Sarah Catharine Paulson is an American film, stage, and television actress.
She began acting on stage, and in the 1990s starred in American Gothic, and Jack & Jill.
She later appeared in comedy films such as What Women Want and Down with Love, and had
dramatic roles in Path to War and The Notorious Bettie Page.
From 2006 to 2007, Paulson played the role of Harriet Hayes in the NBC comedy drama series
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
In 2008, she starred as Ellen Dolan in the superhero noir film The Spirit.
Paulson appeared in a Broadway plays The Glass Menagerie in 2005, and Collected Stories in
2010.
She also starred in the number of made for television movies and independent films, and
had a leading role on the ABC comedy series Cupid in 2009.
She later starred in the independent drama Martha Marcy May Marlene, and received Emmy
and Golden Globe nominations for her performance as Nicolle Wallace in the HBO movie Game Change.
In 2011, Paulson began starring in the FX anthology series American Horror Story.
For her performance in the second season, she won the Critics' Choice Television Award
for Best Supporting Actress in a Movie/Miniseries and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award
in 2013.
Also in 2013, Paulson starred as Mary Epps in the Oscar-winning historical drama 12 Years
a Slave.
She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries
or a Movie for the third season of American Horror Story in 2014.
Early life Paulson was born in Tampa, Florida, the daughter
of Catharine Gordon and Douglas Lyle Paulson II.
She lived in South Tampa until she was 5, when her parents divorced.
She spent time in Maine before moving to New York City at the age of five with her mother.
She lived in Queens and Gramercy Park, before settling in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
She spent her summers in Florida to visit her father.
Paulson attended Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts and the American Academy of
Dramatic Arts.
Career Paulson began working as an actress right
out of high school.
She appeared in the Horton Foote play, Talking Pictures, at the Signature Theatre, and an
episode of Law & Order in 1994.
Paulson did Friends at Last, a Hallmark movie of the week opposite Kathleen Turner.
She then went to North Carolina to appear on the short-lived cult television series
American Gothic.
Paulson then played Elisa Cronkite on The WB comedy-drama series Jack & Jill.
Paulson had a minor role in the HBO series Deadwood and was a focal character in an episode
of the critically acclaimed FX series Nip/Tuck.
She appeared on the short-lived NBC series Leap of Faith as the main character.
In 2004, she had a supporting role in the ABC series The D.A., but that show also ended
after a few episodes.
Paulson starred in a revival of The Glass Menagerie on Broadway and has appeared Off-Broadway
in Killer Joe, and Colder Than Here.
Paulson's movie credits include Down with Love, What Women Want, The Other Sister, Levitation,
and Serenity.
In the 2006-07 television season, Paulson co-starred in NBC's Studio 60 on the Sunset
Strip playing Harriet Hayes, one of the stars of the show-within-a-show.
To date, this is her most notable role, earning her a nomination for Golden Globe Award for
Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film.
In December 2008, Paulson appeared in the screen adaptation of Will Eisner's comic book
The Spirit, playing an updated version of the character Ellen Dolan.
On August 25, 2008, ABC ordered her pilot Cupid to series.
It was a remake of the 1998 series starring Jeremy Piven and Paula Marshall.
In the new version, Paulson starred opposite Bobby Cannavale.
It debuted in late March 2009 on ABC but was canceled on May 19, 2009, after only 6 episodes
aired.
In February 2010, Paulson portrayed the circa 1982 mother of main character Meredith Grey,
on the hit ABC primetime drama Grey's Anatomy.
She plays Nicolle Wallace in the HBO film Game Change based on events of the 2008 U.S.
presidential election campaign.
In 2011, Paulson guest starred in 3 episodes of the FX anthology series American Horror
Story, playing a medium, Billie Dean Howard.
Paulson returned for season two, American Horror Story: Asylum, in which she played
a completely new character, Lana Winters, a writer who is committed to an asylum for
being a lesbian.
She appeared in the third season of the series, titled American Horror Story: Coven as Cordelia
Foxx, a witch who runs an academy for other young witches.
Paulson also co-starred in the 2012 film Mud and the 2013 film 12 Years a Slave.
Paulson has also had a successful theatre career.
In 2005 she starred as Laura Wingfield in a revival of Tennessee Williams' play The
Glass Menagerie alongside Jessica Lange, Josh Lucas, and Christian Slater.
In 2010, Paulson starred in Donald Margulies's Collected Stories alongside Linda Lavin.
Paulson starred in a revival of Lanford Wilson's Talley's Folly alongside Danny Burstein in
2013.
Personal life She dated actress Cherry Jones, the couple
declaring their love for each other in 2007, during an interview with Velvetpark at Women's
Event 10 for the LGBT Center of NYC.
They broke up in 2009.
In an interview with Broadway.com in 2013 during the revival of Talley's Folly, Paulson
stated that she only dated men before her relationship with Jones, and that she has
not been in a relationship since her breakup with Jones, but that she is open to relationships
with women and men going forward.
Paulson has a lisp.
Filmography Film
Television Awards and nominations
References
External links Sarah Paulson at the Internet Movie Database
Sarah Paulson at the Internet Broadway Database Sarah Paulson on Twitter