Background and career
Judith Therese Evans (born July 20, 1975), known professionally as Judy Greer, is an American actress. She is primarily known as a character actress who has appeared in a wide variety of films. She rose to prominence for her supporting roles in the films Jawbreaker (1999), What Women Want (2000), 13 Going on 30 (2004), Elizabethtown (2005), 27 Dresses (2008), and Love & Other Drugs (2010). Greer expanded into multiple genres with roles in films such as The Wedding Planner (2001), Adaptation (2002), The Village (2004), The Descendants (2011), Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011), Carrie (2013), Men, Women & Children (2014), Grandma (2015), Lemon (2017), Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2019), Uncle Frank (2020), and Hollywood Stargirl (2022). She appeared in numerous blockbusters, such as Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) its sequel War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), Jurassic World (2015), Halloween (2018) its sequel Halloween Kills (2021), and the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Ant-Man (2015), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). She made her directorial debut with the comedy-drama film A Happening of Monumental Proportions (2017). On television, Greer is best known for her starring voice role as Cheryl Tunt in the FXX animated comedy series Archer (2009–2023) and as Lina Bowman in the FX sitcom Married (2014–2015). She also appeared in the comedy series The Big Bang Theory (2010), Arrested Development (2003–2006, 2013–2019), Two and a Half Men (2003–2015), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2007–2011), Kidding (2018–2020), Let's Go Luna! (2018–2022), and Reboot (2022).
Greer was born in Detroit, Michigan, on July 20, 1975. Her mother, Mollie Ann (née Greer), is a hospital administrator, and her father, Rich Evans, is a mechanical engineer. Her mother was once a nun, who was "kicked out" of the convent after eight years for wild behavior, including owning a red bathing suit. Greer was raised Roman Catholic and grew up in Redford Township and Livonia. She attended Churchill High School, where she was a part of the Creative and Performing Arts Program and graduated from The Theatre School at DePaul University in 1997 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She later adopted her mother's maiden name for her stage name, as several other actresses are named Judy or Judi Evans.
Greer made her film debut in the horror film Stricken (1998), as a college student involved in a fatal prank. This was followed by a small role in the Chicago-filmed drama Kissing a Fool (1998). She was cast in her first major role as Fern Mayo, a nerdy teenager who uncovers her classmates' murder of their friend, in Darren Stein's black comedy Jawbreaker (1999). Greer followed this with small parts in the romantic comedy films, What Women Want (2000) and The Wedding Planner (2001). She was cast in a 2002 pilot for NBC alongside Stephen Colbert, Untitled Ken Finkleman Project (Imagine Entertainment), based on the Canadian show The Newsroom from Ken Finkleman. Colbert portrayed Finkleman and Greer played his sister. Greer had a recurring role on the Fox comedy series Arrested Development (2003–2005, 2013, 2018), playing Kitty Sanchez in ten episodes total and appearing in each of the series' three original seasons. In a 2009 interview, she said that she is most recognized for this role. She also had a supporting role in Adaptation (2002).
In 2004, Greer co-starred in the romantic comedy 13 Going on 30, starring Jennifer Garner as a girl who wakes up one morning as a 30-year-old woman. Greer played Lucy, an untrustworthy fellow editor of Garner's at a fashion magazine where both work. The film was a commercial success, grossing $96.5 million worldwide, and received positive reviews from critics. Greer had a supporting role in M. Night Shyamalan's thriller film The Village, about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it. Despite mixed reviews, the film was a success at the box office, grossing $256.7 million worldwide. Greer then played another supporting role in Jenna Fischer's directorial debut, the comedy LolliLove, which premiered at the St. Louis International Film Festival to positive reviews from critics, though it was ultimately released straight-to-DVD. In 2005, Greer first played a female werewolf in Wes Craven's horror film Cursed, starring Christina Ricci and Jesse Eisenberg. The film was a failure at the box office and was widely panned by critics, with Craven later expressing disappointment in the film. Greer then starred in the comedy-drama The Great New Wonderful, which depicts the lives of several New Yorkers one year after the September 11th attacks. In her character's vignette, Greer played a woman struggling to keep her marriage together. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival to mostly positive reviews. Ty Burr of the Boston Globe called the film "an actor's playpen", and remarked that "Greer has been stuck so long in goofball supporting roles that she tears into this part – a smart, loving mother frightened of her own son – as if it were prime rib." Following an appearance in the drama In Memory of My Father, Greer featured in Cameron Crowe's tragic-romantic comedy Elizabethtown, starring Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, Alec Baldwin and Susan Sarandon. The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and garnered negative reviews from critics.
