Christina Pickles

Christina Pickles is an English actress, known for her work in the United States. She is known for her role as Nurse Helen Rosenthal in the NBC medical drama St. Elsewhere, for which she received five nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for [Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series]. She is also known for her recurring role as Judy Geller on the NBC sitcom Friends, for which she was nominated for the 1995 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.
Pickles appeared in Broadway plays in the 1960s and 1970s, including The Misanthrope and Sherlock Holmes, and starred on the daytime soap operas Guiding Light and Another World. Her film appearances include Masters of the Universe, Legends of the Fall, Romeo + Juliet, and The Wedding Singer. She won the 2018 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for the Vimeo series Break a Hip.

Early life

Christina Pickles was born in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire in England.
She began attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London at age 14 and studied alongside Albert Finney, Peter O’Toole, and Brian Bedford. After graduating, she moved to New York City in the late 1950s, initially living with friend and classmate Donald Moffat and his wife.

Career

In 1961, Pickles began her acting career in Look Back in Anger at the Arena Stage in Washington, DC. She performed in Measure for Measure in Joe Papp’s Shakespeare in the Park, then won the lead role in George Devine's The Way of the World, despite auditioning for the maid's role. After her Broadway debut in A Severed Head in 1964, other Broadway productions followed, including Inadmissible Evidence, You [Can't Take It with You (play)|You Can't Take It with You], War and Peace, The Misanthrope, Hamlet, and Sherlock Holmes.
At the same time, Pickles debuted on television, playing List of [Guiding Light characters#Linell Conway|Linell Conway] on Guiding Light. She played Countess Elena dePoulignac on the NBC soap opera Another World. She appeared in such feature films as Seizure and Rush It. After moving from New York City to Los Angeles, Pickles was cast as Nurse Helen Rosenthal in the NBC medical drama St. Elsewhere. The series aired from 1982 to 1988. She remained on St. Elsewhere for its entire six-year run and was nominated for five Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her work on the series.
She later was a regular on the short-lived CBS sitcom The People Next Door, which aired in 1989. She went to appear on Family Ties, Who's the Boss?, In the [Heat of the Night (TV series)|In the Heat of the Night], Matlock, The Nanny, Murder, She Wrote, and Touched by an Angel.
From 1994 to 2003, Pickles played the recurring role of Judy Geller, the mother of Ross and Monica Geller, in the NBC sitcom Friends, making appearances throughout the 10-year run of the series. She received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series nomination for this role in 1995. Pickles played the mother of Harmon Rabb in the CBS drama series JAG from 1998 to 2000. From 1999 to 2000, she starred in the short-lived Fox comedy-drama series Get Real.
Pickles has appeared in many films, including Masters of the Universe, Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love, Legends of the Fall directed by Edward Zwick, Grace of My Heart, Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, The Wedding Singer, Sol Goode, George of the Jungle 2, and Atlas Shrugged: Part I. She has had roles in a number of made-for-television movies.
In the 2000s, Pickles appeared in a few episodes of How I Met Your Mother as Lily Aldrin's grandmother, and guest-starred on The Division, Medium, and Childrens Hospital. In 2016, she was cast in the ABC drama pilot The Death Of Eva Sofia Valdez, starring Gina Torres in a title role. In 2018, she received her seventh Emmy nomination, and her first in 23 years, for the comedic web series Break a Hip.

Personal life

Pickles was married to producer/director Victor Lobl for 23 years, divorcing in 1985. She was romantically linked to actor Herbert Edelman, who also played her significant other on St. Elsewhere, from the mid-1980s until his death in 1996.
In 2005, she married Australian-American journalist Ian Masters.

