Kathryn Erbe (born July 5, 1966 in Newton, Massachusetts) is an American actress best known for her role as Detective Alexandra Eames on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, a spin-off of Law & Order. Erbe is a veteran of film, stage, and television, and has been a working actress since she graduated from New York University in 1990.
Erbe was cast as Lynn Redgrave's daughter on the sitcom Chicken Soup as an undergraduate student at New York University. Following the series, she became a member the Steppenwolf Theatre Company and has starred in many of their productions, including A Streetcar Named Desire, Curse of the Starving Class, My Thing of Love, and The Grapes of Wrath, which had a six-month long run and won the 1990 Tony Award for Best Play. Erbe earned a Tony Award nomination in 1991 for her portrayal of Mary in Speed of Darkness by Steve Tesich. Erbe has also performed in many world premiere productions by playwrights such as Tom Donaghy and Alex Gersten.
Erbe has starred in many films, including: What About Bob?, Stir of Echoes and the independent films Dream with the Fishes, Love from Ground Zero and Entropy. Erbe also portrayed the infamous 'Shirley Bellinger' on the HBO series "Oz" to wide critical acclaim. She also had a memorable guest appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1997.
Erbe is married to American actor Terry Kinney and they have two children, daughter Maeve, born in 1996 and son Carson, born in 2003.
