Anne Dudek

**Anne Louise Dudek** is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Tiffany Wilson in the 2004 film *White Chicks*, Dr. Amber Volakis on the American television show *House*, Clare Pettengill on the British television show *The Book Group*, and Francine Hanson on the AMC Network television series *Mad Men*. Dudek’s recent television projects include recurring roles on Amazon’s hit detective thriller *Bosch*, the FX comedy *You’re the Worst*, The CW’s *The Flash* and Syfy’s *The Magicians*.

## Early life

Dudek was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. Her father was an architect. She graduated from Newton North High School, and attended Northwestern University. Her surname is Slavic and means hoopoe (a type of bird).

## Career

From the mid-1990s (while at Northwestern University) through 2001, Dudek appeared in various theater productions and on Broadway. She made her Broadway debut in *Wrong Mountain* in 2000, and she won the Connecticut Critics Circle Award for outstanding performance in *The Glass Menagerie*.

After success on Broadway, she made the jump to television, with her first starring role coming on the British comedy drama The Book Group. She has since guest starred on other TV shows, including *Desperate Housewives* (as Karl Mayer's girlfriend in Season 1), *How I Met Your Mother* (as Ted's Krav Maga-trained ex-girlfriend), *Friends* (as "Precious," Mike Hannigan's girlfriend), *ER* (as a mother who accidentally shot her son), *Charmed*, *Bones* (as Seeley Booth's lawyer girlfriend), *Numb3rs*, and *Six Feet Under*. She also played Lucinda Barry in the pilot episode of *Psych*, and she portrayed a teacher who has a sexual relationship with one of her students (based on the case of Debra Lafave) on *Law & Order: Criminal Intent*.

Dudek had a recurring role on *House* beginning in season 4, as Amber Volakis, one of forty physicians under consideration by Dr. House for permanent positions on his team. Her character, nicknamed "Cutthroat Bitch" by House, continued to the end of the season but was killed in the two-part season 4 finale, "House's Head" and "Wilson's Heart." She would later reappear as a hallucination by House in the season 5 episode "Saviors" and appear as such for the remainder of the season. Dudek later appeared in *Mad Men* as next-door neighbor Francine Hanson, and on *Big Love* as one of antagonist Alby Grant's wives, both recurring roles. In 2010, Dudek joined the cast of *Covert Affairs*, portraying Danielle Brooks, the sister of the central character. On film, she played the role of cruise line heir Tiffany Wilson in the 2004 comedy film *White Chicks*. She also played Anthony Hopkins' daughter in *The Human Stain*.

In 2012, Anne played a role of an ISS astronaut on the TV show *Touch* in Season 1 Episode 8. She also reprised her role as Amber Volakis for the *House* series finale, "Everybody Dies."

## Personal life

Dudek as married to artist Matthew Dana Heller; the two wed in 2008; They have a son, Akiva, born the year they wed, on December 14, 2008, and a daughter, Saskia, born in February 2012; the couple divorced in 2016.

## References

1. ↑ About: Anne Dudek. *Comedy Central Press (Corporate), www.press.cc.com*. Retrieved on September 14, 2020.
2. ↑ The Past. Blogspot (April 11, 2013). Retrieved on August 30, 2014.
3. ↑ My architect. Blogspot (October 3, 2010). Retrieved on August 30, 2014.
4. ↑ Anne Dudek: Who is actress who plays Tracy Brand on The Flash?. Retrieved on 27 November 2017.
5. ↑ Mad Men's Anne Dudek Welcomes a Son *People* Magazine, December 23, 2008
6. ↑ Anne Dudek Welcomes Baby No. 2: Saskia. CelebrityBabyScoop.com (March 2, 2012). Retrieved on September 8, 2012.

## External links

* Anne Dudek Biography
* Anne Dudek links at FreeOnes
* Anne Dudek article at *Wikipedia*