Biography
Ally was born Allene Walker in on August 25th, 1961, in Tullaholma, Tennessee. Her father was a scientist and her mother worked as an attorney. She was to follow her father's foot steps, and she attended UC Santa Cruz where she majored in biology and chemistry, consequently leading to a job as a biochemist. But it was during a year she spent in London, at Richmond College of the Arts, that she discovered her interest in theater. Ally has appeared in the Shakespearean plays "Romeo And Juliet", "Taming of the Shrew" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Also, among her theater appearances is the Alan Ball play "Five Women Wearing The Same Dress", which premiered in New York 1993. Thomas Gibson and Allison Janney starred in the play alongside Ally.
Still, her introduction to the movie business was by far a matter of chance. She is having dinner with her boyfriend in Los Angeles when a guy walks up to them and starts flattering her about her laugh and asks if she'd audition for a movie which he was working on. Ally is taken aback but decides to try it out when it turns out that the guy really is a producer. She got the part, but her scenes ended up on the cutting room floor. Nevertheless, she had found her calling. Ally went on to star in movies like "Singles", "Bed Of Roses", "Steal Big, Steal Little", "Universal Soldier" and "While You Were Sleeping". She has also starred in series such as "Santa Barbara", "True Blue" and "Moon Over Miami".
Ally reportedly outshone many better-known actresses to the part of Dr Samantha Waters on "Profiler". She starred as the lead of the show for three seasons, ultimately opting to leave the series. The stories of the show started to affect her, leaving her scared and depressed, and as a recent mother, she wanted to spend time with her son.
So, she took some time off from her career to focus on her family. In 2002, she starred in and co-produced a sit-com pilot for ABC called "My Wonderful Life". The show didn't get a series order. Shortly after this, she met a homeless baby (Norman) and his mother in a park and was inspired to follow up on him after he'd entered the foster care services of the County of Los Angeles. Realising the deplorable state of the services, she started filming a documentary on the topic. She worked on "For Norman... Wherever You Are" for three years, and the final product was screened in local film festivals, where it garnered a few accolades in terms of prizes.
She recorded an audio commentary track for the episode Insight of "Profiler's" first season DVD release. She has made steady public appearances alongside her husband John Landgraf at various functions. In 2005, she made a career comeback with a role in the television series "Sleeper Cell". Soon thereafter, she guest starred on "ER" in a special February sweeps episode alongside James Woods. Ally also appeared as a prostitute in the fifth season finale of "The Shield".
2007 promises to be a great year for Ally. She co-wrote and starred in a movie-of-the-week called "By Appointment Only". She has been receiving praise for her portrayal of Katie in HBO's provocative series "Tell Me You Love Me", premiering in early September. She also has an upcoming appearance on FOX's "American Dad!" animation.
Ally and John Landgraf have been married for eleven years, and they have three sons together, born in 1997, 2000/2001 and 2003. Their family previously included a cat named Tigger, and they have three dogs.
Links: Interview with John Landgraf
IGN interview (August 22, 2003)