Erica Gimpel

Erica Fawn Gimpel (born June 25, 1964) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and composer. She is best known for her roles on television shows Fame as Coco Hernandez and on Profiler as Angel Brown. She is also known for her recurring roles on the television shows ER as Adele Newman and on Veronica Mars as Alicia Fennel. From 2018 to 2020, Gimpel had a series regular role as Trish on the series God Friended Me.

Gimpel was a judge on RTÉ One's Fame: The Musical, an Irish TV talent show seeking a boy and a girl to play Nick and Serena respectively in the Irish touring production of Fame.

Personal life Gimpel was born in Manhattan, New York City in 1964. She graduated from New York's High School of Performing Arts a few months after she started filming her role as a student at the same school for the television show Fame. She had toured the United States and Europe with her mother, singer Phyllis Bash, who was in the opera Porgy and Bess.

Career Film and television Gimpel has starred in numerous primetime and streaming shows including NCIS: New Orleans, Chicago Med, Grey's Anatomy, Shut Eye, True Blood, Criminal Minds, Nikita, Rizzoli & Isles, House, ER, Profiler, and Veronica Mars. One of Gimpel's favorite projects was playing Trish on the CBS drama God Friended Me for two seasons. She played Ellie Fielding in Mayfair Witches and Brittany Arrington on The Night Agent.

On film, she has appeared in Tuesday Morning Ride (1995), Smoke, King of New York, No Such Thing, Freaky Friday, Romeo and Juliet in Harlem, and Sylvie's Love, and in the independent feature Bang Bang (2023).

Theater Theater credits include originating the role of Mayme in Lynn Nottage's award-winning Intimate Apparel., Glory Bee in States of Shock, and Nelly in Each Day Dies With Sleep.

Music In January 2010, Gimpel released the album Spread your Wings and Fly, recorded live in Santa Monica.

Gimpel composed and performed the song "This Moment" on God Friended Me. She also co-wrote and performed the song "Goodbye" on Babylon 5.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1988 Case Closed Kathy TV movie 1990 King of New York Dr. Shute Penny Ante: The Motion Picture Dale Martinez 1991 Homicide Woman with Randolph Undertow Nina 1994 Jackie Amateur Irate Woman 1995 Smoke Doreen Cole Flirt Nurse Tuesday Morning Ride Modine Short Officer Hudson TV movie 1996 Sticks & Stones Miss William 1997 Touch Me Kareen 1999 Santa and Pete Cassie Moore TV movie Intimate Betrayal Toni TV movie 2001 No Such Thing Judy Impostor Newscaster No. 1 2003 Freaky Friday Harry's Teacher 2004 In Your Eyes Yolie Beth TV movie Betty's Treats Mrs. Wilson Short Beck and Call Leah TV Short 2006 Jane Doe: The Harder They Fall Margaret Monroe TV movie 2007 Gail 2009 Veronika Decides to Die Nurse White Blue Eyes Sandra 2010 Machete Joe Erica 2013 Tio Papi Det. Johnson 2015 Cloudy with a Chance of Love Dr. Ruth Harris TV movie Sex, Death and Bowling Shanti 2017 Romeo and Juliet in Harlem Nurse 2020 Sylvie's Love Eunice 2021 Far More Shanti 2024 Bang Bang Sharon

Television Year Title Role Notes 1982–87 Fame Coco Hernandez Main Cast: Season 1–3, Guest: Season 4 & 6 1985 Spenser: For Hire Shelley Episode: "Original Sin" North and South Semiramis Main Cast 1986 North and South, Book II Semiramis Main Cast 1988 Jennifer Episode: "Waterworks" 1990 American Playhouse Wendy Episode: "Women & Wallace" 1994 Law & Order Templeton Episode: "Breeder" Touched by an Angel Sydney Jessup Episode: "Tough Love" 1995 New York Undercover Melinda Episode: "The Smoking Section" 1996 Babylon 5 Cailyn Episode: "Walkabout" 1996–99 Profiler Angel Brown Main Cast: Season 1–3, Recurring Cast: Season 3-4 1997 Felice Carlyle Episode: "Driving Ms. Money" 1997–2003 ER Adele Newman Recurring Cast: Season 3-4 & 6–8, Guest: Season 9 1999 Any Day Now Laura Sanders Episode: "A Parent's Job" 2000 Ella's Lawyer Episode: "The Real Terrorist" & "How They Lived" 2001 Roswell FBI Agent Suzanne Duff Recurring Cast: Season 2 2002 Touched by an Angel Sydney Jessup Episode: "The Last Chapter" MDs Allison Greely Episode: "Cruel and Unusual" 2003–04 JAG Varese Chestnut Episode: "A Merry Little Christmas" & "What If" 2004 Aimee Breckridge Episode: "Bite Me" 2004–06 Veronica Mars Alicia Fennel Recurring Cast: Season 1-2 2005 Everwood Dr. Gans Episode: "Surprise" 2006 House Elizabeth Stone Episode: "Failure to Communicate" Numb3rs Principal Riva Bell Episode: "Waste Not" Criminal Minds Sarah Episode: "Profiler, Profiled" 2006–07 Boston Legal Attorney Samantha Fried Recurring Cast: Season 2, Guest: Season 3 2007 Close to Home Dr. Udell Episode: "Protégé" Murder 101: If Wishes Were Horses Police Sgt. Joanne Matterson Episode: "If Wishes Were Horses" 2008 Eleventh Hour Lizzie Summers Episode: "Cardiac" 2009 Grey's Anatomy Bethany Anderson Episode: "Invest in Love" 2011 Prime Suspect Principal Episode: "Wednesday's Child" Det. Harriet Mauro Regular Cast 2011–12 Rizzoli & Isles ER Doctor Guest Cast: Season 2-3 2012 Nikita Carla Bennett Recurring Cast: Season 2 Criminal Minds Sarah Episode: "The Company" True Blood Faerie Elder Episode: "Sunset" 2013 Cult Ginny Yarrow Episode: "The Good Fight" & "The Devil You Know" 2014 Switched at Birth Yvette Gifford Episode: "Have You Really the Courage?" Enormous Caroline Episode: "Enormous" 2015 Code Black Alice Sellers Episode: "Black Tag" 2016 The Catch Renée Etheridge Episode: "The Larágan Gambit" Murder in the First Corinne Hager Episode: "The Barbers of Seville" 2017 Shut Eye Agent Sims Recurring Cast: Season 2 2018 Chicago Med Lydia Singleton Episode: "An Inconvenient Truth" 2018–20 God Friended Me Trisha Recurring Cast: Season 1, Main Cast: Season 2 2021 NCIS New Orleans Lynette Carter Episode: "Leda and the Swan, Part 1 & 2" 2022 9-1-1 Pauline Barrett Episode: "Fear-o-phobia" 2023 Mayfair Witches Elena "Ellie" Fielding Recurring Cast: Season 1 The Night Agent Brittany Arrington Episode: "The Marionette"