# Donna Lynne Champlin

Donna Lynne Champlin (born January 21, 1971) is an American actress, dancer and singer from New York City. She is best known for playing Paula Proctor on The CW comedy-drama series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

## Early life

Champlin was born in Rochester, New York, to a technical writer mother and a scientist father. She participated in various lessons, theatre productions, and national and international competitions throughout her childhood, in voice, piano, flute, theatre and dance.
Champlin went on to study musical theatre at Carnegie Mellon University, graduating with her BFA in 1993, and studied abroad as a 1992 Advanced Acting Scholar in Shakespeare and Chekhov at the University of Oxford. In 1992 she won the Princess Grace Foundation Award in Theatre. While still in college, she performed as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz with Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera.

## Career

Champlin took on the title role of Very Warm for May, her Broadway debut in James Joyce's The Dead, then By Jeeves, Hollywood Arms, Sweeney Todd, Billy Elliot the Musical, and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, for which she won the 2007 Obie Award. Other credits include: No, No Nanette, Very Good Eddie, First Lady Suite, Harold and Maude, My Life with Albertine, Bloomer Girl, and Jolson. She also performed with Len Cariou in the Simply Sondheim inaugural concert which celebrated the opening of the Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts.
Champlin's awards include the 2019 Gracie Award for Best Supporting Actress, 2013 Drama Desk Award, 2007 OBIE award, the Princess Grace Award, the title of National Tap Dance Champion four consecutive times, and she has received grants from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, The Anna Sosenko Trust, Princess Grace Foundation, and has received The Charlie Willard Memorial Grant.
Champlin's film and television credits include The Dark Half, the 2000 and 2006 Annual Tony Awards, The View, Law & Order, The Good Wife, The Good Fight, The Good Doctor, and Live with Regis and Kelly. From 2015 to 2019, she starred in the role of Paula Proctor in The CW comedy-drama series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend., Hortense in Another Period and Barb in Netflix's Feel the Beat. In 2022, she appeared in the Showtime series The First Lady.
Champlin released a solo album entitled Old Friends, performs a one-woman show entitled Finishing the Hat, and teaches acting at the Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Hartford, and New York University. She spends her downtime writing, raising money for JDRF, BCEFA, The Actors Fund, and lives with her family in NYC.

## Personal life

Champlin married actor Andrew Arrow in 2010 and they have one child. They live in New York City.

## Filmography
### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2001 | By Jeeves | Honoria Glossop | TV movie |
| 2008–2010 | Law & Order | Sergeant Angelyne Robinson / CSU Det. Halpern | 2 episodes |
| 2011–2014 | Submissions Only | Kim Gifford | 6 episodes |
| 2014 | The Good Wife | Myra Weymouth | Episode: "Oppo Research" |
| 2015 | Younger | Lori | Episode: "I'm with Stupid" |
| 2015–2019 | Crazy Ex-Girlfriend | Paula Proctor | Main character, 62 episodes |
| 2018 | Another Period | Hortense Bellacourt | Main character, 6 episodes |
| 2020 | The Good Fight | Mrs. Feldman | Episode: "The Gang Discovers Who Killed Jeffrey Epstein" |
| 2021 | Centaurworld | Prairiedogtaur | Episode: "Holes: Part 3" |
| 2021 | The Blacklist | Guinevere Claflin | Episode: "Elizabeth Keen (No. 1)" |
| 2022 | The First Lady | Melissa Winter | 6 episodes |
| 2022 | The Good Doctor | Brenna | Episode: "Dry Spell" |
| 2024 | The Perfect Couple | Nikki Henry | Miniseries |
| 2025 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Megan Wallace | Episode: "The Grid Plan" |

### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1993 | The Dark Half | Babysitter | Uncredited |
| 2008 | The Audition | Monitor | Short film |
| 2009 | My Father's Will | Sandra | |
| 2014 | Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) | Broadway Lady | |
| 2017 | Downsizing | Leisureland Administrator | |
| 2019 | Yes, God, Yes | Mrs. Veda | |
| 2020 | Feel the Beat | Barb | |

### Podcasts

| Year | Title | Voice role | Ref. |
| 2020-21 | In Strange Woods | Kathy | |

## Theatre credits

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2000 | James Joyce's The Dead | Mary Jane Morkan, Miss Molly Ivors (understudy) | Broadway |
| 2000 | James Joyce's The Dead | Mary Jane Morkan | Tour |
| 2001 | By Jeeves | Honoria Glossop | Broadway |
| 2002 | Hollywood Arms | Older Helen | Broadway |
| 2003 | My Life with Albertine | Grandmother | Off-Broadway |
| 2005–2006 | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Adolpho Pirelli | Broadway |
| 2008–2012 | Billy Elliot the Musical | Dead Mum (understudy), Ensemble | Broadway |
| 2010 | See Rock City & Other Destinations | Claire/Kate | Off-Broadway |
| 2021 | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Mrs. Lovett | Off-Broadway |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 1993 | Princess Grace Award | Grant | Theatre | Won |
| 2007 | Obie Award | Performance | The Dark at the Top of the Stairs | Won |
| 2008 | NYMF Award for Excellence | Outstanding Performance | Love Jerry | Won |
| 2013 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Ensemble Performance | Working: A Musical | Won |
| 2017 | Gracie Awards | Outstanding Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Comedy or Musical | Crazy Ex-Girlfriend | Won |