Sherry Stringfield ’89

Less than a decade after graduating from Purchase, Sherry Stringfield ’89 was working alongside actors like George Clooney, William H. Macey, Julianna Marguiles, Anthony Edwards, and many others on the set of NBC’s medical drama ER, which ran from 1994 to 2009. As Dr. Susan Lewis on the award-winning TV series, Springfield received three Emmy Award nominations.

In 1996, she won a Q Award for “Best Actress in a Quality Drama Series” and in 1997 she, along with several of her ER cast-mates, won a Screen Actors Guild Award for “Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series”. In addition Stringfield was voted one of the “100 Sexiest Women in the World” by readers of FHM Magazine in 1997.

She is also known for her regular roles on NYPD Blue and Guiding Light.

In 1991 and 1993, Stringfield was nominated in the “Outstanding Villain/Villainess” category at the Soap Opera Digest Awards for her role in Guiding Light. She was also nominated in the category “Favorite Female Performer” at the People’s Choice Awards, and in 1995 and 1996 she was nominated in the “Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series -Drama” category at the Golden Globe Awards.

Stringfield was a member of ER’s original cast, but she quit the show during its third season. She returned to the role from 2001-2005.

After initially leaving ER in 1996, Stringfield taught a script analysis class and directed several plays for Purchase’s Conservatory of Theatre Arts. She also took roles in films such as 54 (1998) and Autumn in New York (2000)

In 2007 Stringfield starred in the Andrew Shea film Forfeit. In 2009, she appeared in The Stepfather, a remake of the 1987 American thriller film of the same name. She also played the role of Mary Jane Porter, an old girlfriend of Larry David’s who runs into and then goes on a date with him in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm that aired on October 11, 2009.

Since 2010, Springfield has made a number of television appearances, including  Who Is Clark Rockefeller? playing the role of Sandra Boss; The Confession, a Hallmark Channel movie and a sequel to The Shunning; as a guest-star in the CBS police drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; and in a recurring role on the CBS mystery Under the Dome during its second season.

In 2017, Stringfield appeared on Criminal Minds spinoff, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders.

During her time at Purchase College, Stringfield and actress Parker Posey were roomates.