Caroline Aaron

Caroline Sidney Aaron (née Abady; born (1952-08-07)August 7, 1952)^[1] is an American actress. She has appeared in multiple Mike Nichols, Nora Ephron, and Woody Allen films and is also known for her role in the television series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Caroline Aaron
Aaron at the 2025 New York Film Festival
Born	Caroline Sidney Abady (1952-08-07) August 7, 1952 (age 73) Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Alma mater	American University (B.A.) HB Studio
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1982–present
Spouse	James Foreman ​ (m. 1980)​
Children	2
Relatives	Josephine Abady (sister)

Early life

Aaron was born in Richmond, Virginia.^[1] Her mother, Nina Abady (née Friedman),^{[citation needed]} was a civil rights activist; Alabama-born, she was of Hungarian Jewish descent, and worked full time to support her three kids after the death of Aaron's father, who was of Lebanese-Jewish descent.^[2] Aaron's elder sister, Josephine Abady, a theatre director and producer, died from breast cancer on May 25, 2002, aged 52.^[3]

Aaron attended American University in Washington, D.C., studying performing arts.^[4] She studied acting at HB Studio^[5] in New York City.

Career

Aaron is known for her performances in films like Mike Nichols' Heartburn (1986) and Primary Colors (1998), as well as Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), Alice (1990), and Deconstructing Harry (1997), and Nora Ephron's Sleepless in Seattle (1993). She also appeared in Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Stanley Tucci's Big Night (1996). She also appeared in 21 Jump Street (2012) and its sequel 22 Jump Street (2014).

She is also known for her work on television, including guest roles on Wings, Frasier, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Desperate Housewives, Transparent, Madam Secretary, The Good Fight, and Ghosts.

Her Broadway roles include Relatively Speaking, I Hate Hamlet, Social Security, and The Iceman Cometh.^[6]

She was a regular on the critically acclaimed and Primetime Emmy Award-winning show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017–2023), with her comic performance of a Jewish mother winning her two consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series alongside the rest of the series' cast.

Aaron is a guest instructor at HB Studio.^[7]

