Kate Burton
Biography
Kate Burton is a Swiss-born Welsh-American stage and screen actress. She is best known for her TV roles as Vice President Sally Langston on ABC's Scandal, Vera Quinn on the Audience Network's series Full Circle, and Dr. Ellis Grey on ABC's Grey's Anatomy.
She holds an BA in Russian Studies and European History from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama, New Haven, Connecticut.
Gallery
Known For
Acting History
2025
The Beast in Me as Mariah Ingram
2025The Surrender as Barbara
2025Violent Ends as Darlene Woodley
2025BULLDOZER as Dr. Diane Roddy
2025Oscar Wilde About America
2024guts as Gabby
2023Our Son as Maggie "Miggie"
2023Dumb Money as Elaine Gill
2023Heaven, I Suppose as Cheryl
2023The Anne Frank Gift Shop as Ilse
2022So Help Me Todd as Joan
2022Breaking as Tami Stackhouse
2022Bosch: Legacy as Ida Porter
2022The Dropout as Rochelle Gibbons
2022Inventing Anna as Nora Radford
2021Sandra Day O'Connor: The First as Narrator (voice)
2021The Mosquito Coast as Margot's Mom
2021The Codebreaker as Narrator (voice)
2020The Vote as Narrator (voice)
2019Perfect Harmony as Julie
2019Prodigal Son as Sarah Windsor
2019Where'd You Go, Bernadette as Ellen Idelson
2018Charmed as Celeste
2018At First Light as Kate
2018FBI as Evelyn Kates
2017Noël Coward's Present Laughter as Liz Essendine
2017The Gifted as Dr. Madeline Risman
201713 Reasons Why as Dr. Hughes
2016This Is Us as Barbara
2015Supergirl as Isabel Nal (voice)
2015Supergirl as Isabel Nal
2015Martyrs as Eleanor
2015Identity Theft as Anna
2015Bleeding Heart as Martha
2015Amok as Dr. Wilson
2014Madam Secretary as Maureen McCord
2014Don't Look Back as Dr. Jeanette Barnes
2014Extant as Fiona Stanton
2014Barefoot as Mrs. Wheeler
2013Full Circle as Vera Quinn
2013Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel: Live from Lincoln Center as Mrs. Mullin
2012Mariachi Gringo as Anne
2012Elementary as Maureen Dannon
2012Revolution as Jane Warren
2012Liberal Arts as Susan
2012Veep as Barbara Hallowes
2012Scandal as Sally Langston
20122 Days in New York as Bella
2012Key & Peele as Hillary Clinton
2011Grimm as Marie Kessler
2011Caris' Peace as Self
2011Puncture as Senator O'Reilly
2010127 Hours as Aron's Mom
2010Remember Me as Janine
2010Consent as Susan
2010The Deep End as Grace Graham
2009Modern Family as Iris Fennerman
2009The Good Wife as Victoria Adler
2009Washingtonienne as Joy
2009Spooner as Alice Spooner
2008What Just Happened as Doctor Randall
2008Max Payne as Nicole Horne
2008Eleventh Hour as Gepetto / Miranda Cochran
2008Hidden Treasure of the Mississippi as Aunt Birdy
2008Quid Pro Quo as Merilee
2006Sherrybaby as Marcia Swanson
2006Justice
2005Stay as Mrs. Letham
2005Ernest Hemingway: Rivers to the Sea as Narrator (voice)
2005The Closer as Kate Wycoff
2005Empire Falls as Cindy Whiting
2005Grey's Anatomy as Ellis Grey
2005Numb3rs as Anthropologist
2005Medium as Bonnie Barrister
2004Rescue Me as Rose
2003Working Shakespeare
2003The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer as Connie Posey
2003Three Sisters as Olga
2002Obsessed as Sara Miller
2002Swimfan as Carla Cronin
2002Unfaithful as Tracy
2001Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Stephanie Ufland
2001100 Centre Street as Sheila Byrne
2000The Opportunists as Rest Home Sister
1999The West Wing as Sarah Brainerd
1999Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Annette Cole
1999Judging Amy as Dr. Sheri Jordan
1998Celebrity as Robin's Friend Cheryl
1997Ellen Foster as Abigail Montford
1997The Ice Storm as Dorothy Franklin
1997The Practice as A.D.A. Susan Alexander
1996Mistrial as Katherine Donohue
1996Looking for Richard as Self
1996The First Wives Club as Woman in Bed
1996August as Helen Blathwaite
1995Notes For My Daughter as Brenda Gardner
1994Monty as Fran Richardson
1993Love Matters as Deborah
1993Life with Mikey as Mrs. Burns
1992Home Fires as Anne Kramer
1991Brooklyn Bridge
1990Law & Order as Sister Bettina
1990Law & Order as Erica Gardner
1990Law & Order as Defense Attorney Erica Gardner
1989Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre as Self
1988American Experience as Narrator
1988In from the Cold? A Portrait of Richard Burton as Self
1987Uncle Tom's Cabin as Ophelia
1986Big Trouble in Little China as Margo
1985Spenser: For Hire
1985Evergreen as Agatha Bradford
1984Ellis Island as Vanessa Ogden
1983Alice in Wonderland as Alice
1971Great Performances as Alice
1969Anne of the Thousand Days as Serving Maid (uncredited)
1956Tony Awards as Self - Nominee
1951Hallmark Hall of Fame as Abigail
—Death on the Brandywine as Ann Riley