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1970–1972, 2007	Guiding Light	Linell Conway	Regular role
1977	The Andros Targets	Mrs. Fuller	Episode: "In the Event of My Death"
1977–1979	Another World	Countess Elena DePoulignac	Regular role; 52 episodes
1981	The White Shadow	Christine	Episode: "Psyched Out"
1982	Lou Grant	Elsa	Episode: "Suspect"
1982–1988	St. Elsewhere	Nurse Helen Rosenthal	Regular role; 123 episodes
1985	Space	Mrs. McKellar	Episodes: "Part I" and "Part III"
1988	Roseanne	Perfume Saleswoman	Episode: "We're in the Money"
1988	Family Ties	Ruth Hobart	Episodes: "Heartstrings: Parts 1 & 2"
1988	Who's the Boss?	Laura	Episode: "A Spirited Christmas"
1989	The People Next Door	Cissy MacIntyre	All 10 episodes
1990	Mancuso, F.B.I.	Judge Laura Kinney	Episode: "Daryl Ross & the Supremes"
1991	In the Heat [of the Night (TV series)\|In the Heat of the Night]	Dr. Lureen Allcott	Episode: "An Execution of Trust"
1991	Veronica Clare	Kelsey Horne	3 episodes
1992	Matlock	Diana Huntington	Episodes: "The Picture: Parts 1 & 2"
1992	Laurie Hill	Mary	Episodes: "Grasshopper" and "Walter and Beverly"
1994	Love & War	Mrs. Tynan	Episode: "A Lonely Nation Turns Its Eyes to You"
1994, 1996–2003	Friends	Judy Geller	Recurring guest star; 19 episodes
1994	Sisters	Didi Poncell	Episode: "Blinders"
1995	Cybill	Betty	Episode: "As the World Turns to Crap"
1995	The Nanny	Nurse	Episode: "Close Shave"
1995	Murder, She Wrote	Susan McGregor	Episode: "Frozen Stiff"
1996	Diagnosis: Murder	Bea Michaels	Episode: "Left-Handed Murder"
1998, 2000	JAG	Trish Burnett	3 episodes
1999–2000	Get Real	Elizabeth Parker	All 22 episodes
2000	The Wild Thornberrys	Mali	Episode: "Forget Me Not" and "Birthday Quake"
2000	Tucker	Tucker's Grandmother	Episode: "The Family Tree"
2002	As Told by Ginger	Carl's Art Teacher	Episode: "New Girl in Town"
2003	Dragnet	Helena Rosemont	Episode: "Well Endowed"
2004	The Division	Florence Hayes	Episode: "The Fall of the House of Hayes"
2004	Father of the Pride	Barbara Walters	Episode: "Larry's Debut, and Sweet Darryl Hannah Too"
2006	Medium	Mrs. Walker	Episode: "Blood Relation"
2009	Privileged	Mrs. Bennington	Episode: "All About What Lies Beneath"
2009, 2011	How I Met Your Mother	Rita	2 episodes
2011	Retired at 35	Judy	Episode: "The Matchmakers"
2011	Friends with Benefits	Hazel	Episode: "The Benefit of Being Shallow"
2012	Childrens Hospital	Glenn's Mom	Episode: "Ladies Night"
2013	Animal Practice	Sabrina French	Episode: "Wingmen"
2014	Growing Up Fisher	Dr. La Croix	Episode: "Secret Lives of Fishers"
2014	Rush	Mrs. Atchison	Episode: "Where Is My Mind?"
2015–2018	Break a Hip	Biz	All 16 episodes
2016	Bella and the Bulldogs	Doris Mekkena	Episode: "Bad Grandma"
2017–2018	Family Guy	Queen Elizabeth II, Additional voices	3 episodes
2017	Great News	Mildred Marlock	2 episodes
2017	Doubt	Gail Meyers	3 episodes
2017	9JKL	Lenore	Episode: "It Happened One Night"
2019	Dollface	Silvia Goldwyn	Episode: "Feminist"
2021	Friends: The Reunion	Herself	HBO Max special
2021	Tuca & Bertie	The Lighthouse Keeper	Episode: "The Flood"