Personal life

She has been married to James Foreman since 1980; they have two children.^[8]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean	Teenager
1983	Without a Trace	Makeup Woman
	Baby, It's You	Waitress
1984	The Brother from Another Planet	Randy Sue Carter
1985	O.C. and Stiggs	Janine
1986	Heartburn	Judith
1987	Anna	Interviewer
1988	Working Girl	Petty Marsh Secretary
1989	Crimes and Misdemeanors	Barbara
1990	Edward Scissorhands	Marge
	Alice	Sue
1992	This Is My Life	Martha Ingels
	Husbands and Wives	Dinner Party Guests
1993	The Pickle	Nancy Osborne
	Sleepless in Seattle	Dr. Marcia Fieldstone
1994	Mixed Nuts	Hotline Caller
1995	A Modern Affair	Elaine
1996	Big Night	Woman in restaurant
	House Arrest	Louise Finley
1997	White Lies	Virginia Past
	Deconstructing Harry	Doris Block
	Dinner and Driving	Roz
1998	Primary Colors	Lucille Kaufman
	There's No Fish Food in Heaven	Venessa
1999	A Fine Day for Flying	Madelyn	Short film
	Anywhere but Here	Gail Letterfine
2000	What Planet Are You From?	Nadine Jones
	Lucky Numbers	Nurse Sharpling
	Bounce	Donna
2001	Nobody's Baby	Doctor
	Amy's Orgasm	Janet Gaines
	Joe Dirt	Mrs. Nunamaker
	Never Again	Elaine
2002	Pumpkin	Claudia Prinsinger
2003	Two Days	Mrs. Miller
2004	Along Came Polly	Lois The Wedding Planner/Coordinator
	Call Waiting	Judy Baxter / Carol Lane
	A Day Without a Mexican	Aunt Gigi
	Cellular	Marilyn Mooney
	Beyond the Sea	Nina Cassotto Maffia
2005	Just like Heaven	Grace
2006	Grilled	Faye Goldbluth
2007	My First Time Driving	Helen	Short film
	Nancy Drew	Barbara Barbara
	Love Comes Lately	Rachel Meyerowitz
2008	Surveillance	Janet
2009	Finding Bliss	Debra Balaban
	Love Hurts	Wanda
2010	Our Family Wedding	Elaine
	Meeting Spencer	Nancy Diamond
2012	21 Jump Street	Annie Schmidt
2013	Sex & Marriage	Beatrice	Video
	Tuna	Virginia
2014	22 Jump Street	Annie Schmidt
	The Rewrite	Ellen
	Planes: Fire & Rescue	Additional Voices
2016	Hello, My Name Is Doris	Val
2017	Breakable You	Judith Singer
	Bitch	Nana
2022	Christmas vs. the Walters	Jane
2023	Theater Camp	Rita Cohen
2024	Between the Temples	Meira Gottlieb[9]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd	Waitress	Episode: "Here's a Leisurely Stroll Through the Park"
1991	Dead and Alive: The Race for Gus Farace	Dolly	Television movie
1991–1992	Law & Order	Susan / Valerie Walker	2 episodes
1995	Empty Nest	Shannon	Episode: "Feelings, Whoa Whoa Whoa, Feelings"
	Mad About You	Trish Dawson	Episode: "Two Tickets to Paradise"
	If Not For You	Nina	Episodes: "Taking a Shower with My Two True Loves", "The Kiss"
	Dad, the Angel & Me	Abby	Television movie
1995, 1997	Wings	Mary Pat Lee	2 Episodes: "Ex, Lies and Videotape" and "Let's Talk About Sex"
1996	The Boys Next Door	Mrs. Warren	Television movie
	Hey Arnold!	Spelling Bee Moderator / Landlady (voice)	2 episodes
	Dave's World	Judy	Episode: "Stress"
1997	Early Edition	Dr. Susan Leonard	Episode: "Frostbite"
	Weapons of Mass Distraction	Robin Zimmer	Television movie
1998	LateLine	Amy Freundlich / Rhonda Laskey	Voice; Recurring role (4 episodes)
	Frasier	Phyllis Conrad	Episode: "First Date"
	Sex and the City	Pamela Glock	Episode: "The Monogamists"
1999	Ally McBeal	Laura Dipson	Episode: "Love Unlimited"
	NYPD Blue	Doris Steinman	Episode: "Big Bang Theory"
	The Practice	Delores Keplar	Episode: "Of Human Bondage"
	Tracey Takes On...	Bev Millis	Episode: "Hype"
	Payne	Diane Taggert	Episode: "I Never Forget a Face-Lift"
	Tuesdays with Morrie	Connie	Television movie
2000	Judging Amy	Eloise Darline	Episodes: "Zero to Sixty", "The Wee Hours"
	An American Daughter	Veronica	Television movie
	Running Mates	Jody Daniels	Television movie
	Family Law	Sharon	Episode: "The Choice"
	Gideon's Crossing	Nancy Bales	Episode: "The Gift"
2001	When Billie Beat Bobby	Gladys Heldman	Television movie
	Six Feet Under	Amelia	Episode: "The Foot"
	The Mind of the Married Man	Mother In Law	Episode: "The Secret of the Universe"
	Inside Schwartz	Bernice	Episode: "Play-Action Fake Boyfriend"
2001–2002	7th Heaven	Sally Palmer	2 episodes
2002	Greg the Bunny	Casting Director	Episode: "Piddler on the Roof"
	The Secret Life of Zoey	Mimi	Television movie
	Less than Perfect	Roz	Episode: "Future Shock"
	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Barbara	3 episodes
2002–2004	One on One	Cheryl Ballard	3 episodes
2003	Dragnet	District Attorney	Episode: "All That Glitters"
	Lucky	Theresa's Sponsor	Episode: "Monkey on Your Back"
	Miss Match	Judy Schiff	Episode: "The Love Bandit"
2004	Oliver Beene	Charlotte's Mum	Episode: "Disposa-Boy"
	Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman	Madeleine	Television movie
	Malcolm in the Middle	Nurse Peterson	Episode: "Reese Comes Home"
2005	Head Cases	Ida Shultz	Episode: "Pilot"
	Girlfriends	Michele Garrett	Episode: "All God's Children"
2006	Shark	Judge Sylvia Howard	Episode: "Fashion Police"
2007	Brothers & Sisters	Elise	Episode: "Sexual Politics"
	Entourage	Sheila Rubenstein	Episode: "Return of the King"
	Grey's Anatomy	Connie	Episode: "Let the Truth Sting"
2008	Ugly Betty	Judge Biotch	Episode: "Odor in the Court"
	Boston Legal	Phyllis Goulet	Episode: "True Love"
	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Mrs. Steiner	Episode: "19 Down"
2009	Monk	Sheila Dorfman	Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Magician"
	CSI: Miami	Dr. Miller	Episode: "Bad Seed"
	Desperate Housewives	Daphne Bicks	Episode: "Boom Crunch"
2009–2016	American Dad!	Waitress (voice)	2 episodes
2010	The Young and the Restless	JoJo	5 episodes
	Players	Olivia DiMarco	Episode: "Krista's Mom"
	Private Practice	Stephanie	Episode: "War"
	Childrens Hospital	Glenn's Mom	Episode: "Frankfurters. Allman Brothers. Death. Frankfurters."
2011	Happy Endings	Pauline Blum	Episode: "Mein Coming Out"
2011-2013	Franklin & Bash	Judge Rebecca Bayles	2 episodes
2012	Rizzoli & Isles	Dana	Episode: "Class Action Satisfaction"
	Up All Night	Marla	Episode: "First Snow"
2013	2 Broke Girls	Wiga	Episode: "And the Psychic Shakedown"
	Modern Family	Judge Bartley	Episode: "Goodnight Gracie"
2014–2017	Episodes	Linda	3 episodes
2014	Instant Mom	Beverly Keogh	2 episodes
	Bad Teacher	Doris	Episode: "A Little Respect"
	The Millers	Kathy	Episode: "Movin' Out (Carol's Song)"
2014–2015	Transparent	Judy	3 episodes
2015	Secrets and Lies	Ellie Lindsey	Episode: "The Sister"
2016	Life in Pieces	Karyl	Episode: "CryTunes Divorce Tablet Ring"
	Code Black	Barbara Abbott	Episode: "1.0 Bodies"
	The Odd Couple	Christina	Episode: "The Odd Couples"
2017	Doubt	Judge Eugenia Souza	Episode: "The Return"
2017–2019	Madam Secretary	Edie Moran	2 episodes
2017–2023	The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel	Shirley Maisel	29 episodes
2018	The Good Fight	Lucy Heinberg	Episode: "Day 415"
	The Good Cop	Olivia Nyborg	Episode: "Who Cut Mrs. Ackroyd in Half"
	I Feel Bad	Irene	Episode: "My Kids Barely Know Their Culture"
2020	Outmatched	Sylvia Bennet	Episode: "Grandparents"
2021–	Ghosts	Carol	Recurring, 5 episodes
2022	Chanshi[10]	Babshi	Recurring role; Israeli-American co-production

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Playwright	Notes	Ref.
1985	The Iceman Cometh	Cora	Eugene O'Neill	Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, Broadway	[11]
1986	Social Security	Trudy Hayman Barbara Kahn	Andrew Bergman	Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway
1991	I Hate Hamlet	Felicia Dantine	Paul Rudnick	Walter Kerr Theatre, Broadway
2007	The Ritz	Vivian Proclo	Terrence McNally	Studio 54, Broadway
2011	Honeymoon Hotel	Judy Spector	Woody Allen	Brooks Atkinson Theatre, Broadway
2024	Bye Bye Birdie	Mae Peterson	Michael Stewart	Eisenhower Theater, The Kennedy Center, Washington, DC[12]

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2015	Fallout 4	Additional Voices	Video Game	[13]

Audiobooks, Audio Entertainment and Podcasts

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2022–2023	Around the Sun	Kathy / Nina	Audio drama	[14]
1999	The Prisoner of Second Avenue	Edna	L.A. Theatre Works
2005	The Sisters Rosensweig	Pfeni	L.A. Theatre Works

Award and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Title	Result
2018	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series	The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel	Won
2019				Won