Lauren Holly Movies

NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) is more than just an action drama. With liberal doses of humor, it's a show that focuses on the sometimes complex and always amusing dynamics of a team forced to work together in high-stress situations. NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), a former Marine gunnery sergeant, whose skills as an investigator are unmatched, formerly led this troupe of colorful personalities. Gibbs, a man of few words, only needs a look to explain it all. The team includes NCIS Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), an ex-homicide detective who may come off as the world's oldest frat boy, but whose instincts in the field are unparalleled; forensic specialist Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette), a talented scientist whose dark wit matches her Goth style and eclectic tastes, NCIS Special Agent Timothy McGee (Sean Murray), an MIT graduate whose brilliance with computers far overshadows his insecurities in the field and Ziva David (Cote de Pablo), a former Moussad agent who shares a bond with Gibbs over the death of his arch nemesis, Ari, the terrorist who killed former NCIS Special Agent Kate Todd. Assisting the team is medical examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum), who knows it all because he's seen it all, and he's not afraid to let you know. Rounding out the team is NCIS director Jennifer Shepard (Lauren Holly) who has a romantic history with Gibbs. From murder and espionage to terrorism and stolen submarines, these special agents travel the globe to investigate all crimes with Navy or Marine Corps ties. The 19 episodes of Season 5 aired from 2007-8 on CBS.

Season Three of NCIs opens on a melancholy note, as the Naval Criminal Investigate Service team headed by the iconoclastic Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) mourns the death of team member Caitlin "Kate" Todd (Shana Alexander) at the hands of ruthless terrorist Ari (Rudolf Martin) (though actress Alexander had left the series, she would return in "ghostly" form once or twice). Gibbs' response to the loss is encapsulated in the title of the two-part season opener, "Kill Ari", which introduces Cote de Pablo as new NCI member Ziva David, a former Mossad officer who also has a score to settle with Ari. Another new regular is introduced in the episode "Silver War": Lauren Holly as NCIs director Jenny Shepard, who replaces former director Tom Morrow (Alan Dale) when the latter joins the Homeland Security department. Jenny's arrival adds a whole new dimension to the series, inasmuch as she had previously been the partner--and lover--of Leroy Gibbs. In addition to these newcomers, together with longtime series stalwarts Michael Weatherly (Tony DiNozzo), Pauley Perrette (Abigail Sciuto), Sean Murray (Tim McGee) and David McCallum (Donald "Ducky" Mallard), the third season also marks the debut appearances of recurring characters Stephanie Mello as Cynthia Summer and Muse Watson as Michael Franks. Throughout the season, the viewer is offered seconds-lasting flashbacks to the jealously guarded past of NCI team head Gibbs, culminating in the revelation that the first of his three wives was murdered, along with his daughter. This information comes to surface during the two-part finale "Hiatus", wherein Tony DiNozzo is put in charge of the team while Gibbs is recovering from a serious injury which may rob him of his memory--a tragedy that could not happen at a worse time, inasmuch as Gibbs is the only person who knows the modus operandi of a vicious terrorist group which threatens the lives of everyone whom the viewer cares about! Incidentally, there's a bit of benevolent nepotism afoot during NCI's third season. Appearing in key roles as Michael Bellisario and Troian Bellisario--the real-life offspring of series producer/creator Donald P. Bellisario. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lauren Holly, Lacey Chabert, Billy Zane, Angus Macfadyen, and Meatloaf all star in Cube 2 director Adrzej Sekula's darkly comic tale of interconnecting lives. The setting is the City of Angels, the players: a deranged kidnapper, a ruthless lesbian assassin, a sociopath call-girl, and a demented cult leader. Daphne (Holly) is an empathetic caregiver who has been tending to the needs of sever head-trauma patient Tom (Angelo Spizzirri). Tom's father is the head of a highly-profitable cult-like church. Though the shady religious sect proves highly profitable, it turns out that the greedy guru has been keeping most of the profits to himself while paying Daphne such a meager wage that she isn't even able to afford Tom's medicine. Frustrated after being refused a raise by the mysterious religious fanatic, Daphne eventually resorts to kidnapping Tom's mentally deficient sister (Steffany Huckaby) as a means of raising the funds needed to care for her helpless patient. Meanwhile, after a neurotic college professor (MacFadyen) is abandoned by his wife for another woman, he sets out on the road with a sexy student (Chabert) who's willing to do whatever it takes to maintain her GPA. When cold-blooded killer Marcy (Jill Bennett) is hired to take out Daphne and put an end to the well-intended kidnapping plot, all three stories come crashing together through a series of shocking coincidences. