Monica Potter Biography / Pictures

Monica Potter (born June 30, 1971) is an American film and television actress.

Biography

Potter, one of four daughters, was born Monica Gregg Brokaw in Cleveland, Ohio, to an Irish American Catholic family. Her father, Paul Brokaw, was the inventor of the first flame-resistant car wax, and her mother, Nancy, was a secretary. During her childhood, she was a part of the St. Jerome Parish in Cleveland, and attended the local elementary school, as well as Villa Angela Catholic School for Girls, before graduating from Euclid High School. She also spent part of her early years in Arab, Alabama. Monica had wanted to be an actress since childhood, as well as a nun.

At the age of twelve, Monica started modeling and appearing in commercials in Chicago and Miami, before deciding to pursue an acting career. Her very first role on television was as a "Dalina" in the English version of the Peruvian TV show Nubeluz. Then Monica Potter found a role on the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless as Sharon Abbott in 1994.

Monica Potter has since appeared in several feature films, including Con Air (playing the wife of Nicolas Cage's character) and starring opposite Robin Williams in Patch Adams. In 1998, she also played the love interest of doomed distance runner Steve Prefontaine in the movie Without Limits.

In 2001, Monica Potter had two major roles, co-starring with Freddie Prinze Jr. in Head Over Heels, and with Morgan Freeman in the thriller Along Came a Spider based on the James Patterson best-seller.

Monica Potter was a cast member of the television series Boston Legal but left after the first season. In 2009, Monica became a cast member of the new TNT series Trust Me.

Monica was married to Tom Monica from 1990 to 1998, and they have two sons. She married Daniel Christopher Allison, an orthopedic surgeon, in June 2005. Monica and Allison had their first child, a daughter named Molly Brigid Allison, on August 3, 2005.

Monica was named "Best Movie Star Loyal to Cleveland" by ClevelandScene.com for her insistence on keeping her family in the Ohio city even after Hollywood success. "It's a great place to raise kids. I had a very happy childhood there, growing up on a special street where everyone knew everyone," said Monica in an interview with Maxim magazine in March 2001.