Holland Taylor

Holland Taylor, also known as Penny Taylor, is an Emmy Award-winning American actress, known for her film, television and theatre work.

She is best known for her roles as Ruth Dunbar in "Bosom Buddies," as Judge Roberta Kittleson in "The Practice" and as Evelyn Harper in "Two and a Half Men." Holland Taylor was born to C.Tracy Taylor, an attorney and Virginia Taylor. She is the youngest of three girls in the family and her sisters are Patricia and Pamela. She attended high school at Westtown School, a Quaker boarding school then majored in drama at Bennington College in 1964, before moving to New York City to become an actress.

Her first credits were in the theater and throughout the '60s and 1970s she appeared in numerous Broadway and off-Broadway productions. Taylor went on to star in "Breakfast with Les and Bess" and A.R. Gurney's "The Cocktail Hour." In 1978, she expanded her range with extensive dance training in ballet, jazz and tap at the renown Joffrey Ballet.

On television, from 1978 to 1979 Taylor was cast as Denise Cavanaugh on the long running soap opera,"The Edge of Night." She also starred from 1992 to 1993 in Norman Lear's "The Powers That Be" with John Forsythe and David Hyde Pierce, from 1995 to 1998 on "The Naked Truth."

She played the recurring role of Judge Roberta Kittleson on "The Practice" from 1998 to 2003, for which she was nominated for two Emmys, winning one for best supporting actress.