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Lisa Edelstein

b. May 21, 1966

by JWA Staff
Our work to expand the Encyclopedia is ongoing. We are providing this brief biography for Lisa Edelstein until we are able to commission a full entry.

Lisa Edelstein, on Septermber 9, 2007, at Fashion Week.


Courtesy of Christopher Peterson/Wikimedia Commons.

An actress with a long history of activism, Lisa Edelstein organized her first protest at age sixteen as a cheerleader for Donald Trump’s New Jersey Generals, outraged that the cheerleaders were forced to flirt in bars. Edelstein studied theater at New York University and wrote, composed, and starred in the musical Positive Me, based on her experiences as a hospital volunteer for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis during the 1980s. After popular guest appearances on ER in 1997, Frasier in 1998, West Wing in 1999, and Ally McBeal in 2000, as well as film roles in 1997’s As Good as It Gets and 2000’s What Women Want, Edelstein landed the role of dean of medicine on the hit show House, which she played from 2004 to 2011. She has since continued to play guest roles, most notably on The Good Wife in 2011, on Elementary in 2012, and on Scandal in 2013. She also played the lead role in Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce from 2014 to 2018; during this time, she won the Women’s Image Network Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series in 2015 and 2016. She also had recurring roles on Legend of Korra in 2013, The Good Doctor in 2018, The Kominsky Method from 2018 to 2021, and 9-1-1: Lone Star from 2021 to 2022. She is an ambassador of the Best Friends Animal Society and supporter of PETA, among other causes.  

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How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Lisa Edelstein." (Viewed on December 11, 2024) <https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/edelstein-lisa>.