Actor Bio

Her Private Practice character may be unlucky in love, but we love watching this beautiful prime time veteran week after week as Oceanside Wellness Centre’s resident psychiatrist, Dr. Violet Turner.

In 2005 Amy Brenneman concluded her final season as star, producer and co-creator of the hit drama series Judging Amy. Her role as Judge Amy Gray garnered two TV Guide Awards, three Golden Globe Award nominations, three Emmy Award nominations and a People's Choice Award nomination, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series.

Brenneman was recently seen in 88 Minutes with Al Pacino, and can be seen in Nine Lives directed by Rodrigo García. Other upcoming projects include The Jane Austen Book Club and Downloading Nancy.

Her other film credits include roles in Michael Mann's Heat, opposite Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino, the thriller Daylight opposite Sylvester Stallone, and Neil LaBute's Your Friends and Neighbors, opposite Jason Patric and Ben Stiller. In addition she starred in the independent film Nevada with Gabrielle Anwar, Angus MacFayden and Kathy Najimy, and in The Suburbans opposite Ben Stiller and Robert Loggia. She also appeared in Showtime's Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, opposite Glenn Close, Cameron Diaz, Calista Flockhart, Kathy Baker and Holly Hunter, and was also seen in the independent feature Off the Map, opposite Joan Allen and Sam Elliott.

America first took notice of Brenneman with her Emmy Award-nominated performance in NYPD Blue in the role of Janice Licalsi. She continued her role on the hit television series for a year as a recurring regular, which again earned her an Emmy nomination.

At the early age of 11, after singing in the chorus of The Music Man, Brenneman's interest in performing began to blossom. An 'A' student throughout her academic life, she enrolled in Harvard University with the intention of graduating with a B.A. in Comparative Religions. During her freshman year, she teamed up with a group of fellow actors to form the Cornerstone Theater Company. This unique company customized theater classics such as Romeo and Juliet and Our Town, taking them to the back roads of America and integrating local townspeople with professional actors. Consuming over five years of her life, Brenneman is very proud of her hard work with the company. Cornerstone has been celebrated again and again in the national media, including 60 Minutes, The New Yorker, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and American Theatre magazine.

Brenneman's college experience also included a semester abroad in Nepal, where she studied sacred dances with an indigenous priest. In doing so she became one of only two or three westerners to learn the dances. She also found time to live in Paris for seven months, where she earned her living as an au pair for two autistic children.