Lori Petty

Lori Petty (born October 14, 1963) is an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She made her big-screen debut appearing in the 1990 comedy film Cadillac Man and later starred in films Point Break, A League of Their Own (1992), Free Willy (1993), In the Army Now (1994), The Glass Shield (1994) and played the title role in Tank Girl (1995). She created and starred in the short-lived Fox sitcom Lush Life in 1996 and acted in a number of independent movies in her later career.

In 2008, Petty wrote and directed independent drama film The Poker House based on her early life during the 1970s. In 2014, she joined the Netflix comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black as Lolly Whitehill as a guest star in the second season, and a recurring character in the third, fourth and seventh seasons.

Early life Petty, the eldest of three children, was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the daughter of a Pentecostal minister. She had a difficult upbringing after her mother left her abusive father and became addicted to drugs and became a sex worker, which left the young Petty responsible for her younger sisters. Petty graduated from North High School in Sioux City, Iowa in 1981. She worked in Omaha, Nebraska as a graphic designer for several years before pursuing acting. She later made guest starring appearances on television series such as The Equalizer, The Twilight Zone, Head of the Class, Miami Vice and Freddy's Nightmares. In 1987 she starred in the made-for-television horror film Bates Motel. The following year she appeared in the made-for-television movie Police Story: Monster Manor, and was regular cast member in the short-lived comedy series, The Thorns. In 1989, Petty co-starred in the made-for-television movie Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder and from 1989 to 1990 was regular cast member in the Fox crime drama, Booker.

In 1990, Petty made her film debut as Robin Williams's wannabe fashion designer girlfriend in the dark comedy Cadillac Man. The following year, Petty played the surfer who taught Keanu Reeves how to surf in the 1991 action thriller Point Break directed by Kathryn Bigelow. In 1992, Petty starred in the sports comedy-drama film, A League of Their Own directed by Penny Marshall starring opposite Tom Hanks, Geena Davis and Madonna. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $132.4 million worldwide. The following year she went to star in the family drama film Free Willy. Released on July 16, 1993, the film received positive attention from critics and was a commercial success, grossing $153.7 million from a $20 million budget. Later that year, Petty appeared in the urban romantic drama film Poetic Justice directed by John Singleton, in a movie being viewed during the film. In 1994 she starred in the police drama film The Glass Shield. It received positive reviews but was released only in selected theaters. Also in 1994, Petty starred in the comedy film In the Army Now. It was universally panned by critics but grossed $28,881,266 at the box office.

In 1995, Petty played the title role in Tank Girl, an adaptation of the British cult comic book of the same name, directed by Rachel Talalay. Financially unsuccessful, Tank Girl recouped only about $6 million of its $25 million budget at the box office and received mixed reviews from critics. Despite the box-office failure of the film, it has since become a cult classic and has been noted for its feminist themes. Petty also provided the voice of the supervillain Livewire on the Warner Bros. series Superman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures, and the video game Superman: Shadow of Apokolips. Although she was originally cast as Lt. Lenina Huxley in Demolition Man, disagreements over the character's direction led producer Joel Silver to recast the role with Sandra Bullock. From 1998 to 1999 she had the recurring role on Brimstone as the owner of Stone's hotel. She narrated the first three books of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series—One for the Money, Two for the Dough and Three to Get Deadly in 2002. C. J. Critt read the unabridged version for Recorded Books. Petty read the abridgments for Simon & Schuster. In 2006 she starred in The Fair Haired Child, the episode of Showtime horror-anthology series Masters of Horror. She had the recurring role as Janice Burke, a woman with Huntington's disease, in the Fox series House from 2008 to 2009, and the following year played the role of "Daddy", an alpha female inmate, in Prison Break and its spin-off movie, Prison Break: The Final Break.

