NBC.com

Maura Tierney, a familiar face to television viewers after her four-year role as newswriter Lisa Miller on NBC's critically acclaimed comedy "NewsRadio," has shifted into a more dramatic gear on the full-throttle pace of "ER" where she received an Emmy Award nomination for her performance as a former medical student who's resumed her nursing career in the ER.

Born in Boston, Tierney says she prefers living in New York to Los Angeles -- or for that matter, to any other city she's visited. She has made a habit of travel; she likes to drive cross-country for fun and adventure, having visited all but two states (Kansas and Iowa) so far.

Tierney, who has always been interested in the dramatic arts, attended New York University and Circle-in-the-Square Theatre School. Her stage credits include roles in "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," "The Bald Soprano," "Baby with Bathwater," "Danny and the Deep Blue Sea" and "Talking With."

The young actress had her first starring role on television in Norman Lear's comedy series "704 Hauser Street." Tierney's additional credits include starring in the television films "Out of Darkness," "Student Exchange" and "Crossing the Mob." She guest-starred in the series "Growing Pains," "Family Ties" and NBC's "Law & Order."

On the big screen, Tierney starred with Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock in "Forces of Nature," opposite Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding Jr. in "Instinct," alongside John Travolta and Emma Thompson in Mike Nichols' "Primary Colors," and opposite Jim Carrey in "Liar, Liar." Earlier this year she was seen in "Scotland P.A.," written and directed by her husband, Billy Morrissette, and also starring Christopher Walken and Tierney's former "NewsRadio" co-star Andy Dick. Tierney also starred opposite Al Pacino, Robin Williams, and Hilary Swank in "Insomnia."

This past spring, she starred in the off-Broadway production of Neil LaBute's "Some Girl(s)" at the Lucille Lortel Theater. She joined the cast which included Eric McCormack, Fran Drescher, Judy Reyes and Brooke Smith.

While working, Tierney divides her time between Los Angeles and New York. Her birthday is February 3.