Stockard Channing

Stockard Channing was born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard. After graduating summa cum laude from Radcliffe College of Harvard University, she began acting in Off-Broadway shows while living in Boston.

The actress made her Broadway debut with 1971’s Two Gentlemen of Verona — The Musical. She made her TV debut on Sesame Street in 1972. Six years later, Channing made a splash on the big screen playing Rizzo in Grease (which has since become one of her biggest claims to fame).

She later had two of her own shows, 1979’s Stockard Channing in Just Friends and 1980’s The Stockard Channing Show. Her biggest movie roles include The Business of Strangers and Practical Magic.

Her TV credits include playing Abbey Bartlet on The West Wing from 1999 to 2006, playing Dr. Lydia Barnes on Out of Practice from 2005 to 2006 and portraying Veronica Loy on The Good Wife from 2012 to 2016. Channing also played Wendy Whipple on Knuckles in 2024.

Channing won the 1985 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play after starring in the Broadway revival of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. Channing originated the role of Ouisa Kittredge in the stage and film version of Six Degrees of Separation — the latter earning her an Academy Award nomination in 1994.

In 2002, Channing won two Emmys, one for The West Wing and one for The Matthew Shepard Story.

Channing was married four times, the first being to Walter Channing Jr. The pair were together from 1964 to 1967. She moved on with Paul Schmidt, whom she wed in 1969. They split in 1976. Stockard and third husband David Debin were married from 1976 to 1980. The actress and fourth husband David Rawle divorced in 1988 after six years of marriage. Stockard dated cinematographer Daniel Gillham from 1990 until his death in 2014.