Following an appearance in Paul Weitz's comedy American Dreamz, Greer starred in the comedy-drama The TV Set (both 2006), as a personal manager to the scriptwriter (David Duchovny) of a television series. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival to generally positive reviews from critics. Dana Stevens of Slate noted that "[...] Judy Greer, an Anne Heche lookalike with Lisa Kudrow's comic timing, nearly steals the movie as Mike's desperately chirpy manager." Greer also starred in the short-lived CBS comedy-drama series Love Monkey (2006). The following year, Greer made brief appearances in the independent road film The Go-Getter and the comedy The Grand (both 2007). During this period, Greer became a frequent guest star for producer Chuck Lorre, having appeared in his sitcoms Two and a Half Men (2007–2015), The Big Bang Theory (2010), and Mom (2015). In 2008, Greer starred opposite Zach Galifianakis in the independent satire Visioneers, and played the best friend of a bridesmaid in the romantic comedy 27 Dresses. The latter film received mostly negative reviews from critics, but was a commercial success, grossing $162.6 million worldwide. Greer played a similar role in the romantic drama Love Happens (2009), starring Jennifer Aniston. Greer also took on the leading role in the ABC sitcom Miss Guided (2008), in which she played a guidance counselor working at a high school. The series was canceled after one season. That same year, Greer appeared as a yoga instructor in the "Get a Mac" advertisements, which also featured John Hodgman and Justin Long. Beginning in 2009, Greer has provided the voice of Cheryl Tunt in the FX animated adult sitcom Archer, as well as Wendy Park in the Nick at Nite stop-motion animated sitcom Glenn Martin, DDS (2009–2011). In 2010, Greer first starred in the comedy Barry Munday, in which she played a woman who becomes pregnant by a lonely womanizer (Patrick Wilson). The film premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival to mixed reviews. Joe Leydon of Variety praised Greer's performance, commending the actress for bringing "some welcome emotional truth" to her "almost too convincing" role. Following roles in the family comedy Marmaduke and the romantic crime comedy Henry's Crime, Greer featured in the comedy-drama Peep World. She played Laura Meyerwitz, a pregnant wife whose husband (Michael C. Hall) is revealed to have an addiction to pornography from his brother's thinly veiled novel about their family. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and in spite of largely negative reviews, critics singled out Greer's performance for praise. Both Manohla Dargis of The New York Times and Elizabeth Weitzman of the New York Daily News considered Greer's performance to be the most "genuine" of the cast. Greer also played a supporting role in the romantic comedy-drama Love & Other Drugs, which was a commercial success, grossing $102.8 million worldwide. Greer also appeared in "Truth Be Told", the 17th episode of season 1 of Modern Family, playing the role of Denise, Phil Dunphy’s ex-girlfriend who has spent a year exchanging messages with Phil on Facebook and then comes to his house in hopes of starting an affair with him.
In 2011, Greer first starred in the crime thriller The Key Man, as the wife of a salesman who becomes involved in an insurance scam. The film premiered at South by Southwest. Though Seth Freilich of Pajiba considered Greer to be "lovely as always", he felt that she was "underused", and called for the film industry to offer her better roles. Greer starred in Alexander Payne's film The Descendants, alongside George Clooney. Greer played a woman who discovers that her husband had an extramarital affair with the now-comatose wife of the attorney. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival to critical acclaim. Greer herself received particularly strong reviews for her performance; David Thomson of The New Republic found Greer to be "touching", while Philip Kemp of Sight & Sound praised Greer for turning "her few brief scenes [...] into a moving portrayal of undeservedly broken trust." For her performance in the film, Greer received nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture. That same year, Greer also starred in the comedy-drama Jeff, Who Lives at Home, directed by brothers Jay and Mark Duplass, in which she and Ed Helms played a couple whose marriage is failing. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to positive reviews, with Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times calling it "a whimsical comedy [that depends] on [...] the discontent of Helms and Greer." For her work in both The Descendants and Jeff, Who Lives at Home, Greer received the John Cassavetes Award at the Denver Film Festival, becoming the first female actor to be the recipient of the award. Greer then starred in the short-lived CBS sitcom Mad Love, about a group of people in their 30s trying to find love. David Hinckley of New York Daily News felt that Greer played her role "perfectly" in the series, which was canceled after one season. Greer also hosted an online series of exercise videos titled Reluctantly Healthy, which was later adapted by Litton Entertainment as part of their Saturday-morning One Magnificent Morning block for The CW.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
