# Patricia Wettig
**Patricia Wettig** (born 1951) is an American actress and playwright, best known for her role as Nancy Krieger Weston on the ABC drama *Thirtysomething* (1987–1991), for which she won three [Primetime Emmy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/primetime-emmy-awards) and a Golden Globe Award.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/patricia-wettig) She later played Caroline Reynolds in the Fox drama *Prison Break* and Holly Harper in the ABC family drama *Brothers & Sisters*, and has built a parallel career as a playwright.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/patricia-wettig)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1951, Cincinnati, Ohio[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/patricia_wettig) |
| Signature role | Nancy Krieger Weston on *Thirtysomething* (1987–1991, 85 episodes)[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0923210) |
| Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, 1988; Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, 1990 and 1991, all for *Thirtysomething*[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0923210/awards/) |
| Golden Globe | Best Actress in a Television Series, Drama, 1991, tied with Sharon Gless for *The Trials of Rosie O'Neill*[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0923210/awards/) |
| Spouse | Actor, director, and producer Ken Olin, married May 8, 1982; two children[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0923210) |
| Playwriting | MFA in Playwriting from Smith College, 2001; *My Andy* was a finalist for the 2005 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize[5](https://www.concordtheatricals.com/a/101667/patricia-wettig) |
## Early life and training
Wettig was born in [Cincinnati](https://www.edgepedia.org/cincinnati), Ohio, in 1951, one of four daughters of Clifford Neal, a college basketball coach, and his wife Florence.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0923210) Her father coached at a high school in Grove City, Pennsylvania, and she attended four different colleges in four years, a restlessness she later attributed to wanderlust.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-10-ca-1400-story.html) She attended [Temple University](https://www.edgepedia.org/temple-university) in Philadelphia and then studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre in New York.[7](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/patricia-wettig/) While pursuing theater work she worked as a personal dresser to the stage and screen actress [Shirley MacLaine](https://www.edgepedia.org/shirley-maclaine).[7](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/patricia-wettig/)
As a member of the Circle Repertory Company in New York, she originated parts in *The Wool Gatherer*, *A Tale Told*, *Childe Byron*, and *Innocent Thoughts, Harmless Intentions*, and appeared in productions including *The Diviners*, *Crimes of the Heart*, *Three Sisters*, and *A Streetcar Named Desire*.[5](https://www.concordtheatricals.com/a/101667/patricia-wettig) It was during a *Streetcar* production in [Portsmouth, New Hampshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/portsmouth-new-hampshire), in which she played Stella opposite [Ken Olin](https://www.edgepedia.org/ken-olin)'s Stanley, that she met her future husband.[8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-21-tv-4071-story.html)
## Thirtysomething
Wettig's breakthrough came as Nancy Krieger Weston, wife and mother and an aspiring illustrator, on *Thirtysomething*, created by [Edward Zwick](https://www.edgepedia.org/edward-zwick) and Marshall Herskovitz; her husband Ken Olin co-starred as Michael Steadman, though their characters were married to different on-screen spouses.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0923210) The producers did not know the two were married when they were cast; Wettig said they told the network only after both had signed on.[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-aug-23-ca-wettig-olin23-story.html) She began with two lines in the pilot episode and went on to appear in 85 episodes across the series' 1987–1991 run.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-10-ca-1400-story.html) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0923210)
**The cancer storyline.** In the show's later seasons, Nancy was given ovarian cancer, a story arc that ran over multiple seasons rather than resolving within a single television movie. Zwick said the decision was made intuitively and because the producers were confident Wettig could carry it.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-10-ca-1400-story.html) The producers consulted the Wellness Community, a Santa Monica support organization for cancer patients, and used it as a model for the support groups Nancy attended on screen.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-10-ca-1400-story.html) Harold Benjamin, the organization's executive director, and Dr. Leo Lagasse, a gynecological cancer specialist at the Cedars-Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center, both credited the storyline with heightening awareness of ovarian cancer and encouraging women with a family history of the disease to seek screening.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-10-ca-1400-story.html) Wettig said she spoke with many cancer patients and incorporated their gestures into the portrayal, and that viewers told her the show had helped demystify the disease.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-10-ca-1400-story.html)
The role brought her the 1988 Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and the 1990 and 1991 Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, plus the 1991 Golden Globe.[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0923210/awards/) Wettig later described the series as "such an important beginning for our film careers."[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-aug-23-ca-wettig-olin23-story.html)
