Melissa Fitzgerald

{{BLP sources|date=March 2013}} {{infobox person | name = Melissa Fitzgerald | image = Melissa Fitzgerald, ILO, 2013-crop.jpg | caption = Fitzgerald in 2013 | birth_date=  | alma_mater = University of Pennsylvania | occupation = Actress, nonprofit administrator | spouse = {{marriage |Noah Emmerich|1998|2003|reason=divorced}} }} '''Melissa Fitzgerald''' is an American actress and the senior director of the nonprofit organization Justice For Vets. She played Carol Fitzpatrick on ''The West Wing''.

==Early life and education== Fitzgerald grew up in the Chestnut Hill area of Philadelphia.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Eichel |first1=Molly |title=Giving a voice to Ugandan teens |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/philadelphia-daily-news-melissa-fitzgera/175014591/ |access-date=June 22, 2025 |work=Philadelphia Daily News |date=October 31, 2011 |page=44|via = Newspapers.com }}</ref> Her father is Pennsylvania judge James Fitzgerald; her mother, Carol, is involved in politics and volunteer work in Philadelphia.<ref name="pdn">{{cite news |last1=Gray |first1=Ellen |title='Wing'ed angel: She finds mentors for city kids |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/philadelphia-daily-news-melissa-fitzgera/175014966/ |access-date=June 22, 2025 |work=Philadelphia Daily News |date=March 15, 2000 |page=67|via = Newspapers.com }}</ref>

Fitzgerald graduated from Springside School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1983, and earned a B.A. in drama and literature from the University of Pennsylvania in 1987. Fitzgerald studied acting at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chestnuthilllocal.com/stories/west-wing-star-melissa-fitzgerald-brings-movie-to-philly-film-festival,1302|last=Lear|first=Len|title=West Wing star Melissa Fitzgerald brings movie to Philly Film Festival|work=Chestnut Hill Local|access-date=August 9, 2023|date=October 27, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810231342/https://www.chestnuthilllocal.com/stories/west-wing-star-melissa-fitzgerald-brings-movie-to-philly-film-festival,1302 |url-status=live |archive-date=August 10, 2023}}</ref>

==Career== Fitzgerald is the founder of Voices in Harmony, a non-profit community theater in Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite web |title=Voices in America Form 990 |url=https://pdf.guidestar.org/PDF_Images/2014/954/577/2014-954577430-0c1deef8-9.pdf?_ga=2.207914452.770123608.1606378873-1495163244.1606378873 |publisher=Candid |access-date=26 November 2020}}</ref> From 1999 to 2006, she played Carol Fitzpatrick, assistant to press secretary C.J. Cregg, on ''The West Wing''.

On January 19, 2007, Nicholas D. Kristof of ''The New York Times'' announced that Fitzgerald had won a writing contest he had sponsored on Darfur.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/01/19/we-have-a-winner-your-turn-the-darfur-genocide/|title=We Have a Winner... 'Your Turn': The Darfur Genocide|first=Nicholas D.|last=Kristof|date=19 January 2007 |publisher=}}</ref>

On May 17, 2008, Fitzgerald received the Chestnut Hill College Medal, and she was the commencement speaker.<ref>{{cite web |title=Humanitarian and Actress Melissa Fitzgerald to Deliver Commencement Address |url=http://www.chc.edu/page_template.asp?section=1&file=homepage_commencement |website=Chestnut Hill College |access-date=March 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510155937/http://www.chc.edu/page_template.asp?section=1&file=homepage_commencement |archive-date=May 10, 2008}}</ref>

In November 2013, Fitzgerald joined Justice For Vets as its director of strategic engagement. The organization advocates for veterans treatment courts.<ref>https://allrise.org/our-team/#public</ref>

In August 2024, Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack published "What's Next", a behind the scenes look into the creation and legacy of The West Wing<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/669218/whats-next-by-melissa-fitzgerald-and-mary-mccormack-foreword-by-aaron-sorkin-introduction-byallison-janney/|date=13 August 2024|title=Penguin Random House: "What's Next"}}</ref>

== Personal life == Fitzgerald married actor Noah Emmerich in November 1998.<ref name="pdn" /> The couple divorced in 2003.

==Filmography== ===Movies=== *''Love & Sex'' *''Frequency'' *''Monument Ave.'' *''The Truman Show'' *''Boxing Helena'' *''The Date''

===Television=== *''The West Wing'' *''Grey's Anatomy''

== References == {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb name}} * [https://allrise.org/our-team/melissa-fitzgerald/ Justice for Vets profile]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Melissa}} Category:American television actresses Category:American film actresses Category:Living people Category:Actresses from Philadelphia Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni Category:20th-century American actresses Category:21st-century American actresses Category:Year of birth missing (living people)