Biography
Actress Amy Carlson rose to fame as Josie Watts on "Another World" (NBC, 1964-1999) before landing key roles in crime procedurals "Third Watch" (NBC, 1999-2005), "Law and Order: Trial By Jury" (NBC, 2005-06) and "Blue Bloods" (CBS, 2010- ). Born in Glen Ellyn, IL in 1968, Carlson spent her early teenage years living in the country of Jordan, where her parents taught at the American Community School, before going on to major in East Asian History at Galesburg's Knox College. Carlson also became heavily involved in the school's theatre department during her studies; after graduating, she decided to pursue a career in acting. She received her first on screen credit in Babe Ruth biopic "The Babe" (1992) and went onto appear in three episodes of crime dramas "Missing Persons" (ABC, 1993-94) and "The Untouchables" (Syndication, 1993-94) before landing her first major part, the long-lost and scandalized Josie Watts, in daytime institution "Another World" (NBC, 1964-1999). Five years and a Daytime Emmy Award nomination later, Carlson quit the soap opera and immediately landed the role of Tammy Boyer in Gulf War TV movie "Thanks of a Grateful Nation" (1998). A three-episode stint as Dr. Sedgwick in comedy drama "Get Real" (Fox, 1999-2000), a minor role in Marc Forster's directorial debut "Everything Put Together" (2000), and guest spots on "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (CBS, 2000-2016), and "Martial Law" (CBS, 1998-2000) then followed before Carlson landed her second major recurring role as paramedic/firefighter Alex Taylor in "Third Watch" (NBC, 1999-2005). Following her fourth season departure, Carlson played undertaker Katie Owen in Wild West crime drama "Peacemakers" (USA Network, 2003), appeared in the TV movies "Franklin Charter" (2005) and "Drift" (2006), and starred as idealistic Assistant District Attorney Kelly Gaffney in spin-off "Law and Order: Trial By Jury" (NBC, 2005-06). Carlson then added "NCIS" (CBS, 2003- ), "Criminal Minds" (CBS, 2005- ) and "Fringe" (Fox, 2008-2013) to her list of credits, played a bank security officer whose daughter is kidnapped in heist movie "Black Friday" (2007), and appeared in the Willem Dafoe-starring psychological thriller "Anamorph" (2007) before joining the cast of police procedural "Blue Bloods" (CBS, 2010- ) as Danny's wife Linda. (Carlson's story arc on the show ended in the premiere episode of the eighth season.) During her lengthy stint on the show, Carlson also portrayed Lehman Brothers CFO Erin Callan in the dramatized account of the 2008 financial meltdown, "Too Big to Fail" (HBO, 2011), played overzealous councilwoman Christina Casserta in David Cross' celebrity satire "Hits" (2014) and recorded a festive E.P. titled I Love The Holidays with bassist husband Syd Butler and his Les Savy Fav bandmate Seth Jabour under the guise of Office Romance. Following her performance as emotionally-scarred single mother Laura in indie drama "Natural Selection" (2014), Carlson appeared as Rachel Sampson, the adulterous wife of a small-town police officer, in the romantic fantasy "Sight Unseen" (2015).
