedural drama television series revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which conducts criminal investigations involving the U.S...	Dr. Rachel Cranston	2 episodes
2011	Melissa & Joey Melissa & Joey Melissa & Joey is an ABC Family original television series starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence. It first aired on ABC Family on August 17, 2010...	Suzanne Reback	Episode: "Going the Distance?"

External links