A brainy gal who worked as a genetic-engineering lab assistant before getting into acting, Walker was discovered in a restaurant by a producer who gave her a part in the 1988 comedy
Aloha Summer. Although her scenes were left on the cutting-room floor, she'd been bitten by the acting bug, and after a brief stint on the soap
Santa Barbara, she began landing roles in prime time and on the big screen. Steadily employed but by no means a star, Walker got her big break in 1996 when she signed on to the cult hit
Profiler as an intense forensic psychologist, a part that made excellent use of her model looks and fierce intelligence. After three seasons, Walker left the show and for six years she was MIA, living a life out of the spotlight with her producer husband John Landgraf and their children. In 2005 she directed a documentary about Los Angeles' foster-care system and, in 2007, appeared in HBO's often-raunchy
Tell Me You Love Me. Her next major role was as a fiercely persistent ATF agent on the biker drama
Sons of Anarchy, and steady guest work has followed.
Ally Walker Fast Facts:
- Worked as a genetic-engineering lab assistant in San Francisco after college; considered going to med school.
- Pursued acting after a producer noticed her in an L.A. restaurant and offered her a part in the movie Aloha Summer (1988). Her scene was cut.
- Played a troubled wife, Katie, in the racy 2007 HBO drama Tell Me You Love Me, about three couples who see the same therapist.
- Appeared in a series of commercials for Clairol.
- Took on the role of an outspoken ATF agent in the FX drama Sons of Anarchy, which debuted in 2008.
- Appears in the film Wonderful World, a 2009 drama starring Matthew Broderick.
- Ally Walker Relationships:
- John Landgraf - Husband
- John Walker Landgraf - Son
- College:
- University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA (BS in Biology and Chemistry); attended Richmond College of the Arts, London, England