Amy Aquino


Amy Aquino McCoy is an American television, film, and stage actress. The graduate of Harvard and Yale universities has appeared in television series such as Brooklyn Bridge, ER, and Being Human, and was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for her role in Picket Fences. She was co-Secretary/Treasurer of the SAG-AFTRA until August 2015 and currently stars in Amazon Studios' television series Bosch as Lt. Grace Billets.

Early life and education

Aquino was born in Teaneck, New Jersey, to Adele Frances and Salvatore Aquino. She first acted in junior high school productions. At Harvard University she was pre-med, majoring in biology. In her final year, she realised she was spending more time acting than studying and so left to travel to New York to take acting classes, while working at a law firm. She stayed there for three years without landing any acting jobs, before traveling on a recommendation to Minneapolis, where she gained her first roles. In 1986, after two years of rejections, she enrolled at Yale University School of Drama, where she studied three years.

Career

Acting

After Yale, Aquino spent the next five years based in New York. While there she appeared with Kevin Spacey at Playwrights Horizons and joined the Circle Repertory Company. She appeared in Wendy Wasserstein's The Heidi Chronicles, which won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1989. Also that year, Aquino appeared in both Moonstruck and Working Girl, her first film roles.
In 1991, she was cast as one of the leads in the CBS series Brooklyn Bridge. After the show was renewed for a second season, Aquino moved to California to be closer to where it was being filmed. After moving, she has primarily been in television roles, including ER and Everybody Loves Raymond.
In 1995, Aquino was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for portraying Dr. Joanna "Joey" Diamond in Picket Fences.
In 2005, she appeared in another play of Wasserstein's, Third, in the off-Broadway production at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Aquino also appeared off-Broadway, at the 59E59 Theaters, in Secrets of the Trade by Jonathan Tolins.
In 2013, Aquino was cast as the witch Donna in the season 2 of Being Human. Later that year, Aquino was cast in the ABC Television pilot Divorce: A Love Story; however, the role was recast when the producers decided that she looked too young to play the mother of Jason Jones, who was portrayed by an actor 16 years younger than she. Aquino played college President Dalley in The Lazarus Effect, co-starring Sarah Bolger, Mark Duplass, and Olivia Wilde.
Aquino currently stars in Amazon Studios' television series Bosch as Lieutenant Grace Billets, commanding officer of LAPD Homicide. The series was renewed for a seventh and final season on February 13, 2020.

SAG and SAG-AFTRA

She joined the Screen Actors Guild in 1987 and was named the co-secretary-treasurer on September 24, 2009. She was elected for a second term in 2011, without opposition, and after being elected the first secretary-treasurer of the newly merged SAG-AFTRA served until August 2015. She had previously served two terms as first vice president of the Screen Actors Guild.

Personal life

Aquino met Drew McCoy after moving to California. In 1995, they were married at Saint Malachy's Roman Catholic Church in Manhattan. Together they purchased the Villa Royale, an inn in Palm Springs, California, which they renovated over a two-year period.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1991RoseanneLinda WagnerEpisode: Dances with Darlene
1991–1993Brooklyn BridgePhyllis Berger Silver32 episodes
1995–1996Madman of the PeopleSasha Danziger16 episodes
1995–1996Picket FencesDr. Joanna "Joey" Diamond12 episodes
1996–2009ERDr. Janet Coburn26 episodes
1996The Larry Sanders ShowRabbi Marcy KleinEpisode: My Name Is Asher Kingsley
1998BeckerBevEpisode: Pilot
1999–2000Judging AmyJudge Greta Anastassio3 episodes
2000Freaks and GeeksMrs. Schweiber2 episodes
2000–2002FelicityDr. Toni Pavone10 episodes
2001–2004Crossing JordanDetective Lois Carver8 episodes
2001–2003Curb Your EnthusiasmSusan Braudy2 episodes
2002–2005Everybody Loves RaymondPeggy Ardolino4 episodes
2005WeedsSchool PsychologistEpisode: Lude Awakening
2007Desperate HousewivesErika GoldEpisode: Come Play Wiz Me
2008Grey's AnatomyMarianne GrandyEpisode: Brave New World
2009MonkRhondaEpisode: Mr. Monk Goes To Group Therapy
2009Brothers & SistersDr. Joan Avadon5 episodes
2009Warden Alice Simmsis2 episodes
2010Private PracticeClaireEpisode: In the Name of Love
2010CastleJanine MarksEpisode: The Late Shaft
2013The MentalistJudge Patricia Davis2 episodes
2013GleeFunny Girl Producer/Casting Agent2 episodes
2013–2014Being HumanDonna Gilchrist9 episodes
2014-BoschLieutenant Grace Billets60 episodes
2020Grace and FrankieDana Marino1 episode