During her 35 years on big and small screens, she managed to raise a family, escape an encounter
with a real-life monster, and eventually land her dream role.
Keep watching for the truth about actress Lauren Holly!
One of Lauren Holly's earliest roles was playing Julie Chandler on the beloved daytime soap
opera "All My Children" — which starred soap opera great Susan Lucci, along with morning
show host Kelly Ripa , who, like Holly, is one of the many stars who got their start
on soaps.
Reminiscing about her time on the soap, Holly said that working on a daytime drama is one
of the "toughest" acting gigs there is, and that,
"It was one of those things with a huge learning curve for me."
Describing what she learned from her 3 years on the show, Holly explains,
"I always say if directors want a hard-working actor, they should take them off of soaps
because that is a daily grind."
Interestingly enough, Holly was already well-acquainted with "All My Children" before being cast,
largely because her father, a college professor, was a huge fan.
He noticed that his students were scheduling their lives around the show, so he decided
to watch an episode to see what all the fuss was about and became hooked.
Today, Lauren Holly is best known for her film and television roles, but there was a
time when she was recognized primarily as the girlfriend of comedy superstar Jim Carrey
and, eventually, as his second wife.
The relationship was controversial from the start, with Carrey's first wife, Melissa,
blaming Holly for the end of their marriage, something Holly denied.
She told Rolling Stone,
"They kept calling me a homewrecker.
I feel for Melissa, but they were completely apart when Jim and I met."
Unfortunately, their marriage proved to be short-lived.
Holly filed for divorce just 10 months after they got married.
Publicists for the exes confirmed the split, issuing identical statements that read,
"They wish only the best for one another."
Looking back in an interview with OWN's "Where Are They Now?"
Holly remembered those years, saying,
"It was a great sort of ride that I went on."
However, when the relationship ended, she confessed how hard those years had been because
of how public their relationship was.
"I felt like everybody knew.
I felt like they felt sorry for me or something."
During the years that Lauren Holly and Jim Carrey were a couple, his career exploded,
with the hilarious actor racking up a string of box-office blockbusters that made him Hollywood's
hottest comedy superstar.
As a result, the couple regularly found themselves besieged by paparazzi who descended on the
couple like starving vultures whenever they stepped out in public.
Holly explained in her interview with OWN when she and Carrey knew the insanity had
reached its peak:
"We realized there were some paparazzi who were living in our yard, underneath the tennis
court."
Holly admitted being the subject of all that attention was initially "kind of fun," until
it wasn't.
"They would do things like scale the fence at our house and live in our backyard and
take pictures through our window, you know.
Or weird things like that or go through our garbage."
In 2000, The Chicks, then known as The Dixie Chicks, released the single "Goodbye Earl."
The song tells the empowering-yet-felonious story of a battered woman who enlists the
help of her lifelong best friend to kill her abusive boyfriend and then dispose of the
body so it will never be found.
The song came with an accompanying music video, featuring a star-studded cast, which included
Dennis Franz of "NYPD Blue" as the titular Earl, along with future "30 Rock" star Jane
Krakowski as Earl's girlfriend, Wanda, and Lauren Holly as Wanda's BFF, Mary Ann.
Both the song and video stirred up controversy.
In fact, some radio stations refused to play "Goodbye Earl," and it probably didn't help
that the CD liner notes contained the glib disclaimer,
"The Dixie Chicks do not advocate premeditated murder but love getting even."
As is often the case, the controversy surrounding "Goodbye Earl" only increased the popularity
of both the song and video.
In fact, the video wound up winning Video of the Year at the 2001 ACM Awards.
If you or someone you know is struggling with domestic abuse, please call or chat online
with the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
In 2017, Lauren Holly revealed herself to be one of the many female actors to have been
sexually harassed by disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein , currently behind bars serving
a 23-year sentence on charges of rape and sexual assault.
During an appearance on Canadian TV's "The Social," Holly detailed what took place when
she met Weinstein in his hotel suite to discuss a film project.
The meeting started off professionally, but went off the rails when Weinstein dropped
his trousers, put on a robe, and began going about his business in the bathroom, including
taking a shower.
Recalling the event, Holly said,
"My head is going crazy at this point.
He's acting like the situation is normal.
He's acting like we're having a normal encounter [...] I didn't quite know how to handle myself
at that moment."
Things became even scarier when Weinstein exited the shower, stark naked, and walked
toward Holly requesting a massage.
Holly recalled,
"I wanted to flee, I was scared."
Ignoring his threats that leaving would be a "bad decision," she "pushed him and ran."
Of all the roles Lauren Holly has played in film and on television, one that continues
to register with viewers is that of Director Jenny Shepherd from the mega-hit CBS procedural
drama "NCIS."
Holly exited the show after just three seasons, writing in a since-deleted blog post that
she'd grown "bored" with the job and resigned.
Her character was ultimately killed off at the end of the fifth season.
Holly told The Ottawa Citizen,
"They killed me about five ways!
When I told them I wanted to leave, I'm not sure they took it too kindly.
They gave me a disease, they burned down my house and shot me multiple times in a shootout.
So I am very dead."
Lauren Holly has been married three times, and two of those unions have been with Canadian
men.
Her first husband was actor Danny Quinn, son of legendary Hollywood star Anthony Quinn.
They divorced in 1994 after just three years of marriage, and he later confessed he'd been
abusive throughout their marriage.
