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Becky Ann Baker

American actress

Field	Value
name	Becky Ann Baker
image	Becky Ann Baker Tow-006 (crop).jpg
caption	Baker at the 2025 Tribeca Festival
birth_name	Becky Ann Gelke
birth_place	Fort Knox, Kentucky, U.S.
other_names	Becky Gelke
birth_date
occupation	Actress
years_active	1978–present
spouse
children	1

Becky Ann Baker (née Gelke; born February 17, 1953 See also:

) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Jean Weir on the NBC comedy-drama series Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000) and as Loreen Horvath on the HBO comedy-drama series Girls (2012–2017); she earned two Critics' Choice Television Award nominations and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for the latter.

Baker's film credits include Jacob's Ladder (1990), In & Out (1997), A Simple Plan (1998), Stay (2005), Nights in Rodanthe (2008), Hope Springs (2012), Table 19 (2017), The Half of It (2020), and Holler (2020).

Early life

Becky Ann Gelke was born in Fort Knox, Kentucky, the daughter of a military officer. She graduated from West Springfield High School in Springfield, Virginia and Western Kentucky University.

Career

Baker's film credits include Blue Steel, Jacob's Ladder, Lorenzo's Oil, Unstrung Heroes, Sabrina, Ridley Scott's White Squall, Men in Black, In & Out, Woody Allen's Celebrity, Sam Raimi's A Simple Plan (for which she received a Blockbuster Entertainment Award nomination), Two Weeks Notice, Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds, Stay, The Night Listener, Death of a President, and Spider-Man 3.

She got her role in Freaks and Geeks after series creator Paul Feig and Judd Apatow saw her performance in Sam Raimi's A Simple Plan. "That really informed their decision to try to use me from having really no huge television experience," she said. In addition to Freaks and Geeks, her television credits include Girls and Stephen King's Storm of the Century as well as guest spots on L.A. Law, Frasier, Star Trek: Voyager, Sex and the City, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Oz and All My Children.

An accomplished stage performer, Baker made her Broadway debut in the 1981 production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and received a Drama-Logue Award in 1994 for her work in Night and Her Stars. She is a founding member of New York-based theatre company The Drama Dept.

In 2009, she appeared in the NBC series Kings, playing the minor role of Jessie Shepherd, mother of protagonist David Shepherd. Her real-life husband, Dylan Baker, played antagonist William Cross in the series.

Personal life

Baker has been married to actor Dylan Baker since 1990. They have a daughter.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	**	Samantha Alexander
1986	Agent on Ice	Mrs. Donnelli
1988	Full Moon in Blue Water	Dorothy
1989	Blue Steel	Nurse #1
1990	Come See the Paradise	Marge McGurn
Jacob's Ladder	Nurse
1992	That Night	Mrs. Bell
Lorenzo's Oil	Pellerman's Secretary
1995	Unstrung Heroes	Mrs. Harris
Sabrina	Linda
1996	White Squall	Ms. Boyde
I'm Not Rappaport	Nurse
1997	Bad Bosses Go to Hell	Architect Boss	Short film
Men in Black	Mrs. Redgick
In & Out	Darlene
1998	Celebrity	Doris
**	Nancy Chambers
1999	**	Nurse Jeannine Carrounbois
2002	Two Weeks Notice	RV Woman
2005	War of the Worlds	Disaster Relief Volunteer
Tracks	'Frizzy'	Short film
Stay	Paramedic #1 / Butch Cook
2006	**	Waitress
Gretchen	Lori Finkle
Death of a President	Eleanor Drake
2007	Spider-Man 3	Mrs. Stacy
2008	Spinning Into Butter	Ruby
Nights in Rodanthe	Dot
2012	Hope Springs	Cora
The Discoverers	Mary
2013	23 Blast	Patty Wheatley
2015	The End of the Tour	Bookstore Manager
2017	Table 19	Carol Milner
2018	The Chaperone	Lois
2019	After Class	Mary
2020	The Half of It	Mrs. Geselschap
Holler	Linda
2022	Alone Together	Jan
2024	Jackpot!	Sweet Irene
All Happy Families	Sue Landry
2025	Tow	TBA
Our Hero, Balthazar	TBA
Ella McCay	Mrs. Newell
2026	Starbright	Nurse Holden

