The relationship between Jamie (Helen Hunt) and Paul (Paul Reiser) was at the center of Mad About You, but it was the supporting characters who brought a lot of the humor. One of those funny supporting characters was Jamie's sister and frequent presence in the Buchman household, Lisa, who was played by Anne Ramsay. Ramsay starred on the show for all seven seasons, from 1992 to 1999, and then returned for the revival series in 2019.
But in addition to playing Lisa on the hit sitcom, Ramsay has appeared in some other big TV shows and movies, and she's still acting now. Read on to learn more about her career and life today.
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She got her big break in a sports movie.
Columbia Pictures Television DistributionRamsay played one of her most memorable roles before Mad About You even premiered. She was professional baseball player Helen in 1992's A League of Their Own.
"It was amazing! I could never articulate it enough," Ramsay told Windy City Times in 2005 of getting her big break with the movie. "It was a life-changing event for me and for all of us—for all the girls ... we all felt the same way about it. I mean I got to play baseball. We got to play it in Wrigley Field! It just prepared me for everything that happened afterward."
In the time since Mad About You ended, Ramsay has gone on to have recurring roles on many other TV shows, including Dharma & Greg, The L Word, Six Feet Under, Dexter, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager.
She played a real person in a movie about the Fox News scandal.
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty ImagesSome of Ramsay's most recent projects include the TV series Ordinary Joe in 2021 and 2022, and the 2021 movie Violet. She also played news anchor Greta Van Susteren in 2019's Bombshell.
Ramsay told Palm Springs Life that she was "blown away" when she got the call about being in Bombshell, but was concerned about playing a real person. "I am not the best at impersonations,” she explained. “That’s not my forte. But [Bombshell director] Jay Roach told me, ‘We don’t want an impersonation. We just want a hint. We’re not looking for an exact Greta Van Susteren.’ That was fabulous for me.”
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She was pleased to be part of the Mad About You revival.
Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesRamsay reprised the role of Lisa 20 years after the original finale when Mad About You returned for a one-season revival in 2019. In her Palm Springs Life interview, she called the show returning "a rare joy for all of us.”
Ramsay continued, "I wasn’t sitting in my trailer. I was watching Paul and Helen again because they’re magic together. They’re still magic together. I still learn from them. I still enjoy watching them. I remember watching them do a scene in rehearsal the first day back. I looked at them, and they looked at me. We were all just verklempt in that moment.”
The actor had previously told Windy City Times that she missed playing Lisa.
"She was just a juicy character to play," Ramsay said. "It was such an off-the-wall character that every time I would come on, you'd have to give me the punch line. You had to give that character the punch line. People expected it. I feel spoiled because of the writing on that show."
She knows the show is special to fans.
Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for TCMRamsay told Palm Springs Life that fans of Mad About You have told her how much the show means to them.
"Comedy’s healing,” she said. “People at different times have said to me, ‘Oh my gosh. Your show Mad About You and your character made me laugh. I was going through something. I’d just been in a car wreck,’ or ‘My father was dying of a terminal illness, and that was the only show that made him laugh. Your show and your character was the thing that got me through it.’”
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