Bridget Flanery

Bridget Flanery
Born
Bridget Christine Flanery

(1970-03-24) March 24, 1970
Guthrie Center, Iowa , U.S.
EducationDrake University (BA)
Yale University (MFA)
OccupationActress
Years active1994–present
SpouseBrandon Christy (m. 2009)

Bridget Christine Flanery (born March 24, 1970) is an American actress and screenplay writer. She is sometimes credited as Bridget Flanery-Fownes.

Early life and education

Born Bridget Christine Flanery, on March 24, 1970 in Guthrie Center, Iowa,[1][2] Flanery is the daughter of Judith and James Flanery, the latter of whom was a county district clerk in Guthrie County before his death in 1987. Flanery has a sister, Jill, and three brothers, James, William and John.[3]

Flanery attended Guthrie Center Elementary School, where she was receiving accolades for her acting as early as 1982.[4] In high school, she starred as Anne Sullivan in The Miracle Worker at the age of 15, winning the role over several older students.[5]

Flanery studied Theatre and Dance at Drake University, graduating in 1992.[6][7] After graduation, she relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting.[5] She later received her MFA from Yale School of Drama.[8]

Career

While a student at Drake University, Flanery appeared in several local productions at Wichita Summer Theater, including Blithe Spirit,[9] A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,[10] To Gillian on her 37th Birthday,[11] Fatal Attraction,[12] and Nunsense.[13] She also appeared in several commercials while in college.[14]

Upon graduating from Drake, Flanery moved to LA and booked her first television role playing a high school student in Sweet Dreams.[5] In 1994, she was cast as Lila Fowler in the comedy-drama series Sweet Valley High.[15] She was part of the main cast until 1996, when she was replaced by Shirlee Elliot. Between 1996 and 1998, she portrayed Jill on the sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch.[16]

Flanery has appeared in several guest starring television roles, including Teen Angel,[17] Unhappily Ever After,[18] Love Boat: The Next Wave, Will & Grace, Desperate Housewives, Boy Meets World,[19] Out of Practice, Without a Trace,[20] Hart of Dixie, Babylon 5, All My Children, Guiding Light, Pearl and Two and a Half Men.[5][21][8] She was nominated for a Young Artist Award in 1997 for the Best Performance in a TV Comedy — Guest Starring Young Performer for the television show Pearl.

In 1997, Flanery starred as Kathy in Vanities at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival.[22] She went on to have many more theater roles throughout the 2000s, including A Streetcar Named Desire at the Yale Repertory Theatre, Loves and Hours at the Old Globe Theatre,[23] Cats Talk Back at the New York International Fringe Festival,[24] Twelfth Night at the Shakespeare Festival LA,[25] Spring Awakening at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, The Rainmaker at The Noise Within,[26] The Taming of the Shrew at The Odyssey, The Psychic at The Falcon Theater,[27] The Road to Appomattox at Colony Theater,[8] Three Sisters at Studio Theatre,[28] New York Water at the Pico Playhouse.[29][5]

Her roles in The Rainmaker and The Taming Of The Shrew awarded her Best Performance By A Lead Actress (Comedy) by StageSceneLA in 2010.[5] Flanery has also written several screenplays which have won awards on the festival circuits,[8] including Best Screen Feature Screenplay for Gossamer Folds at the George Linley UNA Film Festival in 2012.[30]

In 2009, Flanery starred in a film directed by her old Drake classmate, Sean Gannon. The film, Something Blue, was screened at the Starz Denver Film Festival, and filmed in Flanery's native Iowa.[5] In 2010 she co-wrote the pilot episode of the show Complete Bull, with Colleen Krantz, who is also from Guthrie Center.[31]

Flanery wrote the screenplay for the 2020 film, Gossamer Folds, which tells the story of a transgender woman befriending her young neighbour in the 1980s.[32] The film was shown at several festivals, and was nominated for the 2022 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film: Limited Release.[33]

From 2019-2023, Flanery taught acting at The Studio School in Los Angeles.[21] Since then, she had been the Academic Department Director for Acting at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.[34] She has also taught acting classes at Drake University since 2015.[6]