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	In the Line of Duty: The F.B.I. Murders	Carol Ann	TV movie
1990	She Said No	Gail	TV movie
1992	L.A. Law	Melinda Garrett	Episode: "Beauty and the Breast"
1995	Frasier	Marge	Episode: "Frasier Grinch"
1996	The Siege at Ruby Ridge	Elizabeth	TV movie
Star Trek: Voyager	Ritual Guide	Episode: "Sacred Ground"
1998	Soul Man	Margo	Episode: "Little Black Dress"
1999	Storm of the Century	Ursula Godsoe	TV miniseries
1999–2000	Freaks and Geeks	Jean Weir	18 episodes
2000	Wonderland	Dr. Reeples	Episode: "Pilot"
2001	Sex and the City	Betsy	Episode: "My Motherboard, My Self"
2002	**	Kathryn	Episode: "Money Changes Everything"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Mrs. Brice	Episode: "Juvenile"
Law & Order	Susan Simels	Episode: "Oxymoron"
2003	Oz	Greta	Episode: "Exeunt Omnes"
2004–2005	Life as We Know It	Amanda Conner	4 episodes
2005	**	Defense Attorney	TV movie
Law & Order	Defense Attorney Carolyn Walters	Episode: "House of Cards"
2006	Conviction	Deborah Cole	Episode: "Downhill"
2007	All My Children	Marj Luper	3 episodes
2009	Important Things with Demetri Martin	Revenger's Mom	Episode: "Power"
Kings	Jessie Shepherd	7 episodes
2010	**	Natalie McNally	Episode: "Bananas"
Mercy	Gianna	Episode: "There Is No Superwoman"
Nurse Jackie	Elaine	Episode: "What the Day Brings"
2012	**	Mary Polanco	Episode: "In Case of a Bolt from the Blue"
Smash	Mrs. Cartwright	Episodes: "Pilot", "Enter Mr. DiMaggio"
2012–2016	The Good Wife	Alma Hoff	3 episodes
2012–2017	Girls	Loreen Horvath	Recurring; 20 episodes
2013	Person of Interest	Deputy Erica Schmidt	Episode: "Proteus"
Elementary	Pam	Episode: "Snow Angels"
2014	Mind Games	Cathy Steward	Episode: "Asymmetric Dominance"
Black Box	Eileen Giordano	Episode: "Emotion"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Vivienne Patton	Episode: "Forgiving Rollins"
2015	Gotham	Marge	Episode: "Everyone Has a Cobblepot"
Madam Secretary	Chancellor Frieda Schulz	Episode: "Spartan Figures"
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver	Deborah	Episode: "Bail"
2016	Crisis in Six Scenes	Lee	2 episodes
2017	Doubt	Eloise Kirk	Episode: "Pilot"
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt	Stacey	Episode: "Kimmy Googles the Internet!"
The Night Shift	Lily Alister	Episode: "Turbulence"
NCIS: New Orleans	Special Agent Paula Boyd	Episode: "Rogue Nation"
2017–2022	The Good Fight	Alma Hoff	3 episodes
2018–2019	Brockmire	Jean Brockmire Glasscock	4 episodes
2019	The Blacklist	Judge Roberta Wilkins	6 episodes
Younger	Bronwyn Madigan	2 episodes
Big Little Lies	Judge Marylin Cipriani	3 episodes
2020	Little America	Mrs. Wren	Episode: "The Manager"
Manhunt	Patricia Rudolph	2 episodes
Katy Keene	June Kelly	Episode: "Chapter Two: You Can't Hurry Love"
Hunters	Juanita Kreps	4 episodes
Council of Dads	Grandma	2 episodes
Little Voice	Elaine	2 episodes
Social Distance	Carolyn Currier	Episode: "Humane Animal Trap"
2021	New Amsterdam	Gwen Bennett	5 episodes
Billions	Brenda	2 episodes
2022	Would I Lie to You?	Herself	Episode: "Show Goat"
The Resort	Jan Knowlston	Recurring role
Partner Track	Gigi Weaver	Episode: "Meta-Strategy"
2023	Ted Lasso	Dottie Lasso	Episode: "Mom City"
2024	The Girls on the Bus	Norah McCarthy	2 episodes
Elsbeth	Judith	Episode: "Diamonds Are for Elsbeth"
The Equalizer	Mrs. Tanner	Episode: "Just Fans"
2025	Only Murders in the Building	Linda	Episode: "Silver Alert"
Crutch	Kathy	Episode: "Matchmaker Crutch"
The Beast in Me	Tessa Baldwin	Episode: "Ghosts"