Petty directed and wrote the 2008 independent drama film The Poker House—a film dramatizing her own difficult childhood

In 2014, Petty was cast as Lolly Whitehill, an inmate with an interest in conspiracy theories in the Netflix comedy-drama series, Orange Is the New Black. Since 2024 she has played recurring character Dr. Lenora Friedman on NCIS: Origins.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1988 ...They Haven't Seen This... The Girl Short film 1990 Cadillac Man Lila 1991 Point Break Tyler Ann Endicott 1992 Kit Keller 1993 Free Willy Rae LindleyNominated – Kids' Choice Awards for Favorite Movie Actress Poetic Justice Penelope 1994 Deputy Deborah Fields In the Army Now Christine Jones 1995 Tank Girl Rebecca Buck / Tank Girl 1996 Countdown Sara Daniels 1998 Relax...It's Just Sex Robin Moon 1999 Candy Welsh Clubland India 2001 MacArthur Park Kelly Firetrap Lucy Route 666 Deputy U.S. Marshal Stephanie 'Steph' Horrible Accident SixAlso director and writer 2003 Prey for Rock & Roll Faith 2006 Cryptid Dr. Lean Carlin 2007 Broken Arrows Erin 2008 The Poker House Writer/directorNominated – Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Award for Best Narrative Feature 2009 Prison Break: The Final Break Daddy Direct-to-video 2010 Chasing 3000 Deputy Fryman 2014 Happy Fists Claudia Brenda 2016 Dead Awake Dr. Sykes 2018 Fear, Love, and Agoraphobia Francis 2020 A Deadly Legend Wanda Pearson 2021 The Survivalist Radio Operator 2023 You're All Gonna Die DonatellaTBATonic Elise Poe Post-production

Television Year Title Role Notes 1985 The Equalizer Brandi (Hooker) Episode: "The Lock Box" 1986 Lori Pendleton Episode: "The Library" 1987 Stingray Lisa Perlman Episode: "Bring Me the Hand That Hit Me" Bates Motel Willie Television film Head of the Class Molly 2 episodes 1988 'Cricket' Henshaw Regular role (12 episodes) Miami Vice Carol Episode: "Love at First Sight" Freddy's Nightmares Chris Ketchum Episode: "Killer Instinct" Police Story: Monster Manor Jeannie Pardonales Television film 1989 Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder Cassie Television film Alien Nation Sally 'Sal' Episode: "Fifteen with Wanda" 1989–1990 Booker Suzanne Dunne Recurring role (10 episodes) 1990 Grand Medea Episode: "A Boy and His Dad" 1996 Lush Life Georgette 'George' Sanders Regular role (7 episodes) 1997 Profiler Robin Poole, Marjorie Brand Episode: "Venom" Superman: The Animated Series Leslie Willis / Livewire Voice, 2 episodes 1998 The New Batman Adventures Voice, episode: "Girls' Night Out" 1998–1999 Brimstone Maxine Recurring role (7 episodes) 1999 Star Trek: Voyager Noss Episode: "Gravity" 2000 Lisette Episode: "Double" 2001 Rita Episode: "The Delivery" Show Host Episode: "Family Ties and Lies" 2002 ER Shane Episode: "Orion in the Sky" 2003 NYPD Blue Joyce Bradovich Episode: "I Kid You Not"Nominated – Prism Award for Best Performance in a Drama Series Episode 2004 Line of Fire Laurie McBride Episode: "Mother & Child Reunion" COLAR Voice, television film 2005 CSI: NY Maddy Episode: "Corporate Warriors" 2006 Masters of Horror Judith Episode: "Fair-Haired Child" 2008–2009 House Janice Burke 3 episodes 2009 Prison Break Daddy 3 episodes 'Sunshine' 2 episodes 2014–2019 Orange Is the New Black Lolly Whitehill Recurring role (24 episodes)Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2016–2017) 2016 Gotham Jeri Episode: "Wrath of the Villains: This Ball of Mud and Meanness" 2017 Hawaii Five-0 Jenny Kitson Episode: "Wehe 'ana (Prelude)" Transformers: Robots in Disguise Nightra Voice, episode: "Guilty as Charged" Danger & Eggs Ruelle, Madame Aubergine Voice, episode: "Morning Routine/Lost & Found" Swedish Dicks Madame Roux Episode: "Dial M for Medium" 2018 Robot Chicken Miss Grundy, Anna Mary Jones Voice, episode: "Never Forget" 2019 Summer Camp Island Ms. Pinch Voice, episode: "I Heart Heartforde" 2021 Immortal Compass Detective Williamson Episode: "Part 10: Closure" Station Eleven Sarah, The Conductor Main cast, miniseries 2023 Obliterated Crazy Susan Episode: "Walks of Shame" 2024 NCIS: Origins Dr. Lenora Friedman Recurring role

Video games Year Title Role 2002 Superman: Shadow of Apokolips Leslie Willis / Livewire