Personal life

Flanery married composer Brandon Fownes (sometimes known as Brandon Christy) on August 8, 2009. The couple divorced in 2021.[35]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1994 Encounter Cat Short film
1996 Fatal Expressions Kathy Kelly
2009 Something Blue Kathleen O'Connell
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1994-1996 Sweet Valley High Lila Fowler 44 episodes
1996 Weird Science Courtney Episode: "Grumpy Old Genie"
1996 Boy Meets World Lisa Episode: "Singled Out"
1996 7th Heaven Susan Barrett Episode: "Saturday"
1996 California Dreams Girl who makes announcement Episode: "The Fashion Man"
1996–1998 Sabrina the Teenage Witch Jill 9 episodes
1997 Pearl Episode: "Power Play"
1997 Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac Lisa TV miniseries
1997 Unhappily Ever After Bunny Episode: "Sorority Girl"
Episode: "Ryan Vampire Slayer"
1997-1998 Teen Angel Jessica Fishman 4 episodes
1998 Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction Miranda Episode: "Dead Friday"
1998 Babylon 5 Zoe Episode: "Day of the Dead"
1998 The Outsider Lita Hayworth TV movie
1999 The Love Boat: The Next Wave Simone Episode: "Such Sweet Dreams"
2005 Without a Trace Beth Norwood Episode: "Lone Star"
2005 Will & Grace Viv Cassidy Episode: "Kiss and Tell"
Episode: "Friends with Benefits"
2005 Out of Practice Mary Episode: "Breaking Up is Hard to Do. And Do. And..."
2008 Two and a Half Men Katie Episode: "Damn You, Eggs Benedict"
2008 Desperate Housewives Peggy Episode: "Back in Business"
2011 Hart of Dixie Becky Hilson Episode: "The Pirate & the Practice"

References

  1. ^ Pascal, Francine (1995). Meet the Stars of Sweet Valley High. Bantam Books. p. 36. ISBN 978-0553567311. "Born on March 24, Bridget Christine Flanery grew up far from the lush hills of California."
  2. ^ "County News: Hospital Guthrie County (Week of March 22-29)". The Bayard News. April 2, 1970. p. 5. Retrieved February 16, 2026. "Births - Bridget Christine to Mr. and Mrs. James Flanery, Guthrie Center"
  3. ^ "James W. Flanery". The Des Moines Register. December 25, 1987. p. 31. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  4. ^ "Iowa students shine in contest". The Des Moines Register. June 21, 1982. p. 3. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Bridget Flanery". StageSceneLA. March 25, 2010. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  6. ^ a b "From Drake to Hollywood—and Back Again". Drake University. December 17, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
  7. ^ "Actress visiting Drake today". The Des Moines Register. April 10, 1998. p. 13. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  8. ^ a b c d Peterson, Tyler. "Colony Theatre to Present THE ROAD TO APPOMATTOX, Begin. 2/11". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  9. ^ "It's shaping up to be a theater kind of summer". The Wichita Eagle. June 10, 1990. p. 28. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  10. ^ "Wichita Summer Theater stages 'Forum'". The Wichita Eagle. June 16, 1990. p. 28. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  11. ^ "Mother-daughter roles". The Wichita Eagle. June 17, 1990. p. 27. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  12. ^ "Fatally attracted". The Wichita Eagle. July 1, 1990. p. 25. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  13. ^ "Offstage bazaar adds to show's goofy fun". The Wichita Eagle. July 15, 1990. p. 25. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  14. ^ "Meet Bridget Flanery". The Indiana Gazette. November 20, 1995. p. 8. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  15. ^ "'It was like fate,' insist twin stars of saccharine series for preteens". Times Colonist. June 23, 1995. p. 68. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  16. ^ "Sabrina casts a spell to make her school life more exciting". The Marshall News Messenger. April 20, 1997. p. 39. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  17. ^ "Teen Angel". The Rutland Daily Herald. September 21, 1997. p. 105. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  18. ^ "Unhappily Ever After". Detroit Free Press. October 18, 1998. p. 219. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  19. ^ "Boy Meets World". The Signal. June 6, 2004. p. 105. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  20. ^ "Without a Trace". The Times. March 10, 2005. p. 33. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  21. ^ a b "Bridget Flanery - Faculty, Acting Program". Studio School. February 18, 2017. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  22. ^ "'Vanities' brings theater to Summer Festival". The Ann Arbor News. July 7, 1997. p. 34. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  23. ^ "Skimming the surface". The Los Angeles Times. April 1, 2003. p. 51. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  24. ^ "Funny characters on Fringe". The Los Angeles Times. April 1, 2003. p. 51. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  25. ^ "To Beach or not to Beach". Santa Barbara News-Press. July 9, 2004. p. 42. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  26. ^ "The Rainmaker". The Los Angeles Times. October 5, 2008. p. 87. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  27. ^ "Passion readies for its harvest". The Los Angeles Times. April 2, 2010. p. 49. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  28. ^ Minich, Jenny. "Review: THREE SISTERS AND NO SISTERS at Studio Theatre". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  29. ^ Barrett, Shari. "Review: NEW YORK WATER Changes Hue as Often as Romantic Involvements Do". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  30. ^ Eubanks, Michelle. "George Lindsey Una Film Festival Announces Screenplay Winners". www.una.edu. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  31. ^ "No bull: TV pilot includes Q-C talent". Quad-City Times. August 27, 2020. pp. A9. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  32. ^ Milligan, Kaitlin. "Yeardley Smith's Paperclip Ltd and Mill House Motion Pictures Announce GOSSAMER FOLDS Drama". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  33. ^ "The Nominees for the 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards | GLAAD". glaad.org. January 27, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  34. ^ "AMDA - Faculty - Bridget Flanery". amda-production.frb.io. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  35. ^ "FLANERY, BRIDGET VS FOWNES, BRANDON". UniCourt. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
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