Anne Dudek

Anne Dudek

Active - 1990 - 2016  |   Born - Mar 22, 1975 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States  |   Genres - Drama, Family & Personal Relationships, Mystery

Share on

Biography by AllMovie

The classically beautiful, Massachusetts-born actress Anne Dudek received formal training in a number of theatrical masterworks, including the lead in a Chicago production of Iphigenia in Taurus, staged by JoAnne Akalaitis, before transitioning to supporting roles in filmed work. After a 2001 guest spot on ER, Dudek played Lisa Silk, daughter of racially masked professor Coleman Silk (Anthony Hopkins) in Robert Benton's thoughtful drama The Human Stain (2003). Dudek offered a memorable comic turn as snooty heiress Tiffany Wilson in the Wayans Brothers farce White Chicks (2004), and guest spots on such series programs as Six Feet Under (in 2003) and Desperate Housewives (in 2004), then scored her highest billing to date as Lorraine in Brad Silberling's 10 Items or Less (2006), starring Morgan Freeman.

That same year, Dudek landed a plum role in Kurt Voelker's nutty, ensemble-driven farce, Park. In 2007, the actress scored several memorable and notably diverse supporting roles on the small screen: a '60s housewife on the critically acclaimed AMC drama Mad Men; one of the wives of the scheming Alby Grant on the HBO polygamist drama Big Love; and one of Dr. Gregory House's (Hugh Laurie) possible new employees at the start of the hit medical drama House's fourth season. Her ambitious character on the latter show, dubbed by House as "Cutthroat Bitch," was ultimately not chosen for his elite medical team, but she returned later in the season as the love interest of his best friend, Dr. Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard).

Over the next several years, Dudek would land starring roles on still more successful shows like Big Love and Covert Affairs.

Movie Highlights

See Full Filmography

Factsheet

  • Made Broadway debut in Wrong Mountain in 2000.
  • Earned a guest spot on ER in 2001, which led to many appearances on hit shows including Friends, Desperate Housewives and Bones
  • Joined House in 2007 for its fourth season as intern Amber Volakis, who earned a memorable nickname.
  • Also in 2007, began a recurring role in Mad Men, as the Drapers' prying neighbor Francine Hanson.