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978–1982	**	Various	Jun 1978 – Mar 1982
1982	**	Doatsey Mae	May 1982 – Jul 1982
1988	**	Eunice Hubbell	Mar 1988 – May 1988
1990	The Colorado Catechism	Donna	Oct 1990 – Nov 1990
1994	Durang/Durang	Ma / Wanda	Nov 1994
1995	Laura Dennis	Lena Abernathy	Mar 1995 – Apr 1995
1997–1999	Titanic	Charlotte Cardoza	Apr 1997 – Mar 1999
1998	June Moon	Lucille	Jan 1998 – Mar 1998
1998–1999	The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told	Jane	Dec 1998 – May 1999
2001	The Vagina Monologues	N/A	Feb 2001 – Apr 2001
Othello	Emilia	Dec 2001
2003	Shanghai Moon	Mrs. Carroll/Sir Geoffrey	Jan 2003 – Mar 2003
2004	Assassins	Sara Jane Moore	Apr 2004 – Jul 2004
2006	The House in Town	Jean Eliot	Jun 2006 – Jul 2006
2006–2007	Suddenly Last Summer	Mrs. Holly	Nov 2006 – Jan 2007
2008	Show Boat	Parthy Ann Hawks	Jun 2008
2008–2009	All My Sons	Sue Bayliss	Oct 2008 – Jan 2009
2009	The Torch-Bearers	Mrs. Ritter	Aug 2009
2011	Good People	Jean	Mar 2011 – May 2011
2012	Merrily We Roll Along	Mary Flynn	Mar 2012
Assassins	Sara Jane Moore	Dec 2012
2012–2013	The Great God Pan	Cathy	Dec 2012 – Jan 2013
2013	The Comedy of Errors	Abbess	May 2013 – June 2013
2015	Barbecue	Lillie Anne	Oct 2015 – Nov 2015
Dear Elizabeth	Elizabeth	Oct 2015 – Dec 2015
2016	Peer Gynt	The Mother	May 2016 – Jun 2016
2017	The Hairy Ape	Mildred's Aunt	Mar 2017 – Apr 2017
2018	Cardinal	Nancy Prenchel	Jan 2018 – Feb 2018

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Project
1998	Blockbuster Entertainment Award	Favorite Supporting Actress – Suspense	**
2012	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series	Girls
2015
2017	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (episode: "Gummies")
2023	Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (episode: "Mom City")	Ted Lasso

References

Francis, Catrina. (August 31, 2017). "Fort Knox native Becky Ann Baker receives Primetime Emmy nomination for role in HBO's 'Girls'". [[The Gold Standard (newspaper).
"Interview: Becky Ann Baker on Her Career, Audition Tips and the New Short, 'Nightfire'".
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080509185258/http://www.dramadept.org/index.html Drama Dept]. dramadept.org
"How Dylan Baker and Becky Ann Baker Became Mr. and Mrs. Character Actor".
Alter, Ethan. (April 19, 2017). "How Dylan Baker and Becky Ann Baker Became Mr. and Mrs. Character Actor". [[Yahoo!]].
Haun, Harry. (January 23, 2018). "Becky Ann Baker on Playing the Mom Role and Why She Never Watched Herself on 'Girls'". [[Observer.com.
D'Alessandro, Anthony. (May 4, 2021). "Katie Holmes Wraps Second Film As Director, Connecticut-Set Romance".
"Critics' Choice TV Awards Noms: 'Community' At Top Of List".
"The Critics' Choice TV Awards 2015: And the nominees are...".
"Emmys 2017: The Full List of Nominations".
"Emmys 2023: The Complete Nominations List".

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