Lauren Michael Holly (born October 28, 1963) is an American-Canadian actress. She is known for her roles as Deputy Sheriff Maxine Stewart in the television series Picket Fences, Director Jenny Shepard in the series NCIS, and Dr. Betty Rogers on Canadian series Motive; as well as playing Mary Swanson in Dumb and Dumber, Linda Lee in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Darian Smalls in Beautiful Girls, Cindy Rooney in Any Given Sunday, and Gigi in What Women Want.
Holly was born in Bristol, Pennsylvania. Her mother, Michael Ann Holly, is an art historian and the Starr Director of Research and Academic Program at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, and former professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Her father, Grant Holly, is a screenwriter and professor of literature at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. She has two younger brothers: Nick and Alexander Innes Holly (1977–92). Holly was raised in Geneva, New York, and is a 1981 graduate of Geneva High School, where she was a cheerleader. In 1985, she earned an undergraduate degree in English from Sarah Lawrence College in New York.