Early life

Powers was born in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. She grew up in an artsy, liberal environment on both coasts with her divorced parents. Her father teaches acting. She said in an interview that her parents, "encouraged me to find my own truth". Commenting on her faith, she stated, "I pray whenever I feel sad. And I believe that whatever is right, will work out." In that same interview, she said that her father was Roman Catholic, and her mother Katharyn Powers

Katharyn Powers

Katharyn Michaelian Powers was a writer for several television series from the 1970s through the 1990s. Among the shows she has written episodes for include Charlie's Angels, Fantasy Island and Stargate SG-1. She was the story editor for Falcon Crest, Fantasy Island and The Fitzpatricks...

 was interested in metaphysics

Metaphysics

Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...

. Powers' mother wrote for television programs including Fantasy Island and Charlie's Angels. At the age of six, Powers announced her intentions to become an actress.

Career

Powers appeared in various television and films roles including 21 Jump Street

21 Jump Street

21 Jump Street is an American police procedural crime drama television series that aired on the Fox Network from April 12, 1987, to April 27, 1991, with a total of 103 episodes. The series focused on a squad of youthful-looking undercover police officers investigating crimes in high schools,...

, and Dead Poets Society

Dead Poets Society

Dead Poets Society is a 1989 American drama film directed by Peter Weir and starring Robin Williams. Set at the conservative and aristocratic Welton Academy in Vermont in 1959, it tells the story of an English teacher who inspires his students through his teaching of poetry.The script was written...

. In the film Rising Sun

Rising Sun (film)

Rising Sun is a [1993 film directed by Philip Kaufman, starring Sean Connery , Wesley Snipes, Harvey Keitel, and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa...

, Powers portrayed a prostitute who attempted to seduce the character played by actor Wesley Snipes

Wesley Snipes

Wesley Trent Snipes is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist, who has starred in numerous action films, thrillers, and dramatic feature films. Snipes is known for playing the Marvel Comics character Blade in the Blade film trilogy, among various other high profile roles...

. She also had a recurring role on the NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 legal drama L.A. Law

L.A. Law

L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...

. She portrayed "Dusty Brown" in the NBC miniseries

Miniseries

A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...

 A Matter of Justice. On being successfully cast in the NBC program Tonya and Nancy, Powers commented, "In a lot of ways, it's the role of the year". For the program, she received ice-skating lessons from Dody Teachman, former coach to Tonya Harding

Tonya Harding

Tonya Maxine Harding is an American figure skating champion. In 1991 she won the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and placed second in the World Championships. She was the second woman, and the first American woman, to complete a triple axel jump in competition...

. In a review for The Orlando Sentinel, Powers received a positive reception, "It should be said that Powers, the Christian lawyer on L.A. Law, is a dead ringer for Tonya (except Powers' thighs are thinner) and that she delivers a convincing performance."

Personal life

Powers does not adhere to any religion: "I've sort of looked and searched. I was a Buddhist for about six months." She was married to actor Barry Sherman as of December 1993. Powers lamented, "I have to take my ring off when I go to work. And that makes me sad, because I put the ring on and I don't want to ever have to take it off."

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1983	The Prodigal	Nancy Pringle
1985	Mask Mask (film) Mask is a 1985 American biographical drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Cher, Sam Elliott, and Eric Stoltz. Dennis Burkley and Laura Dern are featured in supporting roles. Cher received the 1985 Cannes Film Festival award for Best Actress....	Lisa
1988	Plain Clothes Plain Clothes (1988 film) Plain Clothes is a 1988 comedy film directed by Martha Coolidge. The film stars Arliss Howard and was released by Paramount Pictures. As of 2011, it is available on VHS and 'Internet video streaming' through Netflix.-Plot summary:...	Dawn-Marie Zeffer
1989	Sonny Boy	Rose
	Dead Poets Society Dead Poets Society Dead Poets Society is a 1989 American drama film directed by Peter Weir and starring Robin Williams. Set at the conservative and aristocratic Welton Academy in Vermont in 1959, it tells the story of an English teacher who inspires his students through his teaching of poetry.The script was written...	Chris Noel
1992	The Player The Player The Player is a 1992 American satirical film directed by Robert Altman from a screenplay by Michael Tolkin based on his own 1988 novel of the same name....	Herself
1993	Rising Sun Rising Sun (film) Rising Sun is a [1993 film directed by Philip Kaufman, starring Sean Connery , Wesley Snipes, Harvey Keitel, and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa...	Julia
	A matter of justice	Dusty
The Seventh Coin The Seventh Coin The Seventh Coin is a 1993 independent film starring Peter O'Toole and directed by Dror Soref.-Production:The film is filmed in Jerusalem, Israel, and With the help of Paramount, The Seventh Coin became Soref's debut as a feature film writer/director.-Plot:Peter O'Toole is Emil Saber, a retired...	Ronnie Segal	Alternative titles: Worlds Apart
1996	Race	Sylvie
	Last Man Standing Last Man Standing (film) Last Man Standing is a 1996 action film written and directed by Walter Hill, starring Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken, and Bruce Dern. It is a credited remake of the Akira Kurosawa film Yojimbo.- Plot :...	Lucy Kolinski
1997	Out to Sea Out to Sea Out to Sea is a 1997 romantic comedy film starring Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, Rue McClanahan, Dyan Cannon and Brent Spiner. The film was directed by Martha Coolidge, with a screenplay by Robert Nelson Jacobs...	Shelly
1998	One Hell of a Guy	Cassie Springer	Direct-to-video release Direct-to-video Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
1999	Storm	Major Tanya Goodman	Direct-to-video release
2001	Zigs Zigs (film) Zigs is a 2001 English language drama starring Jason Priestley, Peter Dobson and Richard Portnow and directed by Mars Callahan. The film received an R rating by the MPAA...	Sara	Alternative title: Double Down

