Amy Morton

Amy Morton is an American actress and director born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1958 or 1959. She attended Oak Park and River Forest High School before studying at both Triton College and Clarke University, though she did not graduate from either institution. Morton has spent the majority of her career in the Chicago theater scene and has been a member of Steppenwolf Theater's core ensemble of actors since 1997.

Morton made her Broadway debut in 2001, playing Nurse Ratched opposite Gary Sinise in the Tony Award-winning revival of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Her next Broadway appearance came with Tracy Letts' August: Osage County, in which she originated the role of Barbara in both the original Chicago production at Steppenwolf and the subsequent Broadway production. That performance earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play as well as a Drama Desk Award nomination. She later reprised the role in the fall 2008 London production at the National Theatre. Morton returned to Broadway with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? during the 2012–13 season, receiving her second Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play, along with a second Drama Desk Award nomination for the same role.

Beyond her Broadway work, Morton's stage career has included numerous productions at Steppenwolf and other Chicago theaters, among them Clybourne Park, American Buffalo, Dublin Carol, The Pillowman, Love-Lies-Bleeding, and Awake and Sing. In 2015, she made her Off-Broadway directing debut with Guards at the Taj. Her directing work also extends to Chicago, where she received a Joseph Jefferson Award nomination in 2002 for directing Glengarry Glen Ross at Steppenwolf. Morton has accumulated multiple additional Joseph Jefferson Award nominations as an actress in Chicago productions dating back to 1984, and won the award in 1986 for Actress in a Supporting Role in a Play for You Can't Take It with You at Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

On screen, Morton made her feature film debut in the 1992 comedy Straight Talk, starring Dolly Parton. The following year she appeared in Rookie of the Year, a comedy that grossed more than $56 million worldwide. Her subsequent film credits include the 1999 crime thriller 8mm, directed by Joel Schumacher, and the 2009 drama Up in the Air, directed by Jason Reitman, in which she played the sister of George Clooney's character. She appeared in the comedy-drama The Dilemma in 2011 and took the leading role in the independent film Bluebird in 2013.

Morton's television work includes guest appearances on Crime Story, The Equalizer, ER, Private Practice, and Homeland. From 2011 to 2012, she held the recurring role of Catherine Walsh, a Republican candidate for governor, in the Starz political drama Boss. Between 2013 and 2014, she appeared in a recurring capacity as Amanda Harris on the CBS drama Blue Bloods. In 2014, Morton was cast as Sergeant Trudy Platt in the NBC dramas Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D., and was elevated from recurring guest star to series regular beginning with the second season of Chicago P.D.