Linda Kelsey

Linda Kelsey (born July 28, 1946) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Billie Newman on the CBS drama television series Lou Grant (1977–1982), which earned her three Golden Globe Award nominations and five Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

Early years Kelsey was born on July 28, 1946, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She participated in dramatics in high school, in community theater, and at the University of Minnesota.

Career Kelsey's professional career began with stage appearances in her home of Minneapolis, Minnesota. After acting with the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis for two years, she performed with the Long Wharf Theatre in Connecticut, and in other venues in other parts of the United States. Her first recognition came with an appearance on an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show as a rival to Sue Ann Nivens (played by Betty White), where she met Ed Asner on the set, with whom she later worked on the spin-off show Lou Grant. Her appearance on The Mary Tyler Moore Show led to prominent guest appearances on shows like M*A*S*H, The Streets of San Francisco, Barnaby Jones, Spencer's Pilots, Quincy M.E., The Rockford Files, the television films The Last of Mrs. Lincoln (1976) Something for Joey (1977), Eleanor and Franklin (1976), Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977), and the miniseries Captains and the Kings (1976).

Six years after Lou Grant went off the air in 1982, Kelsey played the lead in the sitcom Day by Day (1988) as a woman who runs a daycare center out of her home. In 2009, she revisited her television past, playing Sue Ann Nivens for a week in a Minneapolis theatre company's restaging of The Mary Tyler Moore Show scripts, including the episode in which she originally appeared.

Personal life Kelsey married actor William Grivna in 1971; they divorced in 1973. In 1979, she married carpenter Glenn Strand, who later became a computer programmer.

Awards Emmy Award Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (five nominations from 1978 to 1982) - Lou Grant Golden Globe Award Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (three nominations from 1979 to 1981) - Lou Grant CableACE Award CableACE Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series (1993) - Sessions