Cynthia Stevenson Biography

Cynthia Stevenson studied acting at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco and later at the Drama Studio London in Berkley. She moved to Los Angeles after this and soon found herself working with local theatres. She landed a role in the hit ‘The Ladies Room’, which helped her find roles on the big screen. She made her debut in the TV sketch comedy ‘Off the Wall’ in 1986 and soon found more roles in TV series such as ‘Max Headroom’ (1987) and ‘Newhart’ (1989) before venturing into TV movies such as ‘A Father’s Homecoming’ (1988), ‘Married to the Mob’ (1989), and ‘Double Your Pleasure’ (1989). She returned to playing guest and supporting roles in TV series such as ‘Cheers’ (1989), ‘Booker’ (1990), ‘Empty Nest’ (1990), ‘The Famous Teddy Z’ (1990), ‘My Talk Show’ (1990), and ‘Major Dad’ (1991). Her role in ‘My Talk Show’ provided her the breakthrough and acclaim she richly deserved, and she was soon cast as the lead Bonnie Sherow in the Robert Altman film ‘The Player’ in 1992. The movie was nominated for an Oscar and earned praise from several critics. In the same year, she landed the main role of Trisha McKay in the comedy series ‘Bob’ and appeared in all the episodes from 1992 to 1993. In 1993, she appeared as Ellen in the movie ‘Watch It’ and later played the character of Helen in the TV series ‘The Hidden Room’.

In 1995, she appeared as Abby Kaplow in the TV series ‘Dream On’ before landing the titular role of Hope Davidson in the comedy ‘Hope & Gloria’ (1995). She played the role for two seasons over 35 episodes. Her other roles included Liz in ‘Forget Paris’ (1995), Marcy in ‘Live Nude Girls’ (1995), and Joanne Wedman in ‘Home for the Holidays’ (1995). After a brief break, she returned to the big screen in 1998 with a role in the miniseries ‘From the Earth to the Moon’ and later in ‘Ally McBeal’. She also appeared in the movies ‘Air Bud: Golden Receiver’ and ‘Happiness’ before landed a leading role in the comedy ‘Oh Baby’ toward the end of 1998. She played the role of Tracy Calloway in the series for two seasons in 44 episodes, and the series was a hit.

Cynthia Stevenson relocated to Vancouver after the series and her roles dwindled briefly. She made her return with a minor role in the TV series ‘King of the Hill’ in 2002 as Sister Mary Catherine. In 2003, she was roped in to play the role of Joy Lass in the TV series ‘Dead Like Me’ and she appeared in 28 episodes across two years. She followed this with movies such as ‘Agent Cody Banks’ (2003) and ‘Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London’ (2004). Other appearances in movies and TV series followed. Her notable works during this decade include ‘Six Feet Under’ (2005), ‘Neverwas’ (2005), ‘The L Word’ (2006), ‘Monk’ (2006), ‘Full of It’ (2007), and ‘According to Jim’ (2007). She also played the recurring role of Celia Bachelor in the comedy romance ‘Men in Trees’ for 27 episodes for two seasons. She followed with guest roles in ‘I Love You, Beth Cooper’ (2009), ‘Case 39’ (2009), and ‘Reunion’ (2009) before landing the role of Anne Patterson in the comedy series ‘Surviving Suburbia’ for thirteen episodes.

In 2010, she appeared in an episode of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and played the recurring role of Laverne Cassidy in ‘Life Unexpected’. In the next few years, she played various roles for series such as ‘Off the Map’, Chaos’, ‘Private Practice’, ‘The Soul Man’, ‘Little Horribles’, ‘Scandal’, ‘Kingdom’, and ‘Sleepy Hollow’. In 2015, she appeared as the recurring character Jan in the TV series ‘Your Family or Mine; since then, she has only played minor or guest roles in TV series such as ‘

Loosely Exactly Nicole’ (2016), ‘Famous in Love’ (2017), and ‘Supergirl’ (2018). More recently, she appeared as Josey Johnson in the film ‘Baja’ and portrayed the role of Pam Walsh in the popular series ‘How to Get Away with Murder’ in 2018.

Cynthia Stevenson was born on August 2, 1962 in Oakland, California to Al Stevenson and Gayle Stevenson. Her father was an upholstery warehouse owner, and her mother was an editor. She has a brother, Gregory Stevenson.

Cynthia is currently married to the director Tom Davies, and the couple has been together since July 1992. They have one son together, and the family currently lives in Vancouver, British Colombia.