## Film and later television
Her film debut came in *Guilty by Suspicion* (1991), a McCarthy-era drama in which she played Dorothy Nolan alongside [Robert De Niro](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-de-niro), followed the same year by the comedy *City Slickers*, in which she played Barbara Robbins, Billy Crystal's wife.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-10-ca-1400-story.html) She reprised Barbara Robbins in *City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold* (1994) and played the schoolteacher passenger Laurel Stevenson in the 1995 miniseries *Stephen King's The Langoliers*; she also played the title role, rape victim Nancy Ziegenmeyer, in *Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story* (1992).[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0923210) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/patricia_wettig)
On television she led the short-lived 1995 drama *Courthouse*, played Dr. Judy Barnett on *Alias* (2002–2004) and Nora Jean Flannery on *Boomtown* (2002), then took two long-running roles: Vice President and later President Caroline Reynolds on *Prison Break* (2005–2007) and Holly Harper, the mistress of the late family patriarch William Walker, on *Brothers & Sisters* (2006–2011).[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/patricia-wettig) • [10](https://www.metacritic.com/person/patricia-wettig/) On *Brothers & Sisters* she worked again with Ken Olin, who directed and executive produced the series and eventually played her character's boyfriend on screen.[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-aug-23-ca-wettig-olin23-story.html) Fox had to release her from *Prison Break* before she could join the show.[11](https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/20070315_Gail_Shister___Brothers_and_Sisters_is_an_Olin-Wettig_family_business.html)
## Playwriting
Wettig earned an MFA in Playwriting from [Smith College](https://www.edgepedia.org/smith-college) in 2001 and has said she now focuses more on writing than acting.[5](https://www.concordtheatricals.com/a/101667/patricia-wettig) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0923210) She has a long association with New York Stage and Film, where her plays *Headlong*, *A Life Imagined*, and *F2M* were included in the Reading Festival, *My Andy* received a workshop production, and *F2M* received a Main Stage production.[5](https://www.concordtheatricals.com/a/101667/patricia-wettig) *My Andy* was also staged at the One Voice Festival at Hartford Stage and was a finalist for the 2005 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, an award honoring English-language plays written by women.[5](https://www.concordtheatricals.com/a/101667/patricia-wettig) • [7](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/patricia-wettig/)
## Personal life
Wettig married Ken Olin on May 8, 1982; they have two children, Cliff and Roxy.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0923210) • [11](https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/20070315_Gail_Shister___Brothers_and_Sisters_is_an_Olin-Wettig_family_business.html) The family worked together on *Brothers & Sisters*, where Olin was executive producer, their son Cliff was a staff writer, and their daughter Roxy played a three-episode arc; Wettig said, "It's a family business, but it never set out to be."[11](https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/20070315_Gail_Shister___Brothers_and_Sisters_is_an_Olin-Wettig_family_business.html)
## References
1. [Patricia Wettig, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/patricia-wettig)
2. [Patricia Wettig, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/patricia_wettig)
3. [Patricia Wettig, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0923210)
4. [Patricia Wettig, Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0923210/awards/)
5. [Patricia Wettig, Concord Theatricals](https://www.concordtheatricals.com/a/101667/patricia-wettig)
6. [Is the End Near? Patricia Wettig on her career, Los Angeles Times, February 10, 1991](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-10-ca-1400-story.html)
7. [Patricia Wettig, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/patricia-wettig/)
8. [On the Set: The Chemistry Is No Mystery, Los Angeles Times, May 21, 1995](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-21-tv-4071-story.html)
9. [It was love at first set, Los Angeles Times, August 23, 2009](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-aug-23-ca-wettig-olin23-story.html)
10. [Patricia Wettig, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/person/patricia-wettig/)
11. [Brothers and Sisters is an Olin-Wettig family business, The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 15, 2007](https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/20070315_Gail_Shister___Brothers_and_Sisters_is_an_Olin-Wettig_family_business.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames U to We*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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