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The Bronx bakery owned by the family of Marco Poloni (Costas Mandylor) is on the verge of bankruptcy, and Marco's Uncle Fab (David Proval) is poised to sell the place to a nationwide donut chain. To save the establishment and keep it in the family, Marco enters the "Golden Whisk Dessert Competition," hoping to win the 250,000-dollar grand prize. He further persuades the restaurant's brilliant pastry baker Grace Carpenter (Lauren Holly) to be his partner in the contest, to which she agrees, even though she's fed up to the gills with Marco's explosive temper. Grace isn't the only person who's annoyed at Marco; one of the competing contestants is his former food academy classmate (and now his bitterest enemy) Jacques du Jacques (Andrew Lauer), while among the judges is Marco's onetime teacher and mentor Emile Fragonard (Jean-Pierre Bergeron), who had washed his hands of his contentious student years earlier. And then there's the matter of Grace's jealous boyfriend. A joyous reunion for ex-Picket Fences co-stars Lauren Holly and Costas Mandylor, the made-for-cable Just Desserts premiered February 8, 2004, on the Hallmark Channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear is transplanted to 19th century Texas in this made-for-cable drama. Patrick Stewart stars as John Lear, the wealthiest and most powerful rancher in the territory. Failing in body and mind, Lear decides to divide his vast property among his three daughters -- Suzannah (Marcia Gay Harden), Rebecca (Lauren Holly), and Claudia (Julie Cox) -- giving the most land to the girl who most persuasively professes her love and loyalty. While her mercenary sisters fawn all over John, the headstrong Claudia refuses to feed false compliments to her father, and as a result, she is banished from his ranch. But when Lear's spread is threatened by usurpers and landgrabbers, the enfeebled patriarch realizes that Claudia is the only one of his offspring truly worthy of his affection. All of the Shakespearean highlights are intact, albeit retranslated within the genre expectations of the Western. For example, Lear's blinding is done with a branding iron. An uneasy mixture of British theatricality and John Ford-like cinematic spectacle, King of Texas (filmed in Mexico despite its title) originally aired June 2, 2002, on the TNT cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In response to the public's insatiable fascination with the Kennedy family, the NBC network brought forth this two-part miniseries, based on a book by Randy Taraborelli. Described by the author as "Knot's Landing goes to Capitol Hill," Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot covers a time span of 25 years, from the marriage of John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier to the 1980 presidential bid of JFK's brother Teddy. To many observers, the film seemed to consist primarily of TV news bulletins announcing various and sundry Kennedy tragedies, punctuated by long, long discussions between the wives of JFK, Bobby, and Teddy regarding their husbands' various infidelities. Some of the intrigues are based on fact, notably the uneasy relationship between Jackie and Bobby's wife Ethel, and the drinking problems shared by Teddy and his wife Joan. Other segments, however, fall back on rumor and hearsay, notably the scenes involving Marilyn Monroe. At the very least, the three actresses chosen to play the title roles -- Jill Hennessy (Jackie), Lauren Holly (Ethel), and Leslie Stefanson -- looked, sounded, and behaved exactly like their real-life counterparts. Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot originally aired on March 4 and March 5, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a true story, the made-for-TV Fugitive Among Us stars Peter Strauss and Eric Roberts. Strauss plays Max Cole, a police detective obsessed with tracking down a rapist. Cal Harper (Roberts), who is as outgoing and uninhibited as Cole is buttoned-up and repressed, is the number-one suspect. After a two-year pursuit across the Southwest, Cole is close to cornering his quarry--at great personal and emotional expense. Suddenly he is seized with the notion that Harper may not be the man he's looking for, sparking yet another deluge of angst. Full of surprising plot twists and offbeat characterizations, Fugitive Among Us debuted February 4, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Controversial and often offensive stand-up comedian Andrew Dice Clay made his debut as a feature film star in this crude comedy. Fairlane is a "rock and roll detective" who works in the music business, has an office on Sunset Boulevard, and drives a 1957 Ford, with clothing to match. He floats through the rock clubs of Hollywood, picking up women and clients, and soon stumbles into a case involving the death of a heavy metal singer, a corrupt music executive (Wayne Newton), the murder of a radio shock-jock (Gilbert Gottfried), and the kidnapping of the jock's daughter (Maddie Corman). Music stars like Sheila E. and Motley Crue singer Vince Neil also have cameos in the film, which attempts to transplant Clay's aggressively obnoxious stage persona into a movie environment. