Andrea Nicole Parker (born March 8, 1970 in Monterey County, California) is an American actress and former ballet dancer.
Career
Parker began ballet training at age 6 and at age 15 she joined a professional dance company. She quit her career in ballet after three years of touring and trained to become an actress while working as a bartender. Her first documented film role was at age 19 in the movie Rented Lips in which she played a dancer/nurse.
Andrea Parker got her break in television playing a nurse on the award-winning Seinfeld episode "The Contest" in 1992. After that first speaking role, she had several other guest-starring roles in television series and movies, most notably a recurring role in ER as Linda Farrell, the love interest of Dr. Doug Ross, and as Caitlin Pike in JAG. She was a body double for Julia Roberts in the movie Pretty Woman; hers are the legs seen in the opening scene of the main character zipping up her boots. She also did several pilots before she gained a cult-following for her role as Miss Parker on the NBC television series The Pretender.
Parker says she felt compelled to play the role of the complex, cynical, powerful and intimidating yet somewhat tortured Ice Queen because her name was "all over the script." Miss Parker is a character many viewers love and others love to hate. Parker also played the minor role of Catherine Parker, Miss Parker's mother in The Pretender, a role that is in stark contrast to the character Miss Parker.
After The Pretender was cancelled by NBC in 2000, Parker did another guest spot on JAG before signing on to reprise her role as Miss Parker in the telemovies for The Pretender, which aired on TNT in 2001. She then returned to series television in 2002 and starred in the ABC network comedy Less Than Perfect, playing Lydia Weston until it was cancelled in 2006. She has made several guest appearances on television talk shows and celebrity events such as the various celebrity poker tournaments.
Parker is noted for her support of various charities such as the National Hospice Palliative Care Organization, Glenn Siegel's My Good Friend charity organization, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's research and Project Angel Food. Parker is also trained as a stunt-driver and can handle firearms.
In February 2006, Parker attended a benefit with former Pretender co-stars Michael T. Weiss and James Denton for Cure Autism Now. [1]
Awards
Wins
Nominations
Filmography
- Rented Lips (1988) .... Dancer/Nurse
- Earth Girls Are Easy (1988) .... Dancer in Beauty Salon (uncredited)
- Married... with Children (2 episodes, "Married... with Prom Queen: Part 1" and "Married... with Prom Queen: The Sequel", 1989) .... Go-Go Dancer
- The Naked Truth (1992) .... Miss France
- Seinfeld (1 episode, "The Contest", 1992) .... Nurse
- Body Shot (1993) .... Shark Club Dancer
- Dave's World (1 episode, "It's a Small Van After All", 1993) .... Alicia
- Victim of Love: The Shannon Mohr Story (1993) (TV) ....
- Herman's Head (1 episode, "A Decent Proposal", 1993) .... Heather Brookshire
- The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (2 episodes, "Deep in the Heart of Dixie" and "A.K.A. Kansas", 1993) .... Rita Avnet
- Brush with Death (1994) .... Colleen
- XXX's & OOO's (1994) (TV) .... Kelly Morgan
- Ellen (1 episode, "The Dentist", 1994) .... Joanna
- Coach (2 episodes, "Coach for a Day: Part 2" and "Dauber's Vehicle", 1994-1996) .... Penny / Jean Brandow
- Dream On (1 episode, "She Won't Do It, But Her Sister Will", 1995) ....
- ER (10 episodes, 1994-1995) .... Linda Farrell
- JAG (5 episodes, "Pilot: Part 1", "Pilot: Part 2", "Brig Break", "Ares" and "Touch and Go", "Lifeline" and "Shifting Sands", 1995-2003) .... Navy Lt. Cmdr. Caitlin 'Kate' Pike; also archive footage) (uncredited)
- Can't Hurry Love (1 episode, "Valentine's Day Massacred", 1996) .... Kit
- Ed McBain's 87th Precinct: Ice (1996) (TV) .... Det. Eileen Burke
- Murder, She Wrote (1 episode, "Race to Death", 1996) .... Anne Larkin
- The Pretender (86 episodes, 1996-2000) .... Miss Parker / Catherine Elaine Jamison Parker
- Delicate Instruments (2000) .... Dr. Anne Harper
- The Pretender 2001 (2001) (TV) .... Miss Parker / Catherine Elaine Jamison Parker
- The Pretender: Island of the Haunted (2001) (TV) .... Miss Parker / Catherine Elaine Jamison Parker
- First Monday (1 episode, "Dangerous Words", 2002) .... FBI Agent Dawson
- Less Than Perfect (81 episodes, 2002-2006) .... Lydia Weston
- Good Day Live (1 episode, "9 February 2004", 2004) .... Herself
- The Sharon Osbourne Show (1 episode, "20 February 2004", 2004) .... Herself
- The Wayne Brady Show (1 episode, "12 March 2004", 2004) .... Herself
- The View (1 episode, "1 November 2004", 2004) .... Herself
- Kitchen Confidential (1 episode, "Exile on Main Street", 2005) .... Suze
- World Poker Tour (1 episode, "Hollywood Home Game 6", 2005) .... Herself
- Celebrity Poker Showdown (1 episode, "Tournament 5, Game 5", 2005) .... Herself
- The WIN Awards (2005) (TV) .... Herself
- Soap Talk (1 episode, "7 April 2006", 2006) .... Herself
- Help Me Help You (1 episode, "Inger Management", 2006) .... Krista
- Deeply Irresponsible (unknown episodes, 2007) ....
- Starting Under (unknown episodes, 2008) .... Gina
External links and sources
