Caroline In the City

Background:

American actress Amy Pietz is famous among television audiences for portraying sexually vulturous neighbor and best friend Annie in the hit sitcom “Caroline in the City” (NBC, 1995-1999), from which she picked up a Screen Actors Guild nomination. Starting out at the Chicago theater circuits right after college, Pietz headed to Hollywood in the early 1990s and enjoyed her first breakthrough with “Caroline in the City.” More recently, she is known with her roles of dotty sister-in-law Charlie in the ABC sitcom “Rodney” (2004-2006) and the micro-overseeing mother, Franny Tolchuck, in the The CW sitcom “Aliens In America” (The CW, 2007-2008). She also had regular roles in the short lived comedy series “Muscle” (1995) and “The Weber Show” (2000), recurring roles on “Ally McBeal” (2002), “I'm with Her” (2004) and “Trust Me” (2009) as well as guest starring roles popular shows such as “ER,” “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Ghost Whisperer” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Pietz, who was named Queen Azalea of the Wilmington, North Carolina Azalea Festival in 2007, has also acted in several movies, including “Rudy” (1993), “Jingle All the Way” (1996), “Every 9 Seconds” (1997, TV), “Newton” (2003, TV), “The Whole Ten Yards” (2004), “Reunion” (2009), “ You” (2009) and on stage in such productions as “A View From the Bridge,” “The Boswell Sisters,” “Christmas In Naples,” “You Can't Take It with You” and “Lobby Hero” (also a producer).

Pietz has been divorced from her actor husband Kenneth Alan Williams. Currently a Los Angeles resident, she enjoys skiing and golfing, and mentions “They Might Be Giants” as her favorite band. She has worked extensively for charities, including the Winter Special Olympics.

Aspiring Ballerina

Childhood and Family:

Amy Pietz was born on March 6, 1969, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was adopted by Nancy and Arnold Pietz, a nurse and a truck driver, respectively, when she was a young. During her childhood, she trained as a ballet dancer, but decided not to go professional due to financial reason. She eventually turned her attention to acting thanks in part to her seventh grade social studies teacher who cast her in the lead in “Oliver!” She was also inspired by her favorites like Lucille Ball, Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Burnett.

Amy attended Milwaukee High School of the Arts in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She performed in plays and musicals throughout high schools and even picked up awards in high school forensics in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After high school, she enrolled at DePaul University in Chicago and graduated with a B.F.A. in acting in 1991. Amy later earned an Award for Excellence in the Arts from DePaul.

On May 25, 1997, Amy married actor Kenneth Alan Williams (born on October 18, 1963). The couple have divorced.

Aliens In America

Career:

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Amy Pietz moved to Chicago for college and went on to stay there after college to work in theater. She performed in a number of Chicago stage productions such as “A View from The Bridge” and “You Can't Take It with You” at the Steppenwolf Theater, “In the Flesh” at the Organic Theater Company, “The Love of the Nightingale” at the Next Theater, and “Waiting for Lefty” at the Artistic Home. She also co-founded Chicago-based Eclipse Theatre Company. After two years, she moved to Los Angeles to try more opportunities.

Pietz made her TV acting debut as a reporter in a 1992 episode of “Highlander” and the next year she broke into the big screen with a small part as Melinda in the biopic “Rudy,” based on the lives of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger (played by Sean Austin), who harbor d dreams of playing football at the University of Notre Dame despite substantial obstacles. After guest roles in the ABC police drama“Missing Persons” (1993) and the syndication science fiction series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1994), she landed her first regular role on the short lived comedy series “Muscle” (1995), playing Bronwyn Jones.

It was not long before Pietz got her big break on the NBC hit situation comedy series “Caroline In the City,” starring Lea Thompson as the title role. She played Annie Spadaro, the delirious neighbor and best friend of Caroline throughout the show's four season run from September 21, 1995 to April 26, 1999, and was nominated for a 1999 Screen Actors Guild in the category of Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series for her role. While working on the series, she could also be seen playing Liza Tisch in the film “Jingle All the Way” (1996, starred Arnold Schwarzenegger), Terri Paxton in her TV movie debut “All Lies End in Murder” (1997, with Kim Delaney and Jamey Sheridan), Carrie in the NBC telepic “Every 9 Seconds” (also 1997, opposite Gail O'Grady) and Bonnie in a 1998 episode of “Conrad Bloom” called “Gone with the Re-Wind.”

Pietz returned to series TV as a regular after “Caroline In the City” in the fall NBC sitcom “The Weber Show” (2000), costarring along side Steven Weber, Chris Elliott, and Wendell Pierce. The show, however, was canceled after one season after failing to attract audiences. After this, she appeared with then husband Kenneth Alan Williams in the short film “Jell-Ohh Lady,” premiered at the 2001 Wisconsin Film Festival, and returned to stage that same year in the musical “The Boswell Sisters” at The Old Globe Theater in San Diego, California. She originated the role of Martha Boswell on the play. Since then, she has actively worked on theater and also done a number of charity fundraisers. Her additional stage credits include “Christmas In Naples,” “Fiorello” and “Company.” She also produced the musical “Xanadu Live” at the Gasco Center Theater as well as produced and starred in “Lobby Hero,” directed by Kenneth Lonergan, at the Odyssey Theater.

Pietz managed to pursue her screen career by making guest appearances on TV series such as “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (2003), “The Drew Carey Show” (2003), “ER” (2003), “All About the Andersons” (2004), “The Division” (2004) and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (2005) and having recurring roles in two episodes of “Ally McBeal” (2002, as Bonnie) and in three episodes of “I'm with Her” (2004, Samantha). She played Alice Pryor in the science fiction TV film “Newton” (2003, UPN), teamed up with Alexis Bledel, Sarah Winter and Laura Kightlinger in the award winning short “DysEnchanted” (2004, directed and written Terri Miller), appeared in Mikael Forsberg's 19 minute comedy “Marty and Sven” (2004) and was featured as a waitress in the Howard Deutch-directed comedy film “The Whole Ten Yards” (2004), which starred Bruce Willis, Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet, Kevin Pollak and Natasha Henstridge.

Also in 2004, Pietz landed the role of crazy sister-in-law Charlie in the ABC sitcom “Rodney,” starring Rodney Carrington as Rodney Hamilton and Jennifer Aspen as his wife Trina. Created by Ric Swartzlander, the show debuted on September 21, 2004 and concluded its 22 episode first season on April 26, 2005. The show was renewed for the season second of 22 episodes, which began airing on October 4, 2005. However, the show was axed after only 16 episodes aired due to poor ratings.

Undaunted, Pietz resurfaced as the mother of clumsy high schooler Justin (played by Dan Byrd), Franny Tolchuck, in The CW's situation comedy series “Aliens In America,” David Guarascio and Moses Port. The show ran for a season from October 2007 to May 2008. Following the cancellation of her new show, Pietz plunged herself in a string of TV shows as a guest star like “Burn Notice,” “Ghost Whisperer” (both 2008), “The Closer,” “Bones,” “Hawthorne,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Medium” (all 2009) and a recurring player in the TNT drama “Trust Me” (also 2009).

Recently playing the supporting roles of Sadie in Alan Hruska's drama film, “Reunion,” and of Sam in “You,” a drama directed and starred by Melora Hardin (both 2009), Pietz is scheduled to costar with Lea Thompson and Wendie Malick in the upcoming adventure/family movie “I Was a 7th Grade Dragon Slayer,” directed by Andrew Lauer and Written by Jamie Nash. It will be released in American in 2010.

Awards:
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