Megan Gallagher

Megan Gallagher is an American actress born on February 6, 1960, in Reading, Pennsylvania, to Aileen and Donald Gallagher. The fifth of six children, Gallagher grew up in a household with a connection to performance; her mother had acted in her youth before stepping away from the stage to raise a family. Gallagher has credited her mother's influence, including childhood trips to Broadway productions, as foundational to her own pursuit of acting. She attended Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School, where her commitment to the craft was evident early — she skipped her high school prom to continue rehearsals at a local community theater, the Genesius Theatre. Mary Tyler Moore and Katharine Hepburn have also been cited by Gallagher as career influences.

To pursue formal training, Gallagher relocated to New York City and enrolled at the Juilliard School, where she studied under John Houseman. Her stage career began with an appearance in a production of Paul Osborn's Oliver Oliver before she was cast in the 1989 Broadway production of Aaron Sorkin's A Few Good Men. Her portrayal of LCDR JoAnne Galloway earned her both a Theatre World Award in 1990 and an Outer Critics Circle Award. In 1993, Gallagher returned to Broadway for productions of both parts of Tony Kushner's Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, appearing in Millennium Approaches and Perestroika.

Following her Broadway work, Gallagher transitioned to film and television, making her screen debut in the miniseries George Washington. She subsequently appeared as a series regular in the later seasons of Hill Street Blues and then took on a series regular role in The Slap Maxwell Story. She later joined the cast of China Beach in its second season as a series regular, a production on which she worked alongside Robert Picardo, with whom she has maintained a friendship. Gallagher also secured a starring role on The Larry Sanders Show, playing Jeannie Sanders, work that directly led to her casting in the Fox series Millennium. Creator Chris Carter had written the role of Catherine Black specifically with Gallagher in mind, having been impressed by her performance on The Larry Sanders Show. Gallagher was equally motivated to work with Carter, citing his creation of the character Dana Scully for The X-Files as an example of a compelling female character on television. She additionally appeared in the legal drama Suits, working alongside Wendell Pierce, a fellow alumnus of the Juilliard School.

Gallagher is married to actor Jeff Yagher and has twin children. Through her marriage she is related to actress Catherine Hicks and makeup artist Kevin Yagher.