# Paula Marshall

Paula Marshall (born June 12, 1964) is an American actress.

## Career

In 1990, Marshall had a guest role as Iris West, the love interest of Flash (Barry Allen) in the pilot episode on the short-lived Flash. In 1991, she guest-starred on Superboy with a young Clark Kent before he called himself Superman, playing the villainous Christina Riley, a woman who is, in secret, a werewolf. Both series are part of DC Comics media. In 1992, Marshall had a three-episode guest role on The Wonder Years and later guest-starred on shows such as Seinfeld, Nash Bridges, Grapevine and Diagnosis: Murder. Later in 1992, she appeared in the movie Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth as Terri. In 1994, she got her first sitcom role on Wild Oats. In 1995, Marshall starred in the science fiction cult classic W.E.I.R.D. World, directed by William Maloneas, as Dr. Abby O'Reardon, an evil scientist who rejuvenates her boss (and later becomes his mother) and is bent on turning grown men into babies. After a few years in B movies, Marshall gained a role on 1997's Chicago Sons. The same year, she landed a recurring role on Spin City and starred with Bette Midler and Dennis Farina in the film That Old Feeling, where her character fell in love with the paparazzo played by Danny Nucci.
Marshall has been cast in several pilots that were not picked up, including the Elizabeth Lackey series Cooking Lessons and Rob Thomas's Sticks.
Marshall was on Rob Thomas's Cupid, premiering in 1998. It featured her as Dr. Claire Allen, a psychiatrist supervising a man named Trevor (Jeremy Piven) who thinks he is Cupid. Marshall then joined David E. Kelley's Snoops about an unconventional detective agency.
In 2000, Marshall returned to television screens: first with a three-episode guest appearance as a porn star and love interest for Jeremy (Joshua Malina) on Aaron Sorkin's Sports Night, and then in Cursed (a.k.a. The Weber Show). In 2002, she guest starred on Just Shoot Me! as the daughter of Nina Van Horn.
Hidden Hills was an offbeat comedy about three families in suburbia. Marshall also had a secondary role in the Steve Martin-Bonnie Hunt remake of Cheaper by the Dozen and a cameo appearance in Break a Leg, which starred her husband Danny Nucci.
In 2004, Marshall appeared in an episode of the TV show Miss Match, but the series was cancelled before it aired. In October, she had a four-episode role in Veronica Mars, (created by Rob Thomas), and she reprised the role toward the end of season two. Marshall's next main role came in the sitcom Out of Practice.
In 2007, Marshall appeared in the Showtime series Californication. She also was seen in the FX series Nip/Tuck as an insecure actress who dated Dr. Sean McNamara.
In 2008, Marshall joined the crime drama Shark as a recurring character.
Marshall starred on the CBS sitcom Gary Unmarried. She and Jay Mohr played a divorced couple sparring while trying to be loving parents to their two children. The show was her first to be picked up for a second season.
Marshall had a guest role in the hit drama House, playing Julia, sister of Lisa Cuddy.
In 2012, Marshall guest starred in an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. She played the role of Kathy Veck, owner of an oil company.
In 2013, Marshall guest starred in two episodes of Two and a Half Men as Alan Harper's transgender girlfriend Paula.
In 2021, Marshall appeared in Walker as Gale Davidson, an enemy to Cordell Walker (Jared Padalecki) and his family. Marshall and Padalecki appeared in Cheaper by the Dozen together, but their characters never interacted with each other.

