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Kim Delaney
Kim Delaney 2011.jpg
Delaney at the 36th Annual Gracie Awards in 2011
Born (1961-11-29) November 29, 1961 (age 63)
Education J.W. Hallahan Catholic Girls High School
Alma mater William Esper Studio
Occupation Actress
Years active 1981–present
Known for
  • NYPD Blue
  • All My Children
  • Army Wives
Spouse(s)
Charles Grant
(m. 1984, divorced)
Joseph Cortese
(m. 1989; div. 1994)
Children 1

Kim Delaney (born November 29, 1961) is an American actress. She is well-known for playing Detective Diane Russell in the TV show NYPD Blue. For this role, she won an Emmy Award, which is a very important award for television.

Earlier in her career, she played Jenny Gardner in the daytime TV drama All My Children. She also had big roles in shows like Philly, CSI: Miami, and Army Wives. She was also a reporter named Alex Devlin in Tour of Duty.

Early Life and Start in Modeling

Kim Delaney was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is the only girl in a family of five children. Her mom was a homemaker, and her dad worked for a car workers' union. Kim grew up in a Roman Catholic family. She has four brothers: Ed, John, Keith, and Patrick.

While she was in high school at J. W. Hallahan Catholic Girls High School, Kim started working as a model. She worked for a famous agency called Elite. After finishing high school, she moved to New York City. There, she continued modeling and also began studying acting. She learned acting with a teacher named William Esper.

Acting Career Highlights

Kim Delaney first became famous for her role as a young teenager named Jenny Gardner Nelson. She played this character on the soap opera All My Children. This was her very first acting job.

After All My Children, Kim started acting in movies. In 1985, she was in That Was Then... This Is Now with Emilio Estevez. This movie was based on a popular book. In 1986, she played a young nun in the action movie The Delta Force, which starred Chuck Norris. She also appeared in the TV show L.A. Law in 1987.

In 1988, Kim joined the TV series Tour of Duty. She left the show in 1989 to have her son. Her character on the show was written off by being killed.

Kim Delaney
Kim Delaney in 2006

A big part of Kim's career began in 1995. She started playing Detective Diane Russell on the show NYPD Blue. Her role was only supposed to be for a few episodes. But viewers really liked her character's relationship with Detective Bobby Simone (Jimmy Smits). So, her role became a permanent one. She was nominated for an Emmy Award three times for this role. She won the award in 1997 for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.

In 2001, the producer of NYPD Blue chose Kim for a new TV show called Philly. She left NYPD Blue to star in it. Even though critics liked Philly, it only lasted for one season.

In 2002, Kim was the main female star in the new CBS show CSI: Miami. This show was a spin-off from the popular CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. She left the series after only 10 episodes.

After that, Kim returned to NYPD Blue for a few episodes. She also starred in the TV miniseries 10.5 in 2004 and its sequel in 2006. She had a recurring role on The O.C. and appeared in an episode of Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King. In 2007, she was a guest star on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Kim Delaney played the main role of Claudia Joy Holden on the Lifetime Television series Army Wives. This show was very popular. She played this role for six seasons, from 2007 to 2012. In 2012, it was announced that her character would not return for the seventh season. Her character was written off as having passed away.

More recently, Kim was cast in the movie God Bless the Broken Road, which came out in 2018. In 2020, she joined the cast of the soap opera General Hospital. She plays the role of Jackie Templeton on that show.

Personal Life

Kim Delaney has been married and divorced two times. Her first marriage was to actor Charles Grant in 1984. Her second marriage was to actor Joseph Cortese from 1989 to 1994. Kim and Joseph have a son named Jack, who was born around 1990. She was also engaged to a producer named Alan Barnette for a while.

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Kim Delaney para niños

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