Amy Brenneman Biography
Amy Brenneman is an American actress and producer who rose to prominence playing Detective Janice Licalsi in ABC’s NYPD Blue from 1993 to 1994. From 1999 to 2005, she co-created and starred as Judge Amy Gray in CBS’ Judging Amy. Her roles as Detective Janice and Judge Amy earned her five Primetime Emmy Award nominations.
Amy Brenneman Age
Brenneman was born Amy Frederica Brenneman on June 22, 1964, in New London, Connecticut, U.S. She is 60 years old as of 2024. Brenneman celebrates her birthday on on June 22nd.
Amy Brenneman Height
Brenneman stands at an approximate height of 5 feet and 6 inches.
Amy Brenneman Family
Brenneman was born to Frederica Joanne Shoenfield and Russell Langdon Brenneman Jr. Her mother worked as a judge of the Connecticut State Superior Court, while her father worked as an environmental lawyer. Beryl D. Hines, a Cold War-era journalist, is her aunt. Her mother served as one of Harvard Law School’s first female graduates and became a juvenile court judge in Connecticut when Brenneman was three years old.
Frederica was Ashkenazi Jewish and joined a Congregationalist church as an adult. On the other hand, her father, who was of English, Irish, and Swiss descent, had a Protestant background. They raised her in Glastonbury, Connecticut, where she participated in theatre as a teenager, in school and and with a local theater group. She has two older brothers, Matthew, a lawyer, and Andrew, an interactive software producer.
Amy Brenneman Husband
Brenneman got married to director Brad Silberling in the garden at her parents’ home on September 30, 1995. They met on the set of NYPD Blue. They have two children, Charlotte Tucker and Bodhi Russell.
Charlotte has an intellectual disability caused by a rare chromosomal abnormality. Brenneman wrote and performed a play called “Threshold” that explores the challenges of raising a child with a disability and the societal perceptions of disability. Bodhi was born on June 8, 2005, and is 20 years old as of 2025.
Silberling is an American television and film director who has worked on films like Casper, City of Angels, Moonlight Mile, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, and Land of the Lost. He was born on September 8, 1963, and is 61 years old as of 2024. Brenneman and Silberling purchased a home in Chilmark, Massachusetts, in 2001, before moving to West Tisbury, Massachusetts, in 2011
Brenneman is an Episcopalian. She signed the “We Had Abortions” petition, which appeared in the October 2006 issue of Ms. Magazine. The “We Had Abortions” petition has over 5,000 signatures of women who shared that they had an abortion and were unashamed of that choice.
Amy Brenneman Net Worth
Brenneman has an estimated net worth of $16 million, which she has earned through her successful career as an actress and producer.
Amy Brenneman NYPD Blue
Brenneman rose to prominence playing Detective Janice Licalsi in ABC’s NYPD Blue from 1993 to 1994. Detective Janice is a mob-connected uniformed officer assigned to the 15th precinct in New York City. Her father, Dominic Gennaro, is a police officer on the payroll of mob boss Angelo Marino. Marino blackmails her into working for him by holding the information that her father is on his payroll over her head.
Brenneman’s performance in NYPD Blue earned her a nomination for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1994 and for Outstanding Guest Actress in 1995.
Amy Brenneman Frasier
Brenneman starred in the recurring role of Faye Moskowitz in Frasier from 1998 to 1999. Faye is a pastry chef and one of Frasier Crane’s love interests.
Amy Brenneman Judging Amy
Brenneman co-created and starred as Judge Amy Gray in CBS’ Judging Amy from September 19, 1999, to May 3, 2005. Amy is a divorced single mother who serves as a Family Court Judge in Hartford, Connecticut. Brenneman based the show’s concept on the real-life experiences of her mother as a superior court judge.
Her performance in Judging Amy won her nominations for a Golden Globe Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama Award in 2000, a Primetime Emmy Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Award in 2000, a Golden Globe Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama Award in 2001, and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2001 and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2002. She also won a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series Award in 2003.
Amy Brenneman Sick
Brenneman has openly talked about discussed her battle with ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease. She lost 35 pounds and lived with a colostomy bag for three months. In 2010, she underwent surgery.
Amy Brenneman Education
Brenneman joined Harvard University after completing her education at Glastonbury High School. She graduated with a degree in Comparative Religion in 1987. During her time in college, she worked as the co-founder of Cornerstone Theatre Company, with which she traveled for several years after graduation.
Amy Brenneman Career
Brenneman started her career in 2001 with a role in CBS’ Middle Ages. The following year, she joined the cast of her first major role as Janice Licalsi on ABC’s NYPD Blue. Her performance in the film earned her a nomination for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1994 and for Outstanding Guest Actress in 1995.
Following her time on NYPD Blue, Brenneman made her way into film. In 1995, she starred in Bye Bye Love, Casper, and Heat. The following year, she starred as the female lead opposite Sylvester Stallone in Daylight. She also starred in Fear. In 1997, she starred in a leading role in Nevada. The next year, she appeared in Your Friends & Neighbors. She returned to TV in 1998, with a role in NBC’s Frasier as Faye Moskowitz, a role she played until 1999.
In 1999, Brenneman created and was the executive producer of Judging Amy as Judge Amy Gray. She won the Women in Film Lucy Award in 2002 for her excellence and innovation in her creative works that have refined the perception of women through TV.
Brenneman starred in Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her in 2000. In 2005, she starred in Nine Lives. 2 years later, she played the role of Sylvia Avila in The Jane Austen Book Club. In March of 2007, she joined the cast of Private Practice as Violet Turner. In 2008, she co-starred with Al Pacino in 88 Minutes.
Brenneman starred in films The Face of Love and Words and Pictures. Further, she joined the cast of HBO’s The Leftovers opposite Justin Theroux. In 2013, she played the role of Mary of Guise, the mother of the leading role, in Reign.
Community Work
Brenneman strongly supports more restrictive gun laws. In 2009, she worked as the host of the Target for a Safe America gala at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
Brenneman played the role of an entrepreneur in an all-star benefit reading of The Gift of Peace at UCLA’s Freud Playhouse on February 28, 2007. The play was an open appeal and fundraiser for the passage of U.S. House Resolution 808.
In July 2008, Brenneman received a nomination as a candidate on the Unite for Strength slate for a seat on the national governing board of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) in the elections planned for September 18, 2008. The campaign was successful.
Amy Brenneman Movies and TV Shows
Brenneman has starred in several movies and TV shows during her career such as
- Bye Bye Love
- Daylight
- Lesser Prophets
- Your Friends & Neighbors
- Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her
- Nine Lives
- The Jane Austen Book Club
- Mother and Child
- The Face of Love
- Private Practice
- Peel
- Goliath
- Foster Boy
- Tell Me Your Secrets
- Sweet Girl
- Shining Girls
- The Old Man
Amy Brenneman Social Media Platforms
She is active on her social media accounts and often posts on her Instagram and Facebook. She has over 225K followers on Facebook and over 125K on Instaram.