Wendy Moniz (born January 19, 1969)[1] is an American television actress. Her roles include Dinah Marler in the CBS soap opera Guiding Light, as Rachel McCabe in Nash Bridges, and as Louisa Archer in The Guardian. From 2013 to 2014, Moniz starred as Elaine McAllister in ABC drama series Betrayal and from 2018 to 2024 as Governor Lynelle Perry in the Paramount Network neo-Western series, Yellowstone. Moniz also had a recurring role as Laura Moretti in House of Cards (2015–2016).
Career
Moniz made her television debut in the CBS daytime soap opera Guiding Light as Dinah Marler. She starred as a series regular from 1995 to 1999, and was nominated for two Soap Opera Digest Awards. Moniz later returned as a guest star in 2000 and 2002.
In 1999, Moniz landed a role in the primetime CBS drama pilot Partners.[2] In the same year, she starred as the female lead in the critically acclaimed television film adaptation of Mitch Albom's book Tuesdays with Morrie.[3] She later was a series regular in the short-lived NBC comedy series Battery Park opposite Elizabeth Perkins.[4] In fall of 2000, Moniz was cast as a series regular in the role of Rachel McCabe in the sixth and final season of the CBS series Nash Bridges. She later starred as Louisa "Lulu" Archer on the CBS series The Guardian opposite Simon Baker.[5] The series aired from 2001 to 2004.
Moniz guest-starred in an episode of the NBC legal drama Law & Order in 2005, and had a recurring role as Stacey Walker in the ABC short-lived comedy-drama Big Shots in 2007. She later appeared as Jill Burnham on the FX series Damages from 2009 to 2010. In 2010 she was cast as Tom Selleck's love interest in the CBS police drama Blue Bloods, but the role was recast with Andrea Roth.[6][7] She later appeared in the recurring role of Llanview Mayor Finn - who succeeds the exiting Mayor Dorian Lord on the ABC daytime soap opera One Life to Live in 2011.[8] She also appeared in the ABC series 666 Park Avenue in 2012.[9]
Moniz, of Portuguese and Irish descent, was born in Kansas City, Missouri.[5] She attended Siena College in Loudonville, New York in 1991.[15] She married David Birsner in 1991, but the couple divorced without issue in 1996. She married her former Guiding Light co-star, Frank Grillo in October 2000, and separated from him in February 2020 and finalised their divorce in September 2020.[16][17] The couple has two sons.[18]
