{{short description|American author and actress (born 1970)}} {{Infobox person | name = Isabel Gillies | birth_name = Isabel Boyer Gillies | birth_date = {{Birth based on age as of date |37|2007|10|14}} | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | other_names = | occupation = Author, actress | years_active = 1990–2011; 2021; 2023; 2025 (acting) | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|DeSales Harrison|1999|2005|end=divorced}} * {{marriage|Peter Lattman|2007}} }} | children = 3 | website = }} '''Isabel Boyer Gillies''' (born {{Birth based on age as of date |37|2007|10|14|noage=1}}<ref name=lattman/>) is an American author and actress. She played Kathy Stabler, Elliot Stabler's wife in ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. Her memoir ''Happens Every Day'' was a ''New York Times'' bestseller, and her most recent book is ''Cozy''.
== Early life and education == As a student, Gillies struggled with severe dyslexia. She graduated from New York University with a BFA in film. Gillies is the daughter of Archibald and Linda Gillies.<ref name=lattman/>
== Career ==
===Acting=== Gillies landed her first movie role when Whit Stillman cast her as Cynthia McLean in his pioneering independent film, ''Metropolitan'' (1990).<ref name="Canby">{{cite news|last=Canby|first=Vincent|title=Reviews/Film Festival; The Dance Is Over, but the Whirl Goes On|work=The New York Times|page=18|date=23 March 1990|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/23/movies/reviews-film-festival-the-dance-is-over-but-the-whirl-goes-on.html}}</ref> Other film credits include Finley in ''Another Girl Another Planet'' (1992), Alison in ''I Shot Andy Warhol'' (1996), Moira Ingalls in ''On Line'' (2002),<ref name="Holden">{{cite news|last=Holden|first=Stephen|authorlink=Stephen Holden|title=FILM REVIEW; When Cybersex Addicts Try Real Life|work=The New York Times|page=10|date=27 June 2003|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/27/movies/film-review-when-cybersex-addicts-try-real-life.html}}</ref> Isabel in ''Happy Here and Now'' (2002), and Kathryn in ''New Orleans, Mon Amour'' (2008).
Prior to her role as Kathy Stabler on ''SVU'', which she played from 1999 to 2011, Gillies appeared in "Bad Girl," an episode of the original ''Law & Order'' series, playing Monica Johnson, a young woman who murders an undercover police officer and then undergoes a religious conversion during her trial and is born again. In 2000, she played the role of Alison in the short-lived Fox series, ''The $treet''.
In 2021, she reprised her role as Kathy Stabler for one episode during season 22 of ''SVU''; the cross-over episode that launched ''Law & Order: Organized Crime''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-10-06 |title=SVU's Isabel Gillies Broke Down in Tears Over Kathy Stabler Backlash |language=en-US |url=https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/svus-isabel-gillies-broke-down-in-tears-over-kathy-stabler-backlash/ |access-date=2021-12-28}}</ref> The hostile online reaction of ''SVU'' fans to her character's death led Gillies to discuss how fandom had changed due to social media.<ref name="tapp">{{Cite news |last=Tapp |first=Tom |date=October 5, 2021 |title='Law & Order: SVU' Actress Isabel Gillies On Fans' Reactions: "Something Has Seriously Changed" |language=en-US |work=Deadline Hollywood |url=https://deadline.com/2021/10/law-order-svu-actress-isabel-gillies-on-fans-reactions-something-has-seriously-changed-1234850323/ |access-date=December 28, 2021}}</ref> She has since reappeared in flashbacks, most recently in 2025.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-04-24 |title=Christopher Meloni’s Sweet Reaction To Stabler’s Murdered Wife Appearing in New Organized Crime Episode |language=en-US |url=https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/chris-meloni-stabler-wife-kathy-organized-crime-isabel-gillies |access-date=2025-05-01}}</ref>
===Books=== In addition to writing for a number of news outlets, including ''The Los Angeles Times''<ref name="lat">{{Cite news |last=Gillies |first=Isabel |date=April 26, 2019 |title=Reading Nook: Nourishing both the mind and the stomach |language=en-US |work=The Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/home/la-hm-isabel-gillies-where-i-read-20190426-story.html |access-date=December 28, 2021}}</ref> ''The New York Times'',<ref name="lockout">{{Cite news |last=Gillies |first=Isabel |date=2011-11-09 |title=Opinion, Mom to N.B.A.: Play Ball! |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/08/opinion/the-nba-lockout-through-a-moms-eyes.html |access-date=2021-12-28 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Gillies has four books to her credit.
