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Debra Lynn Messing (born August 15, 1968) is an Emmy Award-winning American actress. She is best known for portraying Grace Adler in Will & Grace.
Early life
Messing was born in the New York City borough of Brooklyn to Jewish American parents Brian Messing (a sales executive for a jewelry manufacturer) and Sandra (who has worked as a professional singer, banker, travel and real estate agent). When Messing was three, she moved with her parents and her older brother, Brett, to East Greenwich, a small town outside Providence, Rhode Island.
During her high school years, she acted (and sang) in a number of high school productions, including the starring role in the musical "Annie" and "Fiddler On the Roof". Debra Messing was Rhode Island's Junior Miss, 1986 and competed at the America's Junior Miss Finals in Mobile, AL.
Messing took lessons in dance, singing, and acting. While her parents encouraged her dream of becoming an actress, they also urged her to complete a liberal arts education before deciding on acting as a career. Following their advice, she attended Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. During her junior year, she studied theater at the prestigious London-based British European Studio Group program, an experience that fueled her desire to act.
In 1990, after graduating summa cum laude from Brandeis with a bachelor's degree in theater arts, Messing gained admission to the elite Graduate Acting Program (which accepts only about 15 new students annually) at New York University, where she earned a master's degree in fine arts after three years.
Career
In 1993, Messing won praise for her acting in the pre-Broadway workshop production of Tony Kushner's much-lauded play Angels in America: Perestroika. Consequently, she appeared in several episodes (running from 1994 to 1995) of the award-winning television series NYPD Blue.
In 1995, Messing made her film debut with a supporting role in A Walk in the Clouds, a love story directed by Alfonso Arau. This exposure led the Fox network to make her the co-star of the television sitcom, Ned and Stacey. The series lasted for two seasons, from 1995 to 1997. Messing appeared as Jerry Seinfeld's date in two episodes of the hit television show Seinfeld: "The Wait Out" in 1996 and "The Yada Yada" in 1997. Messing turned down a starring role in another television sitcom to appear in Donald Margulies's two-character play Collected Stories, which opened at the Off-Broadway Manhattan Theater Club in 1997.
In 1998, Messing had a lead role as the bio-anthropologist "Sloan Parker" on ABC's dramatic science fiction television series Prey. Meanwhile, Messing's agent had approached her with the pilot script for the television show Will & Grace. Messing was inclined to take some time off, but the pilot for Will & Grace intrigued her, and she received the plum role of Grace Adler, beating out Nicollette Sheridan (Knots Landing, Desperate Housewives), who later guest starred on the show as a romantic rival of Grace's. Will & Grace became a big ratings success, and Messing gained renown. Messing's characteristics--her big red hair, her big buck teeth, gargantuan feet and Jewish heredity were a great source of fodder for the writers' antics which fueled "Will & Grace," as well as blurred the definitive line between Messing and her character, Grace Adler.
In 2002, she was named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" by People Magazine. TV Guide picked her as its "Best Dressed Woman" in 2003, despite the fact that her "Will & Grace" character, Grace Adler was known for how poorly-dressed she was.
Messing was personally picked by director Woody Allen for a small role in his 1998 film Hollywood Ending. Her big-screen roles since include a happily married but ill-fated wife in the supernatural thriller The Mothman Prophecies (2002) and a supporting role in Along Came Polly (2004).
The Wedding Date (2005) was Messing's first leading role in a high-profile film. It received mixed reviews but performed fairly well at the box office.
Messing was featured as a judge on the season finale of the second season of Bravo's hit reality show, Project Runway.
In 2007, she is scheduled to appear in a new TV series called The Starter Wife.
Her combination of beauty and a talent for physical comedy have led some critics to compare her to Lucille Ball.
Personal life
Messing met her husband, Daniel Zelman (an actor and screenwriter), on their first day as graduate students at NYU. The two were married on September 3, 2000, and live in Los Angeles, California. On April 7, 2004, Messing gave birth to their son, Roman Walker Zelman.
Messing has also stated that she intends to move back to New York, and with her Will & Grace commitments now over and rumors of a Broadway play.