## Personal life

Marshall is from Rockville, Maryland. She has been married to actor Danny Nucci since 2003, and the couple have a daughter.
She is the sister of Virginia politician Bob Marshall, who became widely known for proposing a "bathroom bill" (a law that would have limited transgender individuals access to public restrooms of their born sex) before his defeat by transgender candidate Danica Roem in the November 2017 state election. Paula Marshall attributed his defeat to "karma" for his "homophobic" acts.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1992 | Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth | Terri/Dreamer Cenobite | |
| 1993 | Warlock: The Armageddon | Samantha Ellison | |
| 1994 | The New Age | Alison Gale | |
| 1996 | A Family Thing | Karen | |
| 1997 | That Old Feeling | Molly De Mora | |
| 1997 | A Gun, a Car, a Blonde | Deborah | |
| 1998 | Thursday | Christine | |
| 2003 | Cheaper by the Dozen | Tina Shenk | |
| 2005 | Break a Leg | Alice | |
| 2007 | I Know Who Killed Me | Marnie Toland | |
| 2008 | Helping Hand | Michelle | Short |
| 2010 | Miss Nobody | Cynthia Bardo | |
| 2010 | Greetings | Julie | Short |
| 2015 | Fathers & Daughters | Laura Garner | |
| 2017 | We Love You, Sally Carmichael! | Diane | |
| 2021 | Malignant | Beverly | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1989 | One Life to Live | Kelly Weston | |
| 1990 | True Blue | Lisa | "Hickory, Dickory, Dock" |
| 1990 | Mancuso, F.B.I. | Eve | "Adamant Eve" |
| 1990 | The Flash | Iris West | "Pilot" |
| 1991 | Superboy | Christina Riley | "Werewolf" |
| 1992 | Grapevine | Fran | "The Fran and Joey Story" |
| 1992 | Life Goes On | Jill Gordon | "Love Letters", "Windows", "Babes in the Woods" |
| 1992–93 | The Wonder Years | Bonnie Douglas | "Wayne and Bonnie", "Let Nothing You Dismay", "New Years" |
| 1993 | Seinfeld | Sharon | "The Outing" |
| 1993 | Lost in the Wild | Jill Houston | TV film |
| 1993 | Full Eclipse | Liza | TV film |
| 1993 | A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Wicked Wives | Margo / Debra Walters | TV film |
| 1994 | Diagnosis: Murder | Cindy Martin | "Flashdance with Death" |
| 1994 | Wild Oats | Shelly Thomas | Main role |
| 1995 | W.E.I.R.D. World | Dr. Abby O'Reardon | TV film |
| 1996 | Nash Bridges | Eve | "Home Invasion", "Night Train" |
| 1997 | The Single Guy | Isabella | "Grandfather Clause" |
| 1997 | Chicago Sons | Lindsay Sutton | Main role |
| 1997–98 | Spin City | Laurie Parres | Recurring role |
| 1998–99 | Cupid | Dr. Claire Allen | Main role |
| 1999 | Snoops | Dana Plant | Main role |
| 2000 | Sports Night | Jenny | "Celebrities", "The Local Weather", "The Fall of Ryan O'Brian" |
| 2000–01 | Cursed | Katie | Main role |
| 2002 | Just Shoot Me! | Chloe | "Nina Van Mom", "Nina Van Grandma" |
| 2002–03 | Hidden Hills | Dr. Janine Barber | Main role |
| 2003 | Miss Match | Kathryn Hammond | "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" |
| 2003 | Alligator Points | Emma | TV film |
| 2004 | Cooking Lessons | Brett | TV film |
| 2004–06 | Veronica Mars | Rebecca James | "Meet John Smith", "You Think You Know Somebody", "Clash of the Tritons", "I Am God" |
| 2005–06 | Out of Practice | Dr. Regina Barnes | Main role |
| 2007 | Manchild | Laura | TV film |
| 2007–08 | Nip/Tuck | Kate Tinsley | Recurring role |
| 2007–08 | Californication | Sonja | Recurring role |
| 2008 | Shark | Jordan Westlake | "Bar Fight", "Leaving Las Vegas", "One Hit Wonder" |
| 2008 | The Wife & Times of Teddy Berman | Marcy Berman | TV series |
| 2008–10 | Gary Unmarried | Allison Brooks | Main role |
| 2011 | Little in Common | Ellie Weller | TV film |
| 2011 | House | Julia Cuddy | "Family Practice", "Bombshells", "Moving On" |
| 2011 | Friends with Benefits | Claire Prater | "The Benefit of Being Shallow" |
| 2011 | The Exes | Katy | "Working Girl" |
| 2012 | Widow Detective | Jill | TV film |
| 2012 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Ms. Kathy Veck | "Dune and Gloom" |
| 2013 | The Mentalist | Kris Makkena | "Black-Winged Redbird" |
| 2013 | The Haunted Hathaways | Elinor Kravits | "Haunted Interview" |
| 2013 | Two and a Half Men | Paula | "Numero Uno Accidente Lawyer", "On Vodka, on Soda, on Blender, on Mixer!" |
| 2014 | Murder in the First | Barbara Wilkerson | Recurring role |
| 2014 | Major Crimes | Jenn O'Hara | "Leap of Faith" |
| 2014–15 | Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street | Lora Fuller | Recurring role |
| 2015 | Switched at Birth | Nancy Shimingo | "Borrowing Your Enemy's Arrows" |
| 2016 | The Soul Man | Linda | "This Mud's for You" |
| 2016 | Game of Silence | Psychic | "Road Trip" |
| 2016 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Laura Collett | "Imposter" |
| 2019 | Euphoria | Marsha Jacobs | 9 Episodes |
| 2019–24 | 9-1-1 | Helena Diaz | 4 episodes |
| 2020 | Modern Family | Beverly | "Legacy" |
| 2021–22 | Walker | Gale Davidson | 10 episodes |
| 2023 | The Rookie: Feds | Candace Thurlow | "The Offer" |
| 2024 | Chicago Med | Leanne Archer | "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" |

## Radio and podcast appearances

Marshall appeared on Janet Varney's JV Club Podcast Episode #145 on March 12, 2016.
Marshall appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor podcast on February 7, 2017.