Patricia Richardson began her career in New York understudying Louise/Gypsy in the revival of Gypsy starring Angela Lansbury. She very happily got her Equity card from Arthur Laurents on her first audition in New York.
In that first decade of her career, there she created roles in two Beth Henley plays: Collard in The Wake of Jamie Foster on Broadway and Elaine in The Miss Firecracker Contest, as well as Janice in Michael Weller's Loose Ends, also on Broadway. She also originated parts in Mark O'Donnell's Fables For Friends at Playwrights Horizons, Kevin Wade's Cruise Control at the WPA, and several others plays off¬Broadway and in repertory theatres around the country.
Richardson is best known for playing Jill Taylor on ABC's “Home Improvement,” for which she received four Emmy® nominations and two Golden Globe® nominations for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, a Vision Award, a Topaz Award from Women in Film and more recently a TV Land Award with the rest of the cast.
She received a commendation and a nomination from the Prism Awards for her performance as Andy Campbell on Lifetime Television's “Strong Medicine,” and had a recurring role as Alan Alda's Chief of Staff during the last two years of “The West Wing.” She co¬hosted the Emmy® Awards with Ellen DeGeneres in 1994.
Richardson received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her first starring part in a movie, “Ulee's Gold” with Peter Fonda. She also starred in “Dead Simple” with James Caan and Danny Stern, “Sophie and the Moonhanger,” the miniseries “Undue Influence” and more recently the films “Beautiful Wave” and “Avarice.”
Richardson lives in New York City and is the proud mother of Henry, a writer at GawkerTV and twins Joe and Roxie, who are in college.
