Kate Burton is a Swiss-born Welsh-American stage and screen actress. She is best known for her TV roles as Vice President Sally Langston on ABC's Scandal, Vera Quinn on the Audience Network's series Full Circle, and Dr. Ellis Grey on ABC's Grey's Anatomy. She holds an BA in Russian Studies and European History from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama, New Haven, Connecticut.

Filmography

• 2026Death on the Brandywine — Ann Riley
• BULLDOZER — Dr. Diane Roddy
• 2025Oscar Wilde About America
• Ransom Canyon — Katherine Bullock
• The Beast in Me — Mariah Ingram
• 2025The Surrender — Barbara
• 2025Violent Ends — Darlene Woodley
• 2024guts — Gabby
• 2023Dumb Money — Elaine Gill
• 2023Heaven, I Suppose — Cheryl
• 2023Our Son — Maggie "Miggie"
• 2023The Anne Frank Gift Shop — Ilse
• Bosch: Legacy — Ida Porter
• 2022Breaking — Tami Stackhouse
• Inventing Anna — Nora Radford
• So Help Me Todd — Joan
• The Dropout — Rochelle Gibbons
• 2021Sandra Day O'Connor: The First — Narrator (voice)
• 2021The Codebreaker — Narrator (voice)
• The Mosquito Coast — Margot's Mom
• The Vote — Narrator (voice)
• Perfect Harmony — Julie
• Prodigal Son — Sarah Windsor
• 2019Where'd You Go, Bernadette — Ellen Idelson
• 2018At First Light — Kate
• Charmed — Celeste
• FBI — Evelyn Kates
• 13 Reasons Why — Dr. Hughes
• 2017Noël Coward's Present Laughter — Liz Essendine
• The Gifted — Dr. Madeline Risman
• This Is Us — Barbara
• 2015Amok — Dr. Wilson
• 2015Bleeding Heart — Martha
• 2015Identity Theft — Anna
• 2015Martyrs — Eleanor
• Supergirl — Isabel Nal (voice)
• 2014Barefoot — Mrs. Wheeler
• 2014Don't Look Back — Dr. Jeanette Barnes
• Extant — Fiona Stanton
• Madam Secretary — Maureen McCord
• Full Circle — Vera Quinn
• 2013Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel: Live from Lincoln Center — Mrs. Mullin
• 20122 Days in New York — Bella
• Elementary — Maureen Dannon
• Key & Peele — Hillary Clinton
• 2012Liberal Arts — Susan
• 2012Mariachi Gringo — Anne
• Revolution — Jane Warren
• Scandal — Sally Langston
• Veep — Barbara Hallowes
• Grimm — Marie Kessler
• 2011Puncture — Senator O'Reilly
• 2010127 Hours — Aron's Mom
• 2010Consent — Susan
• 2010Remember Me — Janine
• The Deep End — Grace Graham
• Modern Family — Iris Fennerman
• 2009Spooner — Alice Spooner
• The Good Wife — Victoria Adler
• 2009Washingtonienne — Joy
• Eleventh Hour — Gepetto / Miranda Cochran
• 2008Hidden Treasure of the Mississippi — Aunt Birdy
• 2008Max Payne — Nicole Horne
• 2008Quid Pro Quo — Merilee
• 2008What Just Happened — Doctor Randall
• Justice
• 2006Sherrybaby — Marcia Swanson
• Empire Falls — Cindy Whiting
• 2005Ernest Hemingway: Rivers to the Sea — Narrator (voice)
• Grey's Anatomy — Ellis Grey
• Medium — Bonnie Barrister
• Numb3rs — Anthropologist
• 2005Stay — Mrs. Letham
• The Closer — Kate Wycoff
• Rescue Me — Rose
• 2003The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer — Connie Posey
• 2003Three Sisters — Olga
• Working Shakespeare
• 2002Obsessed — Sara Miller
• 2002Swimfan — Carla Cronin
• 2002Unfaithful — Tracy
• 100 Centre Street — Sheila Byrne
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent — Stephanie Ufland
• 2000The Opportunists — Rest Home Sister
• Judging Amy — Dr. Sheri Jordan
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit — Annette Cole, Bethany Allen
• The West Wing — Sarah Brainerd
• 1998Celebrity — Robin's Friend Cheryl
• 1997Ellen Foster — Abigail Montford
• 1997The Ice Storm — Dorothy Franklin
• The Practice — A.D.A. Susan Alexander
• 1996August — Helen Blathwaite
• 1996Mistrial — Katherine Donohue
• 1996The First Wives Club — Woman in Bed
• 1995Notes for My Daughter — Brenda Gardner
• Monty — Fran Richardson
• 1993Life with Mikey — Mrs. Burns
• 1993Love Matters — Deborah
• Home Fires — Anne Kramer
• Brooklyn Bridge
• Law & Order — Sister Bettina, Erica Gardner, Defense Attorney Erica Gardner
• American Experience — Narrator
• 1987Uncle Tom's Cabin — Ophelia
• 1986Big Trouble in Little China — Margo
• Evergreen — Agatha Bradford
• Spenser: For Hire
• Ellis Island — Vanessa Ogden
• 1983Alice in Wonderland — Alice
• American Playhouse — Agnes Bolton O'Neill
• Great Performances — Alice
• 1969Anne of the Thousand Days — Serving Maid (uncredited)
• Hallmark Hall of Fame — Abigail
• A Great Depression

Appearances as themselves (6)

• 2011Caris' Peace — Self
• 1996Looking for Richard — Self
• 1989Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre — Self
• 1988In from the Cold? A Portrait of Richard Burton — Self
• Tony Awards — Self - Nominee
• RSC Meets USA: Working Shakespeare — Self