Laila Robins
About
Biography
Biography
Born in 1959 in St. Paul, Minnesota, Laila Robins earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire, and subsequently attended the prestigious Yale School of Drama, earning a Masters of Fine Arts. She began working on stage in the mid-1980s and quickly found herself on screen in a substantial role, playing Steve Martin's wife, in the holiday classic "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (1987). Her first series regular role came on the show "Gabriel's Fire" (ABC, 1990-91) playing the attorney who helps free James Earl Jones, then hires him as a private investigator. Once that show ended, Robins continued to work both on stage and screen, notably playing a recurring role as young Livia Soprano on "The Sopranos" (HBO, 1999-2007), and making multiple appearances on "In Treatment" (HBO, 2008-2010), and "Bored to Death" (HBO, 2009-2011). In 2014, she appeared as a series regular, playing the US Ambassador to Pakistan on season 4 of "Homeland" (Showtime, 2011-). The following year she was a regular on season 2 of "Murder in the First" (TNT, 2014-16). It was announced that she would be a series regular on "Deception" (ABC, 2018-)
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1984
Stage debut in "Peer Gynt" at Williamstown Theatre Festival
1984
Broadway debut, succeeded Glenn Close as Annie in "The Real Thing" directed by Mike Nichols
1986
Film debut, "A Walk on the Moon"
1988
TV debut, episode of "The Equalizer"
1989
TV-movie debut, "Dream Breakers"
1990
Series debut, Victoria Heller in "Gabriel's Fire" (ABC)
1995
Co-starred with Uta Hagen in the Off-Broadway hit "Mrs. Klein"
1997
Starred in the 50th Anniversary production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" at the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago
2000
Cast opposite Richard Thomas in the stage revival of "Tiny Alice"