Laurie O'Brien

Laurie O'Brien (born 1950 or 1951^[1])is an American actress. She is best known for voicing Baby Piggy on the 1980s Saturday morning cartoon Jim Henson's Muppet Babies from 1984-1991 & the CTW animated series Cro as Ivana the mammoth.

Laurie O'Brien
Born	1950 or 1951 (age 74–75) Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Colorado (BA, master's)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1981–present

Early years

Born in Denver,^[2] O'Brien paid her way for attending the University of Colorado (UC) by working in a juvenile detention center, in a mental hospital, and with asthmatic children at the National Jewish Hospital in Denver.^[1] She graduated from UC with a BA degree in psychology^[2] and an interdisciplinary master's degree fashioned from courses in literature, psychology, and theater. She described the combination of courses as "Reader's Theater".^[1]

Career

As an on-camera actress, O'Brien has guest starred on the soap opera Santa Barbara as a hooker as well as other numerous TV series including Trapper John, M.D., NYPD Blue, Matlock, Chicago Hope, ER, CSI, CSI Miami, 7th Heaven, Reasonable Doubts, Shark, Three Rivers, Detroit 1-8-7, and L.A. Law on which she played a woman on trial for killing her rapist. TV movies include The Defiant Ones, Too Young to Die?, Infidelity, Children of the Night, Convicted, and One More Mountain. Movies include Bottle Shock in which she played Christopher Pine's mother.

O'Brien was one of 400 people who showed up to audition for parts in Mary Barnes. Director Rons Sossi initially considered her for the role of patient Angie, but after repeated auditions he selected her to portray Barnes.^[2] Her work on stage included winning three major awards for her lead roles in Mary Barnes, Savage in Limbo and Times Like These.

Personal life

In 1976 O'Brien married a doctor whom she had met while working at National Jewish Hospital. Work-related problems took a toll, however, and in late 1980 she left the job and the marriage and moved to Los Angeles.^[2] Later she married actor Carl Weintraub, and they have a son.^[1]

Acting credits

Theater

Year(s)	Title	Role	Venue	Notes	Ref(s)
1981	Mary Barnes	Mary Barnes	Odyssey Theatre, Los Angeles	Professional debut; main role	[1][3][4]
1983–84	Quilters	Garrett's daughter	Music Center Plaza, Los Angeles		[5]
1984	Vampire Guts	Louise	Pilot Theatre, Los Angeles		[6]
	Gardenia	Lydie Breeze	Los Angeles Actors' Theatre, Los Angeles	Second chapter of Lydie Breeze series	[7]
	Women and Water			Fourth chapter of Lydie Breeze series	[8]
1986	The History of Fear		Victory Theatre, Los Angeles		[9][10]
	Inside Out		Beverly Hills Playhouse, Los Angeles	Solo role	[11]
1987	Savage in Limbo	Denise Savage	The Cast Theatre, Los Angeles	Main role	[12][13]
1995	Mary Barnes	Mary Barnes	Odyssey Theatre, Los Angeles	Main role; revival	[1]
1999	The Greeks	Helen			[14]
2003	Times Like These				[15]
2006	First Monday in October	Ruth Loomis			[16]
2012	I Am Chrissie	Herself	Promenade Playhouse, Los Angeles	Main role; also writer	[4]

Film

Year(s)	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
1982	Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann	Terry	Film debut
1986	The Adventures of the American Rabbit	Bunny O' Hare (voice)
1987	Harry and the Hendersons	Screaming Woman
1992	Gas Food Lodging	Thelma
2001	Mockingbird Don't Sing	Beverly Glazer
2002	American Gun	Martin's Mother
2004	Around the Bend	Ruth
2005	Invasion	Reporter
2006	Little Chenier	Faye
2008	Bottle Shock	Laura
	Disfigured	Sheila
2022	Pie in the Sky	Dory