Television

Year	Program	Role	Notes
1983	Jennifer Slept Here Jennifer Slept Here Jennifer Slept Here is an American fantasy sitcom series that ran for one season on NBC from October 21, 1983 to September 5, 1984.-Overview:...	Cassidy	1 episode
	T. J. Hooker T. J. Hooker T.J. Hooker is an American police drama television program starring William Shatner in the title role as a 15-year veteran police sergeant. The series premiered as a mid-season replacement on March 13, 1982 on ABC and ran on the network until May 4, 1985...	Sally	1 episode
1984	Silence of the Heart Silence of the Heart Silence of the Heart is a 1984 television family drama film written by Phil Penningroth and directed by Richard Michaels for CBS Television...	Andrea	Television movie Television movie A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
1986	Highway to Heaven Highway to Heaven Highway to Heaven is an American television drama series which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989.- Season 1 :- Season 2 :- Season 3 :- Season 4 :- Season 5 :...	Arlene	1 episode
	Family Ties Family Ties Family Ties is an American sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. The sitcom reflected the move in the United States from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s to the conservatism of the 1980s. This was particularly expressed through the relationship between young...	Erin	1 episode
1987	CBS Schoolbreak Special After school special The American Broadcasting Company coined the term after school special in 1972 with a series of made for television movies, usually dealing with controversial or socially relevant issues, that were generally broadcast in the late afternoon and meant to be viewed by school age children, particularly...	Laura Sanders	1 episode
1988	CBS Summer Playhouse CBS Summer Playhouse CBS Summer Playhouse is an American anthology series that ran from June 12, 1987 to August 22, 1989 on CBS. It aired unsold television pilots during the summer season.-Overview:...	Beth	1 episode
	Unholy Matrimony	Patricia "Trish" Jaworsky	Television movie
1989	The Hogan Family The Hogan Family The Hogan Family is an American television situation comedy that aired from March 1, 1986 to July 20, 1991...	Princess Julia	3 episodes
1990	Dangerous Pursuit		Television movie
	21 Jump Street 21 Jump Street 21 Jump Street is an American police procedural crime drama television series that aired on the Fox Network from April 12, 1987, to April 27, 1991, with a total of 103 episodes. The series focused on a squad of youthful-looking undercover police officers investigating crimes in high schools,...	Officer Kati Rocky	2 episodes
1991	Cast a Deadly Spell Cast a Deadly Spell Cast a Deadly Spell is a Horror/Detective HBO movie with Fred Ward, Julianne Moore, David Warner and Clancy Brown. It was directed by Martin Campbell and written by Joseph Dougherty.-Plot:...	Olivia Hackshaw	Television movie
1993	The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 4, 1992, to July 24, 1993. The series explores the childhood and youth of the fictional character Indiana Jones and primarily stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Corey Carrier as the title character, with...	Gloria	1 episode
	A Matter of Justice	Dusty	Television movie
1993–1994	L.A. Law L.A. Law L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...	Jane Halliday	21 episodes
1994	Tonya & Nancy: The Inside Story	Tonya Harding Tonya Harding Tonya Maxine Harding is an American figure skating champion. In 1991 she won the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and placed second in the World Championships. She was the second woman, and the first American woman, to complete a triple axel jump in competition...	Television movie
	Following Her Heart	Nola	Television movie
1997	C-16: FBI	Dana Morrison	1 episode
1998	Nobody Lives Forever	Detective Mary Ellen "Dusty" Dustin	Television movie
	Maximum Bob Maximum Bob Maximum Bob was a short-lived television series that debuted in 1998 on ABC TV. Starring Beau Bridges, the show was based on Elmore Leonard's 1991 novel with the same title.-Premise:...	Angelyne Linklater	1 episode
	Fantasy Island		1 episode
1999	Brimstone Brimstone (TV series) Brimstone was a short-lived Fox television series, featuring a dead police detective whose mission is to return to Hell 113 spirits who have escaped to Earth. The series ran for only one partial season....	"Sally" Ann McGee	1 episode

External links