Another World

Background:

Daytime Emmy Award nominating actress Amy Carlson is perhaps most famous for playing Josie Watts on the now defunct soap opera “Another World,” a role she played from 1993 to 1998, and Alex Taylor in the hit drama series “Third Watch” (2000-2003). She picked up two Soap Opera Digest nominations and her Emmy nomination for her work in the first show. Her TV credits also include regular roles in the short lived series “Falcone” (2000, as Maggie Pistone Egan), “Peacemakers” (2003, as Katie Owen), from which she shared a 2004 Western Heritage Award, and “Law & Order: Trial by Jury” (2005-2006, as A.D.A. Kelly Gaffney), a recurring role in “Get Real” (1999-2002) as well as guest roles in “NYPD Blue,” “CSI” Crime Scene Investigation,” “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “ER” and “Criminal Minds.” Carlson has also acted in several films,among them “The Babe” (1992, her debut), “Everything Put Together” (2000), “If These Walls Could Talk 2” (2000, TV), “Winning Girls Through Psychic Mind Control “(2002), “Franklin Charter” (2005, TV), “Anamorph” (2007) and “The Kidnapping (2007, TV). Carlson was a promising athlete in high school before becoming a professional actor.

Carlson is best friends with Jorja Fox, her former costar on “Missing Persons” (1993). She has two tattoos on her ankle, both of which Chinese symbols. They represent 'Peace of Mind' and 'Love and Happiness.'

The mother of one has visited each state in the U.S., except Alaska, and has traveled the world extensively. She plans to go to the Far-East and Africa.

Cum laude

Childhood and Family:

Amy Lynn Carlson was born on July 7, 1968, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, to educators. She has two sisters, Betsy and Lori, and one brother named Joe. When she was 13 years old, she moved with her family to Amman, Jordan, where her parents were hired to teach the American Community School. After moved back to the US, she enrolled at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. She graduated cum laude with a B.F.A. in East Asian history and a concentration in Theater in 1990.

Amy discovered acting in grade school. She participated in school productions and won competitions for writing. Also a bright athlete in high school, she got the No. 1 spot at the thirty two thousands meter relay in Illinois Girls Track. After an injury in college, she decided to focus on performing and performed in many stage productions. She later moved to Chicago, where she studied acting at The Actor's Center and improved at Olympic.

Currently, Amy lives in Chinatown in Manhattan with her boyfriend Syd Butler, bass guitar player of Les Savy Fav, and their daughter (born in 2006). She has three cats, Delia and Remidy, and a dog, Tyler. She enjoys horseback riding.

Peacemakers

Career:

Amy Carlson appeared in several stage productions while in college, including “Fifth of July,” “School for Scandal” and “Noises Off, A Lie of the Mind.” In 1992, she made her first feature film appearance in the biopic “The Babe,” about the live of illustrious baseball player Babe Ruth (played by John Goodman), and also debuted on the small screen with a small role as Marianna Nania in the thriller telepic “Legacy of Lies,” that same year. The next year, Carlson was cast in the short lived series “Missing Persons,” where she met best friend Jorja Fox, and “The Untouchables,” but it was not until she joined the cast of the NBC soap opera “Another World” that she enjoyed a big break. She played Josephine Watts from 1993 to 1998, and was nominated for a 1998 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and two Soap Opera Digest in the categories of Outstanding Female Newcomer (1995) and Hottest Romance (1997). The job required Carlson to move to New York City.

After departing “Another World,” Carlson joined the cast of the CBS daytime soap “The Guiding Light Harley” (1998) in the temporary replacement role of Cooper Spaulding Mallett Spaulding and played Kelly McGloin in the short lived series “St. Michael's Crossing” (1999). 1999 also saw her appear in an episode of “Martial Law” and land the recurring role of Dr. Sedgwick in the Fox short lived comedy/drama series “Get Real,” that starred Jon Tenney, Debrah Farentino, Anne Hathaway, Christina Pickles, Eric Christian Olsen and Jesse Eisenberg.

Carlson experienced another boost on the small screen when she won the role of FDNY Paramedic/Firefighter Alex Taylor in the second season of the NBC crime/drama series “Third Watch” in 2000. She would remain on the show for the next two seasons until 2003.

Meanhwi1e, Carlson kept on busy taking other roles. She appeared with Radha Mitchell, Megan Mullally and Alan Ruck in the independent film “Everything Put Together” (2000), directed by Marc Forster, portrayed Michelle in HBO's “If These Walls Could Talk 2” (2000), opposite Michelle Williams, Chloë Sevigny, Nia Long and Natasha Lyonne, costarred with Bronson Pinchot and Ruben Santiago-Hudson in the offbeat and fun comedy film “Winning Girls Through Psychic Mind Control” (2002) and appeared as hippy girl in the direct to video comedy “Stella Shorts 1998-2002” (2002), starring Michael Showalter, David Wain, and Michael Ian Black. Besides, Carlson was cast as Maggie Pistone Egan in the Emmy nominated drama series “Falcone” (2000) and guest starred in the popular TV shows “NYPD Blue,” “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (all 2000) and “ER” (2002).

Three months after her departure from “Third Watch,” Carlson teamed up with Tom Berenger and Peter O'Meara to star in the crime fiction series “Peacemakers,” which debuted on the USA Network on July 30, 2003. The show, however, was canceled after one season of nine episodes. Carlson, who played Katie Owen on the show, jointly netted Western Heritage's Bronze Wrangler for Outstanding Factual or Fictional Drama.

Carlson played Collette Connolly in episode “Dead Wives Club” (2004) of “Law & Order” and in the following year, she landed the role of A.D.A. Kelly Gaffney in the short lived series “Law & Order: Trial by Jury” (2005-2006), a third spin off from “Law & Order.” She costarred as Maggie Keeler in the made for TV film “Franklin Charter” (2005), opposite Nathaly Basnuevo and Brandon E. Brooks, and played Lauren in the ABC telepic “Drift” (2006), starring Jason O'Mara.

The Glen Ellyn, Illinois native returned to film with a supporting role of Alexandra Fredericks in “Anamorph,” a 2007 thriller directed by Henry Miller and starring Willem Dafoe. The same year, she also starred as Rachel McKenzie in the TV film “The Kidnapping,” along side Jud Nelson and Thomas Ian Griffith, and made a guest appearance as Karen Sutherland in “Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service.”

In 2008, Carlson could be seen as Cece Hillenbrand in an episode of “Criminal Minds” called “Tabula Rasa.”

Awards:

• Western Heritage: Bronze Wrangler, Outstanding Factual or Fictional Drama, “Peacemakers,” 2004