Kim Delaney

Born: 29 November 1961
Where: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Delaney began her career as a model while still attending high school in her native Philadelphia. After graduating, she headed to New York City to try her hand at a career and was signed by the prestigious Elite Modeling Agency.

Soon, her face was decorating the covers of magazines like Seventeen and Glamour. At the same time, Delaney was training for a career in acting, studying with well-known NY teacher William Esper.

Her determination paid off when she landed the role of the teen heroine Jenny Gardner on the long-running US series All My Children in 1981.

She spent three years on the show, before setting her sights on feature films. Delaney made her movie debut opposite Emilio Estevez and Craig Sheffer in the teen drama That Was Then...This Is Now; followed by a role as a nun in The Delta Force.

She continued to drift between the big screen with Campus Man and The Drifter, and the small screen, appearing in L.A. Law.

After time out for motherhood, Delaney was again in the short-lived spy drama The Fifth Corner, before catching a break landing the role of alcoholic cop Diane Russell in NYPD Blue. She joined the permanent cast of the popular police drama, resulting in a six-year run on the show.

In 1997, she received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. While working on the show, she managed to find time to appear in several TV movies including The Devil's Child, a spin on Rosemary's Baby that marked her debut as a producer.

In 2000, Delaney has a featured role in Mission To Mars, then played the wife of a naval officer who turns in her husband after discovering he was selling military secrets in Love and Treason.