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
1983	Dynasty	Maid	Television debut Episode: "Reunion in Singapore"
	St. Elsewhere	Mrs. Morgen	Episode: "Working"
	Knight Rider	Linda Groves	Episode: "Nobody Does It Better"
1983–85	Dungeons & Dragons	Additional voices	27 episodes
1984	Legmen	Mary Smith	Episode: "I Shall Be Re-Released"
	Calamity Jane	Mamie	Television film
	Saturday's the Place!	Herself	Television film
1984–91	Muppet Babies	Baby Piggy, Captain Crochette Hook (voice)	107 episodes
1985	Obsessed with a Married Woman	Gali	Television film
	Santa Barbara	Hooker	2 episodes
	The Transformers	Astoria Carlton-Ritz (voice)	Episode: "The Girl Who Loved Powerglide"
	Shadow Chasers	Vicki Pasternack	Episode: "Spirit of St. Louis"
	The GLO Friends Save Christmas	Additional voices	Television film
1986	The Defiant Ones	Pauline	Television film
	Trapper John, M.D.	Oliva	Episode: "Life, Death, and Dr. Christmas"
	Cagney & Lacey	Linda Donner	Episode: "Extradition"
	Convicted	Audrey Delaney	Television film
1987	Deadly Care	Gloria	Television film
	Infidelity	Eileen	Television film	[17][18]
	The Real Ghostbusters	Vanna (voice)	Episode: "The Cabinet of Calamari"
1988	Ohara	Ruth Britton	Episode: "Sign of the Times"
	L.A. Law	Megan Penny	Episode: "Belle of the Bald"	[19]
1989	ABC Weekend Special	Lewis' Mom, Trashy's Sister	Episode: "The Monster Bed"
1990	Too Young to Die?	Wanda Bradley Sledge	Television film
	Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue	Baby Piggy, Mom (voice)	Television film
	Gabriel's Fire	Kathy Danube	Episode: "To Catch a Con: Part 2"
1991	The Antagonists	Aly	Episode: "Brother to Brother"
1992	Reasonable Doubts	Esther Nichols	Episode: "Maggie Finds Her Soul"
1993	Beyond Suspicion	Pat	Television film
1993–94	Cro	Ivanna (voice)	14 episodes
1994	One More Mountain	Elizabeth Graves	Television film
1995	Vanishing Son	Sandra Garbett	Episode: "Sweet Sixteen"
	Picket Fences	Sara Hynes	Episode: "The Song of Rome"
	Live Shot	Marilyn Maitland	2 episodes
1996	The Lazarus Man	Charlotte Bower	Episode: "The Conspirator"
	Walker, Texas Ranger	Becky Stanton	Episode: "A Ranger Christmas"
1996, 1999	Chicago Hope	Myra Delaney, Antonia White	2 episodes
1997	Crisis Center	Mrs. Thomas	Episode: "Where Truth Lies"
	7th Heaven	Carol	Episode: "I Love You"
1997, 2001	NYPD Blue	Mrs. Pierson, Dr. Rosen	2 episodes
1998	Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction	Paula Myrtle	Season 2, Episode 5 Segment: "The Land" Credited as Laurie O' Brian
	ER	Mrs. Richards	Episode: "The Miracle Worker"
2000	Boston Public	Melanie Fitzgerald	Episode: "Chapter Six"
2001	Strong Medicine	Arlene Billings	Episode: "Impaired"
2002	The Zeta Project	Paula	Episode: "Eye of the Storm"
	Presidio Med	Denise Dembry	Episode: "This Baby's Gonna Fly"
2003	CSI: Miami	Mary Hinkle	Episode: "Double Cap"
2004	The Division	Connie Hicks	Episode: "Be Careful What You Wish For"
2005	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Mrs. Meyers	Episode: "Shooting Stars"
2006	Smith	Barbara Collins	Episode: "Two"
2007	Shark	Amanda Morton	Episode: "Wayne's World 2: Revenge of the Shark"
2009	Three Rivers	Ruth	Episode: "Ryan's First Day"
2010	Detroit 1-8-7	June Burke	Episode: "Pharmacy Double/Bullet Train"
2013	Susanna	Dr. Anderson	3 episodes
2014	Complete Works	Deborah Hünterschmidt	5 episodes

Awards

• L.A. Drama Critics Circle award for Mary Barnes, 1981^[1]
• LA Weekly award for Mary Barnes, 1981^[1]
• L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award for Savage in Limbo, 1987^{[citation needed]}
• Ovation Award, Times Like These, 2003^{[citation needed]}