Angie Harmon

Angie Harmon

Active - 1997 - 2008  |   Born - Aug 10, 1972 in Dallas, Texas, United States  |   Genres - Action, Thriller, Adventure

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Biography by AllMovie

Born August 10th, 1972, Texan model-turned-actress Angie Harmon's private life (and concomitant rise to fame) bear closer correlation to a fairy tale than to a factual account. Born Angela Michelle Harmon in the Dallas suburb of Highland Park in the late summer of 1972, Harmon never sought out celebrity; it beckoned to her. An "accidental" discovery by the esteemed Kim Dawson Modeling Agency and a win of Seventeen Magazine's cover-girl contest (at age 15) launched Harmon on the path to modeling, but once she reached Manhattan, Harmon discovered a deep-seated love of drama. Harmon then survived a series of not-so-prestigious early roles (including a very brief stint on the exploitationer Baywatch Nights and a turn as a dysfunctional suburbanite in John Duigan's ugly allegory Lawn Dogs), to establish herself as a respected and esteemed actress.

Harmon first garnered national attention in the late '90s, as Abbie Carmichael, an assistant district attorney on the hit prime-time drama Law & Order -- a role she maintained for multiple seasons. Beginning in 2003, the actress segued from television into cinematic roles, with generally promising results. Her highest-profile turns include contributions to the family-oriented spy comedy Agent Cody Banks (2003), the action thriller End Game (2005), and the Jim Carrey/Téa Leoni comedy Fun With Dick and Jane (2005).

Harmon made coast-to-coast headlines in March 2000 when she received a marriage proposal from then-boyfriend Jason Sehorn, a running back for the New York Giants, on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Sehorn popped the question in front of Elton John and a nationwide TV audience. Harmon immediately accepted on the air, and the two wed a short time later, parenting children in successive years before annoucing their split in 2014. In her private life, Harmon is also an outspoken born-again Christian and an advocate of conservative political causes. She and Sehorn co-hosted the Lifetime special Together: Stop Violence Against Women (2003) to spread awareness and prevention of domestic abuse. In fall 2007, Harmon took on a lead role in the ABC detective series Women's Murder Club as Lindsay Boxer, one of four women who band together to solve crimes in the city of San Francisco; the series was an instant success. In 2010, Harmon begun work on Rizzoli & Isles in the leading role of Detective Jane Rizzoli, a hard-working law enforcer entrusted with solving some of Boston's toughest cases.

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Factsheet

  • Is of Greek and Cherokee Native American heritage.
  • Appeared as a newborn in a hospital-produced film.
  • Won Seventeen magazine's cover-girl contest at age 15, beating out 63,000 other teens.
  • As a model, appeared in fashion spreads in Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Elle, among others, and walked the runway for designers such as Calvin Klein and Versace.
  • Met David Hasselhoff on an airline flight, where he offered her an audition for the role of Ryan McBride in his series Baywatch Nights.
  • Husband Jason Sehorn proposed to her during a taping of The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.
  • Delivered remarks with Sehorn honoring Medal of Honor recipients Rudy Hernandez and Tom Hudner at the 2004 Republican National Convention.
  • Appeared discreetly nude in a 2008 issue of Allure magazine.
  • In 2010, served as spokeswoman and infomercial hostess for a stress-management program.