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Debra Messing extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Debra Messing
at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival
Born	Debra Lynn Messing August 15, 1968 (1968-08-15) (age 41) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1994–present
Spouse(s)	Daniel Zelman (2000–present)

Debra Lynn Messing (born August 15, 1968) is an American actress, best known for her role as Grace Adler in the sitcom Will & Grace.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Filmography 5 Notes 6 External links

Early life

Messing was born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City,¹ the daughter of Sandra (née Simons), who has worked as a professional singer, banker, travel and real estate agent, and Brian Messing, a sales executive for a costume jewelry packaging manufacturer.² Messing is Jewish, a descendant of immigrants from Russia and Poland.³⁴⁵ When Messing was three, she moved with her parents and her older brother, Brett, to East Greenwich, a small town outside Providence, Rhode Island.⁶

During her high school years, she acted and sang in a number of high school productions at East Greenwich High School, including the starring roles in the musicals Annie and Grease. She took lessons in dance, singing, and acting. In 1986, she was Rhode Island's Junior Miss and competed in Mobile, Alabama in the America's Junior Miss scholarship program. 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 solidified her desire to act. Some time after 1986 she underwent surgical rhinoplasty.⁷

In 1990, after graduating summa cum laude from Brandeis University with a bachelor's degree in theater arts, Messing gained admission to the elite Graduate Acting Program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts which accepts approximately fifteen new students annually. 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 play Angels in America: Perestroika.¹ Subsequently, she appeared in several episodes of the television series NYPD Blue during 1994 and 1995.

In 1995, Messing made her film debut in Alfonso Arau's A Walk in the Clouds playing the unfaithful wife of main character Paul Sutton (Keanu Reeves). This exposure led the Fox network to make her the co-star of the television sitcom, Ned & Stacey. The series lasted for two seasons, from 1995 to 1997. Messing appeared as Jerry Seinfeld's date in two episodes of the series 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. She also co-starred in the Tom Arnold vehicle McHale's Navy in 1997.

In 1998, Messing played a lead role as the bio-anthropologist Sloan Parker on ABC's dramatic science fiction television series Prey. During this time her agent approached her with the pilot script for the television show Will & Grace. Messing was inclined to take some time off, but the script intrigued her, and she auditioned for the role of Grace Adler, beating out Nicollette Sheridan, who later guest-starred on the show as a romantic rival of Grace's. Will & Grace became a ratings success, and Messing became a star.¹

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. Messing was cast by director Woody Allen in a small role in his 2002 film Hollywood Ending. Her film 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 reality show, Project Runway. She also starred in the television mini-series The Starter Wife, which was nominated for ten Emmy awards including one for Messing for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie.

In 2008, Messing reprised her role as Molly Kagan in the television series The Starter Wife, which included 10 episodes.⁸ In early 2009, Messing's untitled comedy series was picked up by NBC for the 2009-10 primetime season.⁹

Personal life

Messing met her husband, Daniel Zelman, an actor and screenwriter, on their first day as graduate students at NYU in 1990. They were married on September 3, 2000, and live in New York City. On April 7, 2004, Messing gave birth to their son, Roman Walker Zelman.¹⁰

Filmography

Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994–1995	NYPD Blue	Dana Abandando	Episodes: "Double Abandando" (1994), "A Murder with Teeth in It" (1995), "Bombs Away" (1995)
1995	Partners	Stacey	Episode: "City Hall"
1995–1997	Ned and Stacey	Stacey
1996–1997	Seinfeld	Beth Lookner	Episodes: "The Wait Out" (1996), "The Yada Yada" (1997)
1998	Prey	Dr. Sloan Parker
1998–2006	Will & Grace	Grace Adler	Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (2003) Satellite Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2002, 2003) Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2001), with Eric McCormack, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally Nominated — American Comedy Award for Funniest Female Performer in a TV Series (Leading Role) (2000, 2001) Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (2000-2002, 2006) Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2000-2005) Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2004) Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series (2001, 2004) Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2002-2005), with Eric McCormack, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Actress, TV (2001, 2002, 2006)
1999	Jesus	Mary Magdalene
2002	King of the Hill	Mrs. Hilgren-Bronson, Jordan's Mom	Episode: "Get Your Freak Off" (voice only)
2006	Will & Grace: Say Goodnight Gracie	Grace Adler	retrospective special
2007	The Starter Wife	Molly Kagan	5 part miniseries Gracie Allen Award Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or Movie Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
2008	The Starter Wife	Molly Kagan	10 episode series Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy
Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	A Walk in the Clouds	Betty Sutton
1997	McHale's Navy	Lt. Penelope Carter
1998	Celebrity	TV reporter
2002	The Mothman Prophecies	Mary Klein
	Hollywood Ending	Lori
2004	Along Came Polly	Lisa Kramer
	Garfield	Arlene	voice only
2005	The Wedding Date	Kat Ellis
2006	Open Season	Beth	voice only
2007	Purple Violets	Kate Scott
	Lucky You	Suzanne Offer
2008	The Women	Edie Cohen
	Nothing Like the Holidays	Sarah Rodriguez	Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Debra Messing

• Unofficial Website
• Debra Messing at the Internet Movie Database
• Debra Messing at TV.com

v • d • e Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Comedy Series Patricia Heaton (2001) · Jennifer Aniston (2002) · Debra Messing (2003) · Sarah Jessica Parker (2004) · Felicity Huffman (2005) · Julia Louis-Dreyfus (2006) · America Ferrera (2007) · Tina Fey (2008) · Toni Collette (2009) Complete list: (1950–1975) · (1976–2000) · (2001–present)

Persondata
NAME	Messing, Debra
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	DEB
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American actress
DATE OF BIRTH	August 15, 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH	Brooklyn, New York
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH