Sela Ward
{{Short description|American actress (born 1956)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sela Ward
| image = Sela Ward 2010 cropped.jpg
| caption = Ward in 2010
| birth_name = Sela Ann Ward
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1956|7|11}}
| birth_place = Meridian, Mississippi, U.S.
| alma_mater = University of Alabama
| occupation = {{hlist|Actress|author|producer}}
| years_active = 1983–present
| spouse = {{married|Howard Sherman|May 23, 1992}}
| children = 2
| known_for = Sisters
Once and Again
CSI: NY
}}
Sela Ann Ward (born July 11, 1956){{cite book|last1=Willis|first1=John|last2=Monush|first2=Barry|title=Screen World 2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z5YOAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=July 16, 2022|year=2007|publisher=Hal Leonard|isbn=9781557837295|page=415}}{{cite web |title=Sela Ward |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/201891%7C0/Sela-Ward/ |website=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=July 16, 2022}} is an American actress. Her breakthrough TV role was as Teddy Reed in the NBC drama series Sisters (1991–96), for which she received her first Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1994. She received her second Primetime Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama for the leading role of Lily Manning in the ABC drama series Once and Again (1999–2002). Ward later had the recurring role of Stacy Warner in the Fox medical drama House, also starred as Jo Danville in the CBS police procedural CSI: NY (2010–13){{Cite news|title=US: Sela Ward joins CSI: NY|work=The Spy Report|publisher=Media Spy|date=July 14, 2010|url=http://www.mediaspy.org/report/2010/07/14/us-sela-ward-joins-csi-ny|access-date=July 14, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100717141021/http://www.mediaspy.org/report/2010/07/14/us-sela-ward-joins-csi-ny/|archive-date=July 17, 2010|url-status=live}} and starred as Dana Mosier in the CBS police procedural series FBI (2018–19).{{Cite news|url=https://deadline.com/2018/07/fbi-sela-ward-cast-cbs-series-dick-wolf-recasting-connie-nielsen-1202432136|title='FBI': Sela Ward To Co-Star On New CBS Series From Dick Wolf|author=Nellie Andreeva|date=July 13, 2018|work=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=July 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724003611/https://deadline.com/2018/07/fbi-sela-ward-cast-cbs-series-dick-wolf-recasting-connie-nielsen-1202432136/|archive-date=July 24, 2018|url-status=dead}}
She also played supporting roles in films, including The Man Who Loved Women (1983), Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985), Nothing in Common (1986), Hello Again (1987), The Fugitive (1993), My Fellow Americans (1996), The Badge (2002), The Day After Tomorrow (2004), The Guardian (2006), The Stepfather (2009), Gone Girl (2014), and Independence Day: Resurgence (2016).
Early life
Ward was born in Meridian, Mississippi, to Annie Kate (née Boswell), a homemaker, and Granberry Holland "G.H." Ward, Jr., an electrical engineer. Her father is a native of Meridian while her mother was born in Choctaw County, Alabama, before moving to Meridian as a child.{{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/2238/44019_14_00023-00719/269331436?backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/114023214/person/422100026989/facts/citation/1142272666284/edit/record|title=U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 (Granberry Holland Ward)|author= |date=30 June 1942 |website=Ancestry.com |publisher=Generations Network|url-access=subscription|access-date=25 May 2020 }}{{cite United States census | url =https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/6224/4531768_00603/120324843?backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/114023214/person/422100026999/facts/citation/1142272671761/edit/record | title =Fifteenth Census of the United States | year =1930 | location =Choctaw County, Alabama | page =6B | line =71 | enumdist =12-7 |website=Ancestry.com |publisher=Generations Network|url-access=subscription| access-date =25 May 2020 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/1265/43134_b183468-00031/353344691?backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/114023214/person/422100026999/facts/citation/1142272670896/edit/record|title=Reverie 1942 "Annie Kate Boswell" (Meridian High School, Meridian, Mississippi)|author= |page=32|date=1942 |website=Ancestry.com |publisher=Generations Network|url-access=subscription|access-date=25 May 2020 }} Ward is the eldest of four children with a sister, Jenna, and two brothers, Joseph Brock and Granberry Holland Ward III. She graduated from Lamar School in Meridian.{{cite news |last1=Rader |first1=Dotson |author-link1= |last2= |first2= |author-link2= |last3= |first3= |author-link3= |last4= |first4= |author-link4= |last5= |first5= |author-link5= |display-authors= |author-mask= |name-list-style= |date=24 January 2011 |orig-date= |title=Sela Ward: 'My Journey Has Been a Journey Home' |script-title= |trans-title= |url=https://parade.com/132433/dotsonrader/sela-ward-mississippi-queen/ |work=Parade |type= |series= |language= |volume= |issue= |edition= |location= |publisher= |publication-date= |agency= |page= |pages= |at= |no-pp= |access-date=6 May 2024 |via= |url-access= |quote=Her teenage years were spent at a private school, Lamar, and she joined a junior sorority. |trans-quote= }}
Ward attended the University of Alabama, where she was Homecoming Queen, a Crimson Tide cheerleader, and joined Chi Omega sorority. She double-majored in fine art and advertising. She graduated in 1977.{{cite web|url=http://www.americanprofile.com/article/1979.html|title=American Profile – American Profile Celebrates The Intriguing People, Places And Things In Hometowns Across The Country Along With Features On Music, Film, TV, Seasonal Recipes, Health And Family Finance|access-date=June 7, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061105144609/http://www.americanprofile.com/article/1979.html|archive-date=November 5, 2006|df=mdy-all}}
Career
While working in New York City as a storyboard artist for multimedia presentations, Ward began modeling to supplement her income. She was recruited by the Wilhelmina agency and was soon featured in television commercials promoting Maybelline cosmetics.{{Citation needed |date=August 2023}}
Ward eventually moved to California to pursue acting and landed her first film role in the 1983 Burt Reynolds vehicle The Man Who Loved Women. Her first regular role in a television drama series, as a socialite on Dennis Weaver's short-lived CBS series, Emerald Point N.A.S., followed in the same year. Ward continued to land guest roles in both television and films throughout the 1980s, most notably opposite Tom Hanks in 1986's Nothing in Common. In 1991 she was cast as the bohemian alcoholic Teddy Reed on Sisters, for which she received her first Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1994. She portrayed Helen Kimble, the wife of Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford), in The Fugitive, one of the top films of 1993.
Ward won a CableACE Award for her portrayal of the late television journalist Jessica Savitch in the 1995 TV film Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story.{{cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/sela-ward/bio/174177/|title=Sela Ward|work=TVGuide.com|access-date=December 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222121940/http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/sela-ward/bio/174177/|archive-date=December 22, 2015|url-status=live}} Almost Golden remains Lifetime's most watched TV film to date.
In 1995, Ward was passed over for a Bond girl role for the 1995 movie GoldenEye, learning that even though then-Bond Pierce Brosnan was 42, the casting director said "What we really want is Sela, but Sela ten years ago".{{cite web|url=http://www.lifetimetv.com/shows/ip/portraits/0102/0102_index.html|title=Lifetime TV Shows|work=myLifetime.com|access-date=June 7, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070705142042/http://www.lifetimetv.com/shows/ip/portraits/0102/0102_index.html|archive-date=July 5, 2007|df=mdy-all}} In response, she developed and produced a documentary, The Changing Face of Beauty, about American obsession with youth and its effect on women. Later on, Ward would voice the part of former model turned villain Page Monroe in an episode ("Mean Seasons") of The New Batman/Superman Adventures, which focused primarily on the media's obsession with youth.{{cite web|url=http://www.toonzone.net/anbat/tnba/ms.html|title=Page Not Found|access-date=June 7, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603083737/http://www.toonzone.net/anbat/tnba/ms.html|archive-date=June 3, 2013}}
Ward succeeded Candice Bergen as commercial spokesperson for Sprint's long distance telephone service from 1999 until 2002. She also appeared on Frasier as supermodel/zoologist Kelly Easterbrook in the fifth season opener ("Frasier's Imaginary Friend"). When she read for the role of Lily Brooks Manning on the series Once and Again, its creators (Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz of thirtysomething fame) initially deemed Ward "too beautiful" for the average single mother to identify with. Ward received her second lead actress Emmy and a Golden Globe Award.
In 2004, she played the role of a private investigator in the television film Suburban Madness. The same year, she also appeared in the film The Day After Tomorrow with Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal. In 2005, she began a recurring role in the Fox dramatic series House as Stacy Warner, the hospital's attorney and formidable ex-partner of the protagonist Dr. Gregory House (played by Hugh Laurie). In 2006, Ward's character was written off the show. However, she made her last guest appearance in the series finale (which aired on May 21, 2012).
Ward was originally offered both the role of Megan Donner on CSI: Miami and Susan Mayer on Desperate Housewives, but turned both down. Ward was reluctant to commit to another lead role in an hour-long series because of the time away from her family it would require.{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/2004/10/08/why-sela-ward-wont-return-television/|title=Why Sela Ward won't return to television|magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=October 8, 2004|access-date=April 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401105325/https://ew.com/article/2004/10/08/why-sela-ward-wont-return-television/|archive-date=April 1, 2019|url-status=live}}
Although she was on a brief hiatus from television, she continued to appear in feature films. She starred opposite Kevin Costner in The Guardian in 2006 and starred in the thriller The Stepfather in 2009. In July 2010, Ward signed on to star in the police drama CSI: NY, at the seventh season's start. Ward remained on the show until the ninth and final season's end in February 2013.Goldberg, Lesley (May 10, 2013). [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/cbs-cancels-csi-ny-vegas-520885 "CBS Cancels CSI: NY, Vegas, Rules of Engagement, Golden Boy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191130191927/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/cbs-cancels-csi-ny-vegas-520885 |date=November 30, 2019 }}. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
Ward appeared as newswoman Sharon Schieber in Gone Girl (2014), and co-starred in Independence Day: Resurgence, released June 2016, in which she played the President of the United States, President Lanford.{{cite web |last=Busch |first=Anita |url=https://deadline.com/2015/05/sela-ward-independence-day-2-president-1201420428/ |title=Sela Ward Set To Play POTUS In 'Independence Day 2' |work=Deadline Hollywood |date=May 4, 2015 |access-date=November 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151123094734/http://deadline.com/2015/05/sela-ward-independence-day-2-president-1201420428/ |archive-date=November 23, 2015 |url-status=live }} She also played the leading role alongside Nick Nolte in the political comedy series Graves.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/sela-ward-replaces-susan-sarandon-831939|title=Sela Ward Replaces Susan Sarandon in Epix Comedy 'Graves'|author=Lesley Goldberg|date=October 14, 2015|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=December 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222091107/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/sela-ward-replaces-susan-sarandon-831939|archive-date=December 22, 2015|url-status=live}} She was in a leading role alongside Missy Peregrym, Zeeko Zaki and Jeremy Sisto in the crime series FBI.
Personal life
On May 23, 1992, Ward married entrepreneur Howard Elliott Sherman. They have two children: Austin and Anabella.{{cite web|url=http://parade.com/132433/dotsonrader/sela-ward-mississippi-queen/|title=Sela Ward: 'My Journey Has Been a Journey Home'|author=Dotson Rader|author-link=Dotson Rader|work=Parade|date=January 24, 2011 |access-date=December 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222081755/http://parade.com/132433/dotsonrader/sela-ward-mississippi-queen/|archive-date=December 22, 2015|url-status=live}}
After meeting two foster children during a holiday trip home to Mississippi in 1997,[http://www.guidepostsmag.com/weekly_feature.asp?date=12/6/2006 Guideposts Magazine] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928092233/http://www.guidepostsmag.com/weekly_feature.asp?date=12%2F6%2F2006 |date=September 28, 2007 }} Ward decided to meet a broader need for abused and neglected children by initiating and partially funding the creation of a permanent group home and emergency shelter, as well as transition houses. Hope Village for Children opened in Ward's hometown of Meridian in January 2002, housed on a {{convert|30|acre|ha|adj=on}} property once used as a Masonic-owned and operated orphanage, and is intended to serve as a pilot for a nationwide network of similar shelters. Hope Village had a capacity of 44 residents and served an average of 300 children per year {{as of|2015|lc=y}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.hopevillagems.org/|title=Hope Village for Children|access-date=June 7, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710025521/http://www.hopevillagems.org/|archive-date=July 10, 2015|url-status=live}}
In 2002, Ward published her autobiography, Homesick: A Memoir, through HarperCollins' ReganBooks imprint.{{cite book|title=Homesick: A Memoir|last1=Ward|first1=Sela|author-link1=Sela Ward|date=October 15, 2002|publisher=Harper Entertainment|isbn=0-06-098907-6|url=http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Homesick-Sela-Ward/?isbn=9780060516697}} In 2014, Ward was a part of her first group art exhibition at KM Fine Arts.