Shortly after, she fell in love with Ontario-born, comedic superstar Jim Carrey while filming
their comedy "Dumb and Dumber" in 1994.
They wed in 1996 and divorced after just 10 months.
In 2001, Holly announced her engagement to Francis Greco, a Canadian investment banker.
The couple married later that year and relocated to Canada in 2008, with Holly becoming a Canadian
citizen.
Sadly, that marriage also ended, with the couple divorcing in 2014.
After moving to Canada, Lauren Holly partnered with a Canadian clothing retailer to launch
her own fashion line, Lauren's Closet.
The idea for the 1970s-inspired line came from one of her previous movies: 2015's "After
the Ball," set in the world of fashion design.
After becoming "enamored with the clothes" her character wore, she sought out the company
that created the clothing and discovered Montreal-based Le Chateau .
The collection, she told Notable Life, is reflective of her multiple roles as actor,
celebrity, mother, and frequent traveler.
"My forte is not choosing outfits.
I need to be able to grocery shop, show up at a press event, then arrive at a party and
look hot.
A lot of the pieces in the collection all work together."
While Holly and Greco were still married, they adopted three children, all boys.
Discussing her sons with Closer Weekly, the single mom admitted it was a tough job teaching
her sons, quote, "to be gentlemen without having that sort of example in the house."
Adoption, she explained, was always something she knew she'd do.
So when she had the opportunity to adopt three boys all around the same age, she said,
"That was it.
They were my family.
I felt like we were supposed to meet, like we chose each other."
Asked what she's learned from being the mother of three boys, Holly admitted,
"If there's one thing the kids have been their whole lives, it's plan-busters.
Every time I think I have something worked out, something changes, so they taught me
to go with the flow a little bit."
It's no secret that Lauren Holly has always been easy on the eyes, something that hasn't
changed as the decades passed.
For this reason, she's heard whispers that her appearance isn't just the result of genetics
and a healthy lifestyle — but possibly from cosmetic surgery.
She addressed the rumors head on in a 2016 appearance on OWN's "Where Are They Now?"
saying,
"I've been accused of having a ton [of plastic surgery], and I haven't had any."
However, she clarified she was also willing to keep the door open to the possibility,
"I'm not saying that I wouldn't, but I almost feel like I might have missed that boat, but
I'm not against it.
I'm 51.
Things change."
Lauren Holly has enjoyed a long career spanning from the 1980s through the present.
Until moving to Canada, she'd been based in Los Angeles, where she got to experience the
cutthroat competition that's come to define Hollywood.
Hollywood, she explained in an interview with Page Six, is, quote, "like a giant high school."
She noted that people in Los Angeles are far more wrapped up in "social status."
"Shut up!"
Living in Canada, she added, gave her some perspective on Tinseltown and its endless
power games.
"It's exhausting to try and stay in the popular group and at the end of the day it's not what
matters."
Whenever she does visit New York or Los Angeles, Holly admitted she'll often find herself surprised
to see paparazzi waiting for her — something she doesn't experience in Canada.
Of all her film and television projects over the years, one still looms large for Lauren
Holly: "Picket Fences," the quirky small-town drama that aired on CBS in the mid 90s.
Playing sheriff's deputy Maxine Stewart clearly left an impression on her.
In an interview with the Ottawa Citizen, she declared,
"I really wish we could do a 'Picket Fences' reunion movie.
I would love to revisit Max, the character I played.
I adored her."
Speaking with Fox 5 Atlanta, Holly further discussed revisiting the role, one of her
"favorites," ever.
While she knew of no plans for a revival, she'd definitely be onboard if it happened.
"It was such a great show, and [series creator] David E. Kelley is such a great writer."
She also offered a prediction on what Max would be doing 25 years later:
"She's probably, like, running the FBI or something."
After decades of consistent work in film and television, Lauren Holly has managed to make
a few bucks along the way.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Holly has banked a fortune estimated at $14 million.
Part of that wealth has come from some wise real estate investing over the years.
In 2003, she and then-husband Francis Greco purchased a $2.21 million home in a Chicago
suburb.
The couple sold that house in 2005 for $2.65 million, earning a cool $400,000-plus profit.
From there, they downscaled into a $1.1 million-dollar abode in a different Chicago suburb, which
they subsequently placed on the market for $1.2 million in 2007, after deciding to relocate
to Canada.
In 2020, Lauren Holly was cast in the Netflix teen drama "Tiny Pretty Things," portraying
Monique DuBois, a prima ballerina-turned-director of a ballet school characterized by cutthroat
competition.
Speaking with Celebrity Page, Holly described Monique as "a bucket list part" for her: a
character who is a woman once at the peak of the ballet world who now struggles to remain
relevant.
"I've given my life to this place.
And have now so little left to offer."
According to Holly, when she was first approached for "Tiny Pretty Things," the producers had
another role in mind for her.
However, she told Us Weekly,
"I wanted Monique so badly."
Holly says that when she met with producers,
"I was bold enough to tell them how much I love the role […] which is always sort of
a risk."
When she didn't hear anything back for a few weeks, she became "bummed," thinking she'd
been too aggressive in her pursuit of the part.
Thankfully, she was ultimately cast.
When delving into the role, she found it easy to draw parallels between "a dancer who's
past her prime" and her own life, explaining,
"Those things definitely spoke to me as an actress who's been in this business for 35
years."
35 years and counting, that is.
We can't wait to see what else is in store for her!
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