Mary McDonnell

Mary Eileen McDonnell is an American film, stage, and television actress. She received Academy Award nominations for her roles as Stands With A Fist in Dances with Wolves and MayAlice Culhane in Passion Fish. McDonnell is well known for her performances as President Laura Roslin in Battlestar Galactica, the First Lady in Independence Day, and Rose in Donnie Darko. She currently stars as Captain Sharon Raydor on the TNT series Major Crimes.

McDonnell was born in WilkesBarre, Pennsylvania, and was raised in Ithaca, New York. She is the daughter of Eileen and John Jack McDonnell , a computer consultant. Her siblings are Jane , Sally, Judith, Jackie, and John. She is of Irish descent. After graduating from the State University of New York at Fredonia, she attended drama school and joined the East Coasts prestigious Long Wharf Theatre Company, with which she worked for overyears.

Source: Wikipedia