Her 2009 memoir, ''Happens Every Day,'' is about her leaving New York City to follow her first husband to Oberlin College.<ref name="isbn1-4391-2662-3">{{cite book |first=Isabel |last=Gillies |title=Happens every day: an all-too-true story |url=https://archive.org/details/happenseverydaya00gill |url-access=registration |publisher=Scribner |location=New York |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4391-2662-2}}</ref> ''Happens Every Day'' was a ''New York Times'' bestseller. It was featured by Starbucks as a nationwide selection for its book program. NPR's ''Fresh Air'' selected it as a Top Ten Book of 2009.<ref name="NPR">{{cite news | title = 'Happens Every Day': A Marriage's Abrupt Ending | date = March 17, 2009 | first = Maureen |last = Corrigan | website = NPR | url = https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101968700 }}</ref><ref name="USATODAY">{{cite news | title = Isabel Gillies' memoir: An iced cup of revenge | first = Deirdre |last=Donahue | website = USA TODAY | date = April 13, 2009 | url = https://www.usatoday.com/life/books/reviews/2009-04-13-gillies-memoir_N.htm }}</ref> Her follow-up memoir, ''A Year and Six Seconds,'' was published in 2011.<ref name="isbn1-4013-4162-4">{{cite book |first=Isabel |last=Gillies |title=A Year and Six Seconds: A Love Story |publisher=Voice |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-4013-4162-6 }}</ref><ref name="Kirkus">{{cite web | title = A Year and Six Seconds: A Love Story | url = http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/isabel-gillies/year-and-six-seconds/ | date = April 15, 2011 | publisher = Kirkus Reviews }}</ref>
In 2014, Gillies tried her hand with fiction with ''Starry Night''. This young-adult novel was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in September 2014.<ref name="PW">{{cite web | title = Rights Report: August 25 | date = August 25, 2011 | url = http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/48488-rights-report-august-25.html | publisher = Publishers Weekly | access-date = 23 August 2012}}</ref><ref name="doll">{{Cite news |last=Doll |first=Jen |date=2014-10-03 |title=Y.A. Crossover |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/books/review/katherine-howes-conversion-and-more.html |access-date=2021-12-28 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
In 2019, she returned to non-fiction with ''Cozy''.<ref name="dunham">{{Cite news |last=Dunham |first=Lena |authorlink=Lena Dunham |date=March 14, 2019 |title=Call Me Cozy |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/14/style/lena-dunham-cozy.html |access-date=December 28, 2021 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> This was published by Harper Wave. ''The New York Times Book Review'' said of it, "For Gillies, coziness is a state of mind, the environments we create in our homes to feel at ease. Think of her as a companion to Marie Kondo, filling up all those spaces once they've been decluttered."
==Personal life== She was married to DeSales Harrison, an English professor at Oberlin College, from 1999 to 2005.<ref>{{cite news|title=WEDDINGS; Isabel Gillies, DeSales Harrison|work=The New York Times|page=12|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/19/style/weddings-isabel-gillies-desales-harrison.html | date = December 19, 1999}}</ref> Gillies married Peter Lattman, an editor at ''The New York Times'', on October 13, 2007.<ref name=lattman>{{cite news | title=Isabel Gillies, Peter Lattman | work=The New York Times | page=18 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/fashion/weddings/14Gillies.html | date = October 14, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126031729/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/fashion/weddings/14Gillies.html |archive-date=November 26, 2022}}</ref> Gillies spends her summers in Islesboro, Maine.<ref>[http://alanhuffman.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/islesboro-maine.html Alan Huffman: Islesboro, Maine] Retrieved 2017-04-27.</ref>
== Filmography == === Film === {| class="wikitable sortable" |+ !Year !Title !Role !Notes |- |1990 |''Metropolitan'' |Cynthia McLean | |- |1992 |''Another Girl Another Planet'' |Finley | |- |1994 |''Nadja'' |Waitress | |- |1995 |''Comfortably Numb'' |Ashely Van Dyne | |- |1996 |''I Shot Andy Warhol'' |Alison | |- |1996 |''One Way Out'' |Betsy | |- |1997 |''Wishful Thinking'' |Susan - Roommate | |- |1998 |''Chocolate for Breakfast'' |K.C. | |- |2001 |''The Girl Under the Waves'' |Isabel | |- |2002 |''On Line'' |Moira Ingalls | |- |2002 |''Happy Here and Now'' |Isabel | |- |2008 |''New Orleans, Mon Amour'' |Kathryn | |}
=== Television === {| class="wikitable sortable" !Year !Title !Role !Notes |- |1998 |''Law & Order'' |Monica Johnson |Episode: "Bad Girl" |- |1998 |''Sex and the City'' |Elaine |Episode: "Bay of Married Pigs" |- |1999–2021 |''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' |Kathy Stabler |Recurring role |- |2000 |''The Street'' |Alison |3 episodes |- |2021; 2023 & 2025 |''Law & Order: Organized Crime'' |Kathy Stabler |3 episodes |}
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== *{{Official website|http://www.isabelgillies.com}} *{{IMDb name|0319178}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillies, Isabel}} Category:American television actresses Category:Actresses from New York City Category:New York University Tisch School of the Arts alumni Category:21st-century American memoirists Category:Living people Category:Writers from New York City Category:American women memoirists Category:People from Islesboro, Maine Category:American film actresses Category:20th-century American actresses Category:21st-century American actresses Category:21st-century American women writers Category:Brearley School alumni Category:Nightingale-Bamford School alumni Category:Year of birth missing (living people)