Constance Zimmer

Constance Zimmer (born October 11, 1970)[1] is an American actress. She rose to prominence playing Dana Gordon on the HBO series Entourage (2005–11) and Claire Simms on the ABC series Boston Legal (2006–07). She went on to appear on the Netflix series House of Cards (2013–18) and voiced Strongarm on Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2014–17). She gained wider recognition for her role as Quinn King on Unreal (2015–18), for which she received a Critics' Choice Television Award and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination both in 2016.

Constance Zimmer
Zimmer at the 2014 Inspiration Awards Gala
Born (1970-10-11) October 11, 1970
EducationAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts
OccupationActress
Years active1993–present
Spouses
(m. 1999; div. 2001)
    Russ Lamoureux
    (m. 2010)
    Children1

    Early life and education

    Zimmer was born in Seattle, Washington, to German migrant parents from the former East Prussia. She speaks fluent German, saying in a 2015 interview that although her parents spoke English with her as a child, she spent six weeks of every summer in Germany, with her grandmother who only spoke German.[2] Zimmer decided to pursue a career in acting after she fell in love with the craft as a high school student.[3] Following high school, she was accepted to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena.[3]

    Career

    Zimmer's stage career was highlighted with her award-winning portrayal in a Los Angeles production of Catholic School Girls, where she won a Dramalogue for Best Actress.[3] After starring in several national commercials,[3] most notably for Duracell, she started making guest appearances in such shows as Ellen, Seinfeld, The X-Files, Gideon's Crossing, and The King of Queens,[3] as well as having recurring roles in The Wayans Bros., Hyperion Bay, and The Trouble With Normal. During that same period, she was cast in a few independent films such as Spin Cycle, Home Room, and Warm Blooded Killers.[3]

    Zimmer eventually booked her first TV series regular role on the NBC comedy Good Morning, Miami as the lazy and burned-out office assistant, Penny Barrington. After the series was canceled, she spent the second season recurring as Sister Lilly Waters in the CBS drama, Joan of Arcadia, as well as guest-starring in episodes of NYPD Blue and Jake in Progress. Also in 2005, she acted in the short film Just Pray, directed by Tiffani Thiessen.[3] It was accepted into the Tribeca Film Festival.

    In early 2006, Zimmer was cast as Brianna, the competitive law undergrad, in the ABC crime/drama series In Justice. She joined the cast of Boston Legal, where she played associate attorney Claire Simms on the show's third season. Along with regulars Rene Auberjonois, Julie Bowen, and Mark Valley, Zimmer was dropped by David E. Kelley at the end of season three.[4] Zimmer also portrayed industry powerhouse and studio executive Dana Gordon in the HBO original series Entourage from 2005 to 2011, arguably her most known role to date.

    Zimmer performed in the world-premiere play, Girls Talk, alongside Brooke Shields, Andrea Bendewald, and Nicole Paggi. The play was written and directed by Roger Kumble. She also starred in the NBC summer series Love Bites as Colleen Rouscher and had a guest appearance on USA's Royal Pains, playing psychiatrist Dr. Abby Burton.[3]

    In 2014, she was cast in the series regular role of Quinn King on the Lifetime dramedy series UnREAL.[5] The show has received critical acclaim and Zimmer's performance has garnered high praise. The series ended in July 2018 after four seasons. For her performance in the series, she won a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.

    In 2015, she had a recurring role on season three of the ABC superhero series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as Rosalind Price. She has been a semi-regular panelist on ABC's Match Game since 2017.

    Personal life

    Zimmer has been married twice. First, to special effects artist Steve Johnson, whom she met when working on Duracell commercials featuring The Puttermans in the late 1990s.[2]

    On January 5, 2008, Zimmer gave birth to a daughter, Colette Zoe, whose father is director Russ Lamoureux.[6] On June 20, 2010, it was announced that Zimmer and Lamoureux were engaged.[7] They married in October of that year.[8]

    Zimmer attends many celebrity benefits for charity. Among those she supports are the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Heifer International.[3]

    Filmography

    Film

    Year Title Role Notes
    1998 Senseless Zestfully Clean Woman
    1999 Warm Blooded Killers Vicky Portenza
    2000 Spin Cycle Echo
    2001 Farewell, My Love Kyle
    2002 Home Room Assistant Kelly
    2005 Just Pray Corley James Short film
    2006 Damaged Goods Angel
    2007 The Hammer Nicole
    2008 Chaos Theory Peg the Teacher
    AmericanEast The Director
    2011 Demoted Elizabeth Holland
    2012 The Babymakers Mona
    2015 Entourage Dana Gordon
    Results Mandy
    Run the Tide Lola
    2018 Burger Boss Mother Voice, short film
    2019 Wonder Woman: Bloodlines Veronica Cale Voice, direct-to-video