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

Blind Justice is a fact-based TV movie starring Tim Matheson, here made to look "normal" with glasses and mustache. The innocent Matheson is fingered by witnesses as an armed robber/kidnapper/rapist. For the next 14 months, his life is hell. Too much circumstantial evidence surrounds the case, and too much information leaks out to the public; even if Matheson beats the rap, he'll be ruined in his community. Blind Justice was first telecast on March 9, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A longtime comedian who has repeatedly failed to break big finds his one last shot at stardom thwarted by his toughest crowd yet in director Pete Schwaba's tale of love and failure on the standup circuit. Despite being singled out for stardom early on in his comedy career, L.A. comic Joe Keegan (Schwaba) never really managed to find his footage in the ultra-tough world of show business. Informed by his best friend, Kenny (Lance Barber), that Tonight Show talent scout Harvey Skoric will be attending the upcoming "Rocktober" festival in Pine Lake, WI, Joe reluctantly decides to take a break from the West Coast and pull out all the stops for one final all-or-nothing audition. Initially dejected when his set is sabotaged by local emcee Dug (Thomas Lennon), Joe finds inspiration in the form of his former high-school English teacher Molly Mahoney (Lauren Holly), herself attempting to overcome the recent pains of a failed marriage. Concerned that he may have been wasting his life but convinced by Molly that he has simply been living his dream, Joe takes the stage once again to face a formidable crowd filled with hunters, Packers fans, and former high-school football star-turned-drug dealer Big Jake Norquist (Tony Goldwyn) -- the so-called "Godfather of Green Bay," who also has eyes for the lovely Molly. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The Last Producer stars Burt Reynolds (who also directed) as burned-out Hollywood movie mogul Sonny Wexler. Once the fair-haired boy of Tinseltown, Wexler finds himself persona non grata in a city now run by younger, leaner, hungrier, and more ruthless studio CEOs. In a last-ditch comeback effort, Sonny tries to purchase a script from a novice scrivener that bids fair to be the hottest property in years. Unfortunately, the hero may be beaten to the punch by a nasty upstart executive who will stop at nothing -- not even murder -- to get his hands on the script. Most of the film is devoted to Sonny's frantic efforts to raise the necessary 50,000 dollars from his alleged friends, his estranged family members, and a handful of raffish-looking types with mob connections. And believe it or not, this is a comedy. Evidently intended for theatrical release, The Last Producer made its first appearance via the home-video market in Europe in 2000. The film was not widely shown in America until its USA Network cable-TV debut on February 6, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Oliver Stone takes on professional football, a sport whose grace and delicacy are a good match for his filmmaking style. Tony D'Amato (Al Pacino), the head coach of the Miami Sharks, won back-to-back championships four years ago. But new team owner Christina Pagniacci (Cameron Diaz) has little enthusiasm for the finer points of the game and is concerned only with the bottom line. The longtime strongman of Tony's team has been "Cap" Rooney (Dennis Quaid), a 39-year-old quarterback, but Christina balks at renewing his contract. When Cap is injured during a game, third-string rookie quarterback Willie Beaman (Jamie Foxx) goes on in his place and becomes a major star. But Beaman is mostly interested in fame and money, and he has little regard for Tony and his teammates. Any Given Sunday also stars James Woods as the team's doctor, LL Cool J as a star running back, Jim Brown as a former football great turned Sharks' defensive coordinator, Ann-Margret as Christina's alcoholic mother, Bill Bellamy as a wide receiver, Elizabeth Berkley as Tony's favorite prostitute, and Charlton Heston as the football commissioner. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide