Deirdre O'Connell (born December 30, 1951) is an American character actress. She began her career at Stage One, an experimental theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts. She made her Broadway debut in the 1986 revival of The Front Page, and was nominated for the 1991 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in the off-Broadway production Love and Anger. She is the recipient of two Drama-Logue Awards and a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for her stage work in Los Angeles. O'Connell made her screen debut in Tin Men. Additional film credits include State of Grace, Straight Talk, Leaving Normal, Fearless, City of Angels, Hearts in Atlantis, Imaginary Heroes, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Wendy and Lucy, What Happens in Vegas, Secondhand Lions, and Synecdoche, New York. O'Connell's first television credit was Fernwood 2 Night in 1977. She was a regular on L.A. Doctors and has made numerous guest appearances on series such as Kate & Allie, Chicago Hope, Law & Order, The Practice, Six Feet Under, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Nurse Jackie. (Wikipedia)

Filmography

• 2025Eddington — Dawn Bodkin
• The Beast in Me — Carol McGiddish
• The Better Sister — Debbie Macintosh
• The Penguin — Francis Cobb
• The Big Door Prize — Eloise Hubbard
• 2022Ghostwritten — Mary Laury
• Outer Range — Patricia Tillerson
• The Bear — Mary 'Crazy Mary' Heyman
• 2022The Requin — Anne
• 2019Diane — Donna
• 2019I Am a Seagull — Didi / Arkadina
• 2018Lez Bomb — Rose Anderson
• 2018The Boy Downstairs — Amy
• 2017The Holdouts — Annie
• 2016Detours — Beth
• 2016In the Radiant City
• 2015Gabriel — Meredith
• Marvel's Daredevil — Anna Nelson
• 2014Apartment Troubles — Ina the Tarot Reader
• Madam Secretary — Audrey Stewart
• 2014St. Vincent — Linda
• The Affair — Athena Bailey
• 2014The Quitter — Kathleen Lembo
• 2012Being Flynn — Frowzy Woman
• Person of Interest — Joan
• Unforgettable — Sue Kelly
• 2010You Don't Know Jack — Linda
• 2009A Dog Year — Donna Brady
• Nurse Jackie — Helen
• 2009The Greatest — Joyce
• 2008Synecdoche, New York — Ellen's Mother
• 2008Wendy and Lucy — Deb (voice)
• 2008What Happens in Vegas — Mrs. Fuller
• 2007American Loser — Cynthia
• 2007Socket — Hospital Staff
• 2007Stephanie Daley — Jane
• 2006Winter Passing — Deirdre
• The Closer — Liz Provenza
• 2004Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind — Hollis
• 2004Imaginary Heroes — Marge Dwyer
• 2003Secondhand Lions — Helen
• 2002Dragonfly — Gwyn
• 2001Hearts in Atlantis — Mrs. Gerber
• 2001Just Ask My Children — Landry
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent — Nina Lipton
• 2001Relative Evil — Phyllis
• 1999Just Looking — Mrs. Braverman, Lenny's Teacher
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit — Judge N. Owens
• 1999Murder in a Small Town — Kate Faxton
• 1998City of Angels — Mrs. Balford
• From the Earth to the Moon — Barbara Young
• L.A. Doctors — Suzanne Blum
• 1997A Deadly Vision — Marilyn Middleton
• 1997Breast Men — Lacey (voice)
• The Practice — Jenny Baldwin
• 1996Chasing the Dragon — Doris
• 1996Lifeform — Dr. Gracia Scott
• 1996Our Son, the Matchmaker — Winona
• Second Noah — Shirley Crockmeyer
• 1995Fighting for My Daughter — Peggy
• 1995Kansas — Holly
• 1995Smoke — Sue the Waitress
• 1995Trial by Fire — Roberta
• Chicago Hope — Ellen Wheeler
• 1993Daybreak — Mom
• 1993Fearless — Nan Gordon
• Sirens — Heidi Schiller
• 1992Cool World — Isabelle Malley
• 1992CrissCross — Shelly
• 1992Falling from Grace — Sally Cutler
• 1992Leaving Normal — Ellen
• 1992Straight Talk — Lily
• 1990Brain Dead — Mrs. Halsey
• Law & Order — Jane Schuman, Valerie Knight, Joanna Wilder
• 1990Pastime — Inez Brice
• 1990State of Grace — Irene
• 1989Misplaced — Ella
• 1988Stars & Bars — Shanda Gage
• 1987Anna — Assistant #2
• 1987Tin Men — Nellie
• American Playhouse — Kitty MacKay, Ella

Appearances as themselves (2)

• 2025Made in Eddington — Self
• Stars in the House — Self - Winner