    Television

    Year Title Role Notes
    1993 The Day My Parents Ran Away Girl in Line Television film
    1994 Babylon 5 Young Woman Patient Episode: "The Quality of Mercy"
    1997 Quicksilver Highway Female Patient Television film
    Ellen Riot Girl Episode: "Just Coffee?"
    Unhappily Ever After LaVerne Episode: "Tiffany, the Home Wrecker"
    1998 Seinfeld Waitress #2 Episode: "The Wizard"
    Jenny Kaleigh Episode: "A Girl's Gotta Come through in a Clutch"
    Diagnosis: Murder Lisa Blake Episode: "An Education in Murder"
    Beverly Hills, 90210 Millie Episode: "Reunion"
    The Wayans Bros. Vanessa 2 episodes
    Felicity Girl Episode: "The Last Stand"
    The King of Queens Jenny Episode: "Fixer Upper"
    1999 Chicago Hope Dana Episode: "A Goy and His Dog"
    2000 The X-Files Phoebe Episode: "First Person Shooter"
    Rude Awakening Sandi Episode: "Star 80 Proof"
    Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction Mary Episode: "The Find"
    Providence Megan 2 episodes
    2000–01 The Trouble with Normal Kristen 4 episodes
    2001 Gideon's Crossing Jessica Kagen Episode: "Dr. Cherry Must Be Stopped"
    FreakyLinks Tori Spangler Episode: "Subject: The Stone Room"
    The Fighting Fitzgeralds Beth 5 episodes
    Philly Pamela Tommasino Episode: "Blown Away"
    2002 My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star Siobahn! Ross 3 episodes
    2002–04 Good Morning, Miami Penelope "Penny" Barnes Barrington 40 episodes
    2003 Mystery Woman Cassie Tilman / Cassie Thomas Television film
    2004 NYPD Blue Zoe Prentiss Episode: "Dress for Success"
    2004–05 Joan of Arcadia Sister Lilly Watters 11 episodes
    2005 Jake in Progress Greta Episode: "Henry Porter and the Coitus Interruptus"
    2005–06 Out of Practice Naomi 2 episodes
    2005–11 Entourage Dana Gordon 21 episodes
    2006 In Justice Brianna 13 episodes
    2006–07 Boston Legal Claire Simms 23 episodes
    2007 Notes from the Underbelly Kelly Episode: "Oleander"
    2009 Pushing Daisies Coco Juniper Episode: "Window Dressed to Kill"
    Cupid Hallie Butler Episode: "The Great Right Hope"
    The New Adventures of Old Christine Amy Hunter 2 episodes
    2011 Love Bites Colleen Rouscher 7 episodes
    Royal Pains Dr. Abby Burton Episode: "A Little Art, A Little Science"
    2013 Grey's Anatomy Dr. Alana Cahill 5 episodes
    The Newsroom Taylor Warren 5 episodes
    2013–18 House of Cards Janine Skorsky 19 episodes
    2014 Hot in Cleveland Lilly Episode: "Stayin' Alive"
    2014–17 Transformers: Robots in Disguise Strongarm, Filch Voice, 68 episodes
    2015–18 Unreal Quinn King 38 episodes
    2015 Complications Dr. Laster 2 episodes
    Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Rosalind Price 8 episodes
    2016 Maron Lindsey Episode: "Step 1"
    Better Things Herself Episode: "Sam/Pilot"
    BoJack Horseman Skinny Gina, Lindsey Voice, 4 episodes
    2017 Angie Tribeca Detective Goldstein Episode: "Hey, I'm Solvin' Here!"
    2017–18 Match Game Panelist 6 episodes
    2018 RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars Herself Episode: "The Bitchelor"
    Mom Professor Stevens Episode: "Ambulance chasers and a Babbling Brook"
    2018–19 A Million Little Things Jeri Huntington 3 episodes
    2019–20 Shameless Claudia Nicolo 5 episodes
    2020 Condor Robin Larkin 6 episodes
    2021–22 Good Trouble Kathleen Gale 18 episodes
    2022 Big Sky Alicia Corrigan 9 episodes
    2022 The Calling Anna Harvey 4 episodes
    2023 Harlan Coben's Shelter Shira Bolitar 8 episodes

    Podcasts

    Year Title Role Notes Ref.
    2020–2021 The Shadow Diaries Marilyn Rose Voice role [9]

    Awards and nominations

    Year Award Category Nominated work Result
    2008 14th Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (shared with the others) Nominated
    2016 6th Critics' Choice Television Awards Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Won
    5th BTVA Voice Acting Awards Best Vocal Ensemble in a New Television Series (shared with the others) Won
    20th OFTA Television Awards Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Nominated
    14th Gold Derby Awards Best Drama Supporting Actress Nominated
    68th Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Nominated
    7th Critics' Choice Television Awards Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Nominated
    2017 6th BTVA Voice Acting Awards Best Vocal Ensemble in a Television Series (shared with the others) Nominated

    References

    1. "Birthdays". The Modesto Bee. The Associated Press. October 11, 2021. p. 2A. Actor Constance Zimmer is 51.
    2. "Episode 609 – Constance Zimmer". WTF with Marc Maron. Retrieved July 6, 2015. (subscription required)
    3. "Biography". Constance Zimmer official website. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
    4. "Four to leave 'Boston Legal'". Digital Spy. June 14, 2007. Archived from the original on January 1, 2023.
    5. Andreeva, Nellie (June 2, 2014). "Constance Zimmer To Star In New Lifetime Series Un-Real". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
    6. People staff (January 17, 2008). "Entourage's Constance Zimmer welcomes baby girl". People. Archived from the original on March 19, 2008. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
    7. Eng, Joyce (June 20, 2010). "Entourage star Constance Zimmer engaged". TV Guide. Archived from the original on June 23, 2010. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
    8. Jordan, Julie (October 12, 2010). "Constance Zimmer of Entourage gets married". People. Archived from the original on October 15, 2010. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
    9. Petski, Denise (October 27, 2020). "The Shadow Diaries' Podcast Starring Madelaine Petsch & Kara Hayward In The Works From Studio71 & Snarled Entertainment". Deadline. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
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