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable"| Notes |
|---|
| 1983
| {{sortname|The|Man Who Loved Women|The Man Who Loved Women (1983 film)}} | Janet Wainwright | |
| 1985
| Colonel's Daughter | |
| 1986
| Cheryl Ann Wayne | |
| rowspan=2|1987
| Kim Lacey | |
| Steele Justice
| Tracy | |
| 1989
| Sarah Hardy | |
| 1991
|Child of Darkness, Child of Light | Sister Anne | |
| 1992
| Karen Hart | |
| 1993
| {{sortname|The|Fugitive|The Fugitive (1993 film)}} | Helen Kimble | |
| 1996
| Kaye Griffin | |
| 1998
| 54 | Billie Auster | |
| 1999
| Pretty Woman in Bar | Cameo |
| 2000
|Catch a Falling Star |Sydney Clarke | |
| 2002
| Carla Hardwick | |
| rowspan=2|2004
| Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights | Jeannie Miller | |
| {{sortname|The|Day After Tomorrow}}
| Dr. Lucy Hall | |
| 2006
| {{sortname|The|Guardian|The Guardian (2006 film)}} | Helen Randall | |
| 2009
| {{sortname|The|Stepfather|The Stepfather (2009 film)}} | Susan Harding | |
| 2014
| Sharon Schieber | |
| 2016
| Independence Day: Resurgence | President Elizabeth Lanford | |
= Television =
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable"| Notes |
|---|
| 1983–84
| Hilary Adams | 22 episodes |
| 1985
| I Had Three Wives | Emily | Episode: "Til Death Do us Part" |
| rowspan=2|1986
| Hotel | Isabel Atwood | Episode: "Hornet's Nest" |
| L.A. Law
| Lynette Pierce | 2 episodes |
| 1987
| Heather | Episode: "Christine's Friend" |
| 1989
| Caryl | Television film |
| 1990
| Laura Demming | Television film |
| 1991–96
| Sisters | Teddy Reed | 127 episodes |
| 1995
| Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story | Television film |
| rowspan=2| 1997
| Frasier | Kelly Easterbrook | Episode: "Frasier's Imaginary Friend" |
| Stories of Courage: Two Women
| Marie-Rose Gineste | Television film |
| 1999
| {{sortname|The|New Batman Adventures}} | Voice, episode: "Mean Seasons" |
| 1999–2002
| Lily Manning | 63 episodes |
| 2000
| Catch a Falling Star | Sydney Clark | rowspan=2|Television film |
| 2004
| Bobbi Bacha |
| 2005–06
| House | 10 episodes |
| 2010–13
| CSI: NY | 57 episodes |
| 2016–17
| Graves | Margaret Graves | 20 episodes |
| 2018
| Juliet |1 Episode |
| 2018–19
| FBI |Special Agent in Charge Dana Mosier |21 Episodes |
Legacy
A roughly {{convert|0.9|mile|km}} stretch of 22nd Avenue in Meridian (from 6th Street southeast to the Interstate 20 highway interchange){{cite web|url=https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=meridian+ms+22nd+ave&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF-8&om=1&ll=32.358503,-88.694515&spn=0.014501,0.024483&z=16&iwloc=addr|title=Google Maps|access-date=June 7, 2015}} has been named the "Sela Ward Parkway" in her honor.{{cite web|url=http://www.dfw.com/2010/10/06/345404/five-questions-with-sela-ward.html|title=DFW.com "Five questions with Sela Ward, the newest cast member of CSI: NY"|publisher=dfw.com|access-date=November 18, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709020738/http://www.dfw.com/2010/10/06/345404/five-questions-with-sela-ward.html|archive-date=July 9, 2011|df=mdy-all}}{{cite news |last=Kelly |first=Erin |date=7 May 2020 |title=City council talks 22nd Avenue upgrades |page=A2 |url=https://meridianstar-cnhi.newsmemory.com/ |work=Meridian Star |location=Meridian, Mississippi |access-date=25 May 2020 |url-access=subscription |quote=The Meridian City Council on Tuesday discussed a project to enhance a section of 22nd Avenue known as Sela Ward Parkway that runs from near the old Village Fair Mall to Front Street. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607165832/https://meridianstar-cnhi.newsmemory.com/ |archive-date=June 7, 2020 |url-status=live }}
Awards and nominations
{{Main|List of awards and nominations received by Sela Ward}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
{{Commons}}
- [http://www.hopevillagems.org/ Hope Village for Children]
- {{IMDb name|0000688}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060621112807/http://sidewalkstv.com/webclips/w/selaward.html Sela Ward Interview] on Sidewalks Entertainment
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Sela Ward
|list =
{{EmmyAward DramaLeadActress}}
{{GoldenGlobeBestActressTVDrama 2000–2019}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Sela}}
Category:People from Meridian, Mississippi
Category:Actresses from Mississippi
Category:American autobiographers
Category:American film actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:American voice actresses
Category:American women autobiographers
Category:American women non-fiction writers
Category:University of Alabama alumni
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:21st-century American actresses
Category:Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (television) winners
Category:Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners