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IMDbPro

Sarah Paulson

  • Actress
  • Producer
  • Director
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,00095
Sarah Paulson at an event for The Spirit (2008)
Take a closer look at the various roles Sarah Paulson has played throughout her acting career.
Play clip2:31
Sarah Paulson: TV & Movie Moments
99+ Videos
99+ Photos
Sarah Paulson was born on December 17, 1974 in Tampa, Florida, to Catharine Gordon (Dolcater) and Douglas Lyle Paulson II. She spent most of her early years in New York and Maine, before settling in Manhattan to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the High School for Performing Arts. Although she made her Broadway debut in "The Sisters Rosensweig" and performed in the off-Broadway "Talking Pictures", she debuted on the small screen in late 1994 in a guest shot on NBC's Law & Order (1990), then, in the following spring, landed her first TV-movie role in CBS' Friends at Last (1995) and finally became a TV series regular by fall 1995.

Best known for her amazing performance in CBS' supernatural drama American Gothic (1995) as the benevolent spiritual guide to her young brother, she was also a regular on the WB series Jack & Jill (1999) as "Elisa Cronkite", the former girlfriend of David "Jill" Jillefsky (Ivan Sergei) as well as the main character in the TV series Leap of Faith (2002), "Faith Wardwell", and as "Audrey" in the TV movie Metropolis (2000). She was also part of the cast of Shaughnessy (1996), The Long Way Home (1998) (as "Leanne Bossert") and Path to War (2002) as Luci Baines Johnson, as well as making notable appearances in Touched by an Angel (1994) playing "Zoe" in Manhunt (2001), 20 October 2001, and Cracker: Mind Over Murder (1997) playing "Nina" in True Romance: Part 1 (1997), 18 September 1997.

Sarah has now played in movies with such stars as Mel Gibson in the romantic comedy What Women Want (2000) (as "Annie", Gibson's secretary), Diane Keaton in the romantic drama The Other Sister (1999) (as "Heather Tate", Keaton's lesbian eldest daughter), Jamie Foxx in Held Up (1999) (as "Mary", a developmentally disabled young woman with an unfaithful boyfriend) and David Hyde Pierce in the romantic comedy Down with Love (2003) (as "Vicky Hiller", Pierce's crush). She also had two major roles in the comedy Bug (2002) and the drama, Levitation (1997), where she starred as a pregnant teenager who searches for her biological mother, with the help of a guardian angel.
BornDecember 17, 1974
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornDecember 17, 1974
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,00095
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Primetime Emmy
      • 27 wins & 57 nominations total

    Photos736

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    Known for

    Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave (2013)
    12 Years a Slave
    8.1
    • Mistress Epps
    • 2013
    Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen in Run (2020)
    Run
    6.7
    • Mother
    • Diane
    • 2020
    Emma Roberts in American Horror Story (2011)
    American Horror Story
    7.9
    TV Series
    • Lana Winters
    • Bette Tattler
    • Dot Tattler
    • Cordelia Foxx
    • Sally McKenna
    • Ally Mayfair-Richards
    • Cordelia Goode
    • Ms. Wilhemina Venable
    • Tuberculosis Karen
    • Audrey Tindall
    • Billie Dean Howard
    • Shelby Miller
    • Mamie Eisenhower
    • Susan Atkins
    Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, and James McAvoy in Glass (2019)
    Glass
    6.6
    • Dr. Ellie Staple
    • 2019

    Credits

    Edit
    IMDbPro

    Actress



    • All's Fair
      • Carrington Lane
      • Post-production
      • TV Series
      • 2025
    • Untamed
      • Pre-production
    • I Am Sybil
      • Wilbur
      • Pre-production
    • The Way Down
      • Gwen Shamblin
      • In Development
      • TV Mini Series
    • Clybourne Park
      • Pre-production
    • Ethel's Orchestra
      • Madge Bowen
      • Pre-production



    • 7 Hours to Die (2024)
      7 Hours to Die
      7.6
      Podcast Series
      • Jenna Wade
      • 2024
    • Hold Your Breath (2024)
      Hold Your Breath
      5.3
      • Margaret Bellum
      • 2024
    • Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2024)
      Mr. & Mrs. Smith
      7.0
      TV Series
      • Therapist
      • 2024
    • The Bear (2022)
      The Bear
      8.5
      TV Series
      • Cousin Michelle
      • 2023
    • Saturday Night Live (1975)
      Saturday Night Live
      8.0
      TV Series
      • Ms. Jenny (uncredited)
      • 2023
    • Beanie Feldstein in American Crime Story (2016)
      American Crime Story
      8.4
      TV Series
      • Linda Tripp
      • Marcia Clark
      • 2016–2021
    • Emma Roberts in American Horror Story (2011)
      American Horror Story
      7.9
      TV Series
      • Mamie Eisenhower
      • Tuberculosis Karen
      • Ms. Wilhemina Venable ...
      • 2011–2021
    • Sarah Paulson in Ratched (2020)
      Ratched
      7.2
      TV Series
      • Nurse Mildred Ratched
      • 2020
    • Coastal Elites (2020)
      Coastal Elites
      6.2
      TV Movie
      • Clarissa Montgomery
      • 2020
    • Cate Blanchett in Mrs. America (2020)
      Mrs. America
      7.9
      TV Mini Series
      • Alice Macray
      • 2020
    • Taika Waititi in James and the Giant Peach with Taika and Friends (2020)
      James and the Giant Peach with Taika and Friends
      6.4
      TV Mini Series
      • Old Green Grasshopper
      • 2020
    • Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen in Run (2020)
      Run
      6.7
      • Mother
      • Diane
      • 2020
    • Oakes Fegley in The Goldfinch (2019)
      The Goldfinch
      6.4
      • Xandra
      • 2019
    • Joseph Izzo and Chloe Bennet in Abominable (2019)
      Abominable
      7.0
      • Dr. Zara (voice)
      • 2019
    • Seth Green, Mila Kunis, Alex Borstein, and Seth MacFarlane in Family Guy (1999)
      Family Guy
      8.1
      TV Series
      • Sarah Paulson
      • Marcia Clark
      • Costumed Woman (voice)
      • 2019

    Producer



    • All's Fair
      • executive producer
      • Post-production
      • TV Series
      • 2025
    • The Way Down
      • executive producer
      • In Development
      • TV Mini Series



    • Hold Your Breath (2024)
      Hold Your Breath
      5.3
      • executive producer
      • 2024
    • Beanie Feldstein in American Crime Story (2016)
      American Crime Story
      8.4
      TV Series
      • executive producer
      • 2021
    • Emma Roberts in American Horror Story (2011)
      American Horror Story
      7.9
      TV Series
      • executive producer
      • 2021
    • The Way Down (2021)
      The Way Down
      7.0
      TV Mini Series
      • executive producer
      • 2021–2022
    • Sarah Paulson in Ratched (2020)
      Ratched
      7.2
      TV Series
      • executive producer
      • 2020
    • The Loss of Lillian (2016)
      The Loss of Lillian
      Short
      • executive producer
      • 2016

    Director



    • Emma Roberts in American Horror Story (2011)
      American Horror Story
      7.9
      TV Series
      • Director
      • 2018

    Videos156

    How Sarah Paulson Transformed for 'The Goldfinch'
    Clip 7:12
    How Sarah Paulson Transformed for 'The Goldfinch'
    'Glass' Cast Connections: Finding a Lost Thread of 'Split' in 'Unbreakable'
    Clip 5:31
    'Glass' Cast Connections: Finding a Lost Thread of 'Split' in 'Unbreakable'
    'Glass' Cast Connections: Finding a Lost Thread of 'Split' in 'Unbreakable'
    Clip 5:31
    'Glass' Cast Connections: Finding a Lost Thread of 'Split' in 'Unbreakable'
    IMDbrief: What You Missed in 'Bird Box'
    Clip 3:20
    IMDbrief: What You Missed in 'Bird Box'
    Sarah Paulson: TV & Movie Moments
    Clip 2:31
    Sarah Paulson: TV & Movie Moments
    'Blue Jay': Head Rub
    Clip 1:20
    'Blue Jay': Head Rub
    American Horror Story: The Complete Fourth Season
    Clip 1:25
    American Horror Story: The Complete Fourth Season

    Personal details

    Edit
    • Official sites
      • Instagram
      • X
    • Height
      • 5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
    • Born
      • December 17, 1974
      • Tampa, Florida, USA
    • Spouse
      • Holland Taylor2015 - present
    • Children
      • No Children
    • Parents
        Catharine Gordon (Dolcater)
    • Relatives
        Liz Paulson(Sibling)
    • Other works
      "The Glass Menagerie," dramatic revival, written by Tennessee Williams, directed by David Leveaux, with Jessica Lange (portraying The Mother, Amanda Wingfield); Josh Lucas (portraying The Gentleman Caller, Jim O'Connor); Sarah Paulson (portraying The Daughter, Laura Wingfield); and Christian Slater (portraying The Son, Tom Wingfield); on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. (149 total performances, including 29 previews beginning February 24, 2005)
    • Publicity listings
      • 1 Interview
      • 7 Articles
      • 2 Magazine Cover Photos

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The first actor to win all five major acting awards (Emmy, TCA Individual Achievement in Drama, Critics Choice, Golden Globe, SAG) in a single year for the same role.
    • Quotes
      I like to work and I like to work with great actors and great directors and great material - and there isn't a ton of it. It's not overflowing. My cup doesn't runneth over in opportunity that way. To me, this was the opportunity to act something that was so opposite of who I am as a person.. Someone quite famous whose name I won't mention told me, 'I can't believe you did that part. I couldn't have done that. She was too horrible. I could never have done it'. But it would never occur to me to not take a part because something would be hard or complicated or tough for an audience to watch.
    • Trademark
        Speaks with a sibilant s.

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