Nancy Travis (born September 21, 1961) is an American actress. She began her career on Off-Broadway theater, before her first leading screen role in the ABC television miniseries Harem opposite Omar Sharif. Her breakthrough came in 1987, playing Sylvia Bennington in the comedy film Three Men and a Baby. She later starred in its sequel, Three Men and a Little Lady (1990).
Travis has starred in many films, including Internal Affairs (1990), Air America (1990), Passed Away (1992), Chaplin (1992), So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993), Greedy (1994), and Fluke (1995). On television, Travis went on to star in the CBS sitcom Almost Perfect in 1995, which ran two seasons, and in the short-lived Work with Me (1999). In 2002, she played a leading role in the ABC miniseries Rose Red, and later joined the cast of the CBS sitcom Becker for its final two seasons.
From 2011 to 2021, Travis starred as Vanessa Baxter in the ABC/Fox sitcom Last Man Standing. From 2018 to 2019, she also starred opposite Michael Douglas in the Netflix comedy series The Kominsky Method. In 2023, Travis starred in the Hallmark Channel neo-Western drama series Ride. She also has a recurring role on NCIS as Vice Admiral Harriet Parker, sister of series regular Alden Parker (Gary Cole).
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Early life
Travis was born in Queens, the daughter of Theresa, a social worker, and Gordon Travis, a sales executive. Travis was raised in Framingham, Massachusetts, and Baltimore, Maryland. She was raised Roman Catholic. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from New York University.
Career
Travis's first job after graduating from high school was in a play, It's Hard to Be a Jew, at The American Jewish Theatre in NYC. She also acted in commercials, notably for Twinkies and Levi's Jeans. After that, Travis appeared in a stage version of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs and was a founding member of the Off-Broadway theater company Naked Angels. She appeared in their Frank Pugliese play Aven U-Boys, as well as in King of Connecticut. She made her Broadway debut in I'm Not Rappaport in 1985. She starred in Athol Fugard's My Children, My Africa. In 1985, Travis made her screen debut playing a supporting role in the made-for-television biographical film Malice in Wonderland starring Elizabeth Taylor. The following year she received a star-billing role in the two-part ABC miniseries, Harem opposite Omar Sharif. She later made guest-starring appearances in television series Spenser: For Hire and Tales from the Darkside.
In 1987, Travis made her big screen debut playing Sylvia Bennington in the comedy film Three Men and a Baby starring Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, and Ted Danson. The film was one of the biggest American box office hits of 1987 grossing $240 million worldwide. She reprised her role in its sequel, Three Men and a Little Lady in 1990. In 1988, Travis had supporting roles in two films: crime comedy Married to the Mob, and the sports drama Eight Men Out. She starred opposite Hal Holbrook and Eva Marie Saint in the made-for-television Christmas drama film I'll Be Home for Christmas later in 1988.
In 1990, Travis starred in four films: she starred as the female lead and wife of Andy García's character in the crime thriller Internal Affairs, the action comedy and box-office bomb Loose Cannons, starred alongside Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. in the action comedy Air America and Three Men and a Little Lady.
In 1992 she starred opposite Bob Hoskins in the comedy film Passed Away and was featured in the biographical film Chaplin opposite Robert Downey Jr., portraying Joan Barry, the woman who filed a paternity suit against Chaplin. The following year, Travis starred alongside Jeff Bridges and Kiefer Sutherland in the psychological thriller The Vanishing, and starred in the romantic comedy-drama So I Married an Axe Murderer as the bride of Mike Myers' character. Travis also starred with Peter Gallagher and Isabella Rossellini in the Tom Cruise-directed episode of the Showtime neo-noir anthology series Fallen Angels in 1993. Travis starred alongside Michael J. Fox in the comedy film Greedy in 1994. The following year she went to star in the box office bomb fantasy drama film Fluke, the action-comedy Destiny Turns on the Radio with Dylan McDermott, and the HBO crime thriller Body Language opposite Tom Berenger. In 1996, Travis appeared in Whoopi Goldberg's comedy film, Bogus.
Personal life
Travis appeared in Robert N. Fried's So I Married An Axe Murderer (1993). In 1994, Travis married Fried, the former president and CEO of Savoy Pictures, founder and former CEO of Hallmark+ (formerly known as SpiritClips and Feeln), and now the CEO of Niagen Bioscience. They have two sons. Travis starred in the 2007 short film Sally, featuring one of her sons and written by her husband.
