Who is Pauley Perrette? The entertainment and acting world knows her as an American actress, known for playing Abby Sciuto[p] on the U.S. TV series NCIS. She is also a published writer[6]and civil rights advocate.[2]
Who is Pauley Perrette? The entertainment and acting world knows her as an American actress, known for playing Abby Sciuto[p] on the U.S. TV series NCIS. She is also a published writer[6]and civil rights advocate.[2]
Early life
Perrette was born March 27, 1969
in New Orleans and raised all over the southern United States.[2] She told Craig Ferguson, on The Late Late Show, that she has lived in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, New Jersey, and California.[7] She attended Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia, where she studied criminology.[8]
Career
She also appeared as a waitress at Cafe Nervosa in Frasier during season 4 (in the episode "Three Dates and a Break Up"), and later guest starred in season one of24. She has made appearances in several films, including The Ring and Almost Famous.[3]
In addition to acting, Perrette is a published poet, writer (her short story "Cheers..." appears in the
anthology Pills, Thrills, Chills, and Heartache: Adventures in the First Person), photographer, and spoken-word artist, a lover of music of all kinds, and a passionate advocate for civil rights. In 2007, she produced adocumentary about U.S. civil rights attorney and author Mark Lane.[2][9]
In an 2005 interview with Craig Ferguson, the host of The Late, Late Show, Perrette said she has a lifelong crime obsession. She was an undergrad student insociology, psychology, and criminal science. She started her master's degree in criminal science before ending up in the entertainment industry. She now plays a forensic scientist, her former career goal.[10]
In the January/February 2010 Performer Q Score, Perrette tied in the top 3 alongside Tom Hanks and Morgan Freeman. She was also the only female to make the top 10.[11]
Perette started appearing in television commercials for Expedia.com in late 2010.
Music
Prior to this, Perrette was the lead singer in the Los Angeles-based, all-female band Lo-Ball, using the stage name "Pauley P.".[13] A song by Lo-Ball, "Can't Get Me Down", can be heard during the movie Legally Blonde.[14] Perrette appeared in "The Unnamed Feeling" video for heavy metal band Metallica from their album St. Anger.
Personal life
Perrette toured the real NCIS offices on September 30, 2005, accompanied by an Entertainment Tonight camera crew. During the tour, NCIS Regional Forensic Lab director Dawn Sorenson (Abby's real life counterpart) told Perrette, "You make us all look good, so we're grateful."[17]
The character Abby Sciuto was created by Donald Bellisario, who "wanted to create...a character who was seemingly an 'alternafreak,' while portraying her as perhaps the smartest, most capable person on television. Not a junkie, killer, loser, or television stereotype." Perrette added some of her own "contributions" to the character, and also conferred with her friend Clint Catalyst, the "author of Cottonmouth Kisses [who is] often brought in as a guest on TV shows when they are doing pieces on goth or alternative culture." Perrette explained that "Clint and I and our 3,000 closest friends all play together...We've never sat around and labeled each other. Sure, there are nights when a certain event leans more towards one style than the other, but it's not like some turf war with gang colors." Like her character, Perrette has often been asked if she's goth or punk, to which her response is "Who cares?" Consequently, she told her employers that her character isn't the type to seek out a label; Abby "wouldn't call herself anything but Abby...What she represents is a smart, capable chick that cannot be reduced to a stereotype."[18]
Perrette worked with America's Most Wanted in February 2004 to present the city of Prattville,
Alabama with a check for $10,000, which will be used to supplement the reward offer for information leading to the arrest of the person who killed Shannon Paulk.[19] Paulk was from Prattville, Alabama, near where Perrette had once lived as a child. Perrette also donated $10,000 to Detroit law enforcement officials to be used as a reward for information regarding the disappearance/murder of Raven Jeffries,[20] a 7-year-old Detroit girl. (Perrette's husband was from Detroit.)[21] The story originally aired on America's Most Wanted on September 8, 2007 on Fox. She also asked them for help in finding the person(s) who killed her friend, Lisa Williamson, who was murdered in 2007 after her Detroit home was set on fire.
During the fall of 2008, Perrette opposed the California ballot initiative Proposition 8, writing a public letter urging Californians to vote against the measure.[22] She is a member of the Hollywood United Methodist Church.[23] Although she has exchanged vows with cameraman Michael Bosman, the two are not legally married - they have chosen to wait until everyone can get married in the USA. They have instead filed
for all the legal protections that are available to same-sex couples. The couple had dated for four years, but Michael did not propose until the legalization of gay marriage in California in June 2008. The couple then campaigned very publicly against California’s Prop. 8.[24]
for all the legal protections that are available to same-sex couples. The couple had dated for four years, but Michael did not propose until the legalization of gay marriage in California in June 2008. The couple then campaigned very publicly against California’s Prop. 8.[24]Perrette does not use any social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook. Profiles on such sites are impersonators.[25] In June 2010, Perrette, with the help of a friend named Chad Darnell, went on Twitter to help raise awareness for a homeless shelter in the Los Angeles area that was running low on funds.[26] Perrette, though, remains off Facebook and MySpace.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Magical Make-Over | Shannon | |
| 1996 - 1997 | Murder One | Gwen | 10 Episodes |
| Frasier | Rebecca | 2 Episodes, credited as: Pauley P | |
| 1997 | Early Edition | Theresa Laparko | 1 Episode, credited as: Pauley P |
| 1997 | The Price of Kissing | Renee | Credited as: Pauley P. |
| 1998 | Hand on the Pump | Hi-Girl | |
| Hoofboy | |||
| That's Life | Lisa | Unknown Episodes | |
| The Naked Truth | Ilana | 1 Episode | |
| The Drew Carey Show | Darcy | 4 Episodes | |
| 1999 | Batman Beyond | Cop | voice |
| Jesse | Gwen | ||
| Veronica's Closet | Nicole | 1 Episode | |
| Batman Beyond: The Movie | Police officer | voice | |
| 1999–2000 | Time of Your Life | Cecilia Wiznarksi | 21 Episodes |
| 2000 | Civility | Carolyn | |
| Almost Famous | Alice Wisdom | ||
| 2001 | Smash | Charley | Unknown Episodes |
| My First Mister | Bebe | ||
| Dead Last | Erica | 1 Episode | |
| Philly | Angela | 1 Episode | |
| Dawson's Creek | Rachel Weir, Ph.D. | 2 Episodes | |
| The American Shame | Associate Producer | ||
| 2001–2002 | Special Unit 2 | Alice Cramer | 4 episodes |
| 2002 | 24 | Tanya | Season 1, 2 episodes |
| Red Skies | Patty Peirson | TV | |
| The Ring | Beth | ||
| Hungry Hearts | Cokie Conner | ||
| Haunted | Nadine | 1 Episode | |
| 2003 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Candeece | 1 Episode |
| JAG | Abby Sciuto | 2 Episodes | |
| Ash Tuesday | Gina Mascara | ||
| Brother Bear | Female Lover Bear | voice | |
| 2003–present | NCIS | Abby Sciuto | All Episodes |
| 2004 | Cut and Run | Jolene | |
| A Moment of Grace | Dr. Grace Peters | ||
| 2005 | Potheads: The Movie | LuLu | |
| 2008 | Singularity Is Near | Ramona | |
| 2009 | Transcendent Man | Herself | post-production |
| I Am Bad | Mom | post-production | |
| Satan Hates You | Marie Flowers | pre-production | |
| NCIS: Los Angeles | Abby Sciuto | 2 episodes |