Selected Filmography
Year Title Role Other notes
2007 Lucky You Mermaid
2006 Open Season Park Ranger Beth voice only
2005 The Wedding Date Kat Ellis
2004 Along Came Polly Lisa Kramer
2004 Garfield Arlene voice only
2002 Hollywood Ending Lori Fox
2002 The Mothman Prophecies Mary Klein
1997 McHale's Navy Lt. Penelope Carpenter
1995 A Walk in the Clouds Betty Sutton
Awards
Golden Globe Awards
* 2000: Best Actress in a Television Series: Musical or Comedy - Will & Grace (nominated)
* 2001: Best Actress in a Television Series: Musical or Comedy - Will & Grace (nominated)
* 2002: Best Actress in a Television Series: Musical or Comedy - Will & Grace (nominated)
* 2003: Best Actress in a Television Series: Musical or Comedy - Will & Grace (nominated)
* 2004: Best Actress in a Television Series: Musical or Comedy - Will & Grace (nominated)
* 2005: Best Actress in a Television Series: Musical or Comedy - Will & Grace (nominated)
Emmy Awards
For successful Emmy Awards, see the Infobox.
Unsuccessful nominations were :
* 2000: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - Will & Grace (Nominated)
* 2001: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - Will & Grace (Nominated)
* 2002: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - Will & Grace (Nominated)
* 2006: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - Will & Grace (Nominated)
Screen Actors Guild Awards
* 2001: Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Comedy Series - Will & Grace (Nominated)
* 2004: Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Comedy Series - Will & Grace (Nominated)
Teen Choice Awards
* 2001: Choice TV Actress: Comedy - Will & Grace (nominated)
* 2002: Choice TV Actress: Comedy - Will & Grace (nominated)
* 2006: Choice TV Actress: Comedy - Will & Grace (nominated)
| Latest news about Debra Messing |
Debra Messing Signs on for ABC Comedy Pilot - Inside TVHer brief foray into more dramatic fare -- the rare USA Network failure that was the 'Starter Wife' series -- didn't pan out, so now. Continue reading
Debra Messing is Ms. 'Wright,' 'Ugly Betty's' Ana Ortiz is 'True ...Will & Grace” star Messing is returning to the sitcom fold in ABC's pilot “Wright vs. Wrong.” Continue reading
X17 News - Debra Messing Returning To PrimetimeLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (X17online) - Debra Messing is ready to tackle the sitcom world once again with ABC's pilot Wright vs. Wrong. Messing made herself a household name playing the lovable character Grace Adler on NBC's long-running ... Continue reading
Debra Messing a Right Fit for ABC's WrongDebra Messing will go for laughs again after nabbing the lead role in ABC's comedy pilot Wright vs. Wrong. Check out photos of Messing The Will & Grace alum will play Evelyn Wright, a conservative pundit whose personal life and public ... Continue reading
Debra Messing Will Be All 'Wright vs. Wrong' - TV SquadActress Debra Messing has signed for a new television show called 'Wright vs. Wrong,' a sitcom for ABC, and if you think this is going to be anything like 'Will & Grace,' think again. (Although if they're smart, it better be just as ... Continue reading
TV Bites: Debra Messing Weighs Wright vs. Wrong for ABC | MovielineThis morning, a veteran sitcom star returns to the network mix. Debra Messing, last seen in USA's The Starter Wife, has been cast as the lead in ABC's comedy pilot Wright vs. Wrong. The half-hour project, written by Stephnie... Continue reading
Changing Channels | Dana Delany, Debra Messing and....Ann Coulter?Lots of gossip in Hollywood about whether Dana Delany -- whose character has become progressively more unstable -- will return to Desperate Housewives next year. ABC has added considerable fuel to the fire, says the Hollywood Reporter, ... Continue reading
Television - News - Debra Messing joins ABC comedy pilot - Digital SpyWill & Grace star Debra Messing will star as a conservative pundit in a new ABC comedy. Continue reading
TwitterGlitter.com - STARZLIFE PICS: Selma Blair, Jerry O'Connell ...Selma, along with My Secret Identity star Jerry O'Connell, X-(Wo)Man Rebecca Romijn, and the newscaster from Celebrity Debra Messing grabbed some swag at the opening of Gap's new 1969 store on Robertson Boulevard. the boutique ... Continue reading
'Almost Famous' actor Patrick Fugit joins Debra Messing pilotPatrick Fugit (Almost Famous) has joined the cast of ABC's comedy pilot Wright vs. Wrong, also starring Debra Messing, according to the. Continue reading
Hollywood Actors Jessica alba Debra Messing pictures and Debra Messing biography
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