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Character Biography

A woman of wealth who will do anything to protect her children.

Actor Biography

Emmy Award-winning actress Dana Delany stars as Ellie Cain, the moneyed wife and mother to teenager Leopold Cain on NBC's new drama "Kidnapped." "Kidnapped" is a high-stakes serialized thriller in which Ellie’s 15-year-old son is abducted from a wealthy Upper East Side family -- and everyone is a suspect. The series focuses on the elaborate, triangulated game between the kidnappers, FBI and law enforcement, and the private negotiating team contracted by this perhaps not-so-picture-perfect family.

Delany made her mark as Army nurse Colleen McMurphy on the critically acclaimed series "China Beach," for which she received four Emmy Award nominations and two wins for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series.

A native of Stamford, Connecticut, Delany caught the acting bug early. Following her graduation from Wesleyan University, she went to New York where she honed her skills in theater. She starred in the Broadway show "A Life" and received critical acclaim in a number of off-Broadway productions. Her starring role in Nicholas Kazan's "Bloodmoon" in New York led her to relocate to Los Angeles for the West Coast production of the controversial drama, where she opted to stay after the run of the play. Delany was soon cast in many popular television shows including "Moonlighting" and "Magnum, P.I."

After her breakout role on "China Beach," Delany went on to star in the numerous feature films, including: "Tombstone," opposite Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer; "HouseSitter" with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn; "Exit to Eden" with Dan Aykroyd and Rosie O'Donnell; "Moon Over Parador" with Richard Dreyfuss; "Light Sleeper," opposite Susan Sarandon and Willem Dafoe; "Masquerade," with Rob Lowe; and "Fly Away Home," with Jeff Daniels and Anna Paquin.

Delany's other television credits include the miniseries "Wild Palms" and "True Women," the television movies "Resurrection" and "The Patron Saint of Liars" (both of which were directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal), and the critically acclaimed and highly rated "For Hope," directed by Bob Saget in which Delany played a woman (Saget's real-life sister) suffering from scleroderma. Delany also starred in Lifetime's "Choices of the Heart: The Margaret Sanger Story." She also was the voice of Lois Lane on the animated series "Justice League: Unlimited."

In other series television, Delany also starred in the primetime soap "Pasadena" and the medical drama "Presidio Med." In addition, she received her fifth Emmy Award nomination for her performance in "Family Law," a part written for her by Oscar winner Paul Haggis (she and Haggis worked together on her first series "Sweet Surrender").

Returning to her theater roots in 2000, Delany completed a tour-de-force performance in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Dinner with Friends," alternating roles in New York, Los Angeles and Boston. She followed that with a starring role in "Much Ado About Nothing" opposite Billy Campbell at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego.

Delany recently co-starred with Stanley Tucci in the film "Spin" directed by Jamie Redford and can be seen this Fall in the film "Drunkboat" with John Malkovich.

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