Posts Tagged ‘Rescue Me’

Boston born actress Maura Tierney is back on television again with a brand new role on the hit CBS show, “The Good Wife.” She’ll play a self made millionaire involved in the Democratic side of Chicago politics, and will once again be costarring with another former “ER” actress and the current star of “The Good Wife,” Julianna Margulies. Tierney herself played Abby Lockhart, a nurse turned doctor on the hit show “ER” for 10 seasons.

Tierney has recently made the rounds on the talk show circuit promoting the show as well as discussing her battle with breast cancer. The 47 year old star found a lump in her breast in 2009 that was later diagnosed by a real-life doctor as cancer. Tierny underwent a mastectomy and reconstruction as well as three months of chemotherapy. The diagnosis came at a difficult time in Tierney’s life, as it occurred just after she quit the hit NBC show, “ER”, and also around the same time her father, Joseph M. Tierney, a long-time Boston city councilman, died of cancer.

Schedule conflicts at the time with her cancer treatments led her to leave the cast of “Parenthood” before she began, and her role was recast with Lauren Graham. Once she recovered, she returned to television to play a recurring character on “Rescue Me” with fellow Massachusetts native, Denis Leary. Five years later, she is currently in good health and is in remission.

Tierney is the eldest of three children, and was born and raised in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston. For high school, she attended Notre Dame Academy in Hingham, Massachusetts, where her studies included drama and enabled her to appear in the Boston Globe Drama Festival. After graduation, she attended New York University where she majored in dance and drama.

Denis Leary Talks about the 9/11 Firefighters as Rescue Me comes to an end.

Denis Leary’s critically acclaimed series, “Rescue Me” premiered its final season on Wednesday, but the comedian is keeping busy with multiple projects, including his charity, The Leary Firefighters Foundation.  The Worcester native maintains a longtime connection with the firefighter community that began long before he starred as fireman Tommy Gavin in the FX dramedy.

After a fire in his hometown claimed the life of his cousin, childhood friend and four other firefighters in 1999, Leary started the foundation to provide financial support for the victims families and providing new equipment for fire departments.  Through his foundation Leary raised over $2 million dollars for the families of firefighters who died on September 11 and donated over a dozen boats to New Orleans fire departments after hurricane Katrina.

Leary’s comedy career is also booming.  He just completed his #ThinningTheHerd Tour, which featured Cambridge native and “Rescue Me” co-star Lenny Clarke.  Leary also recently released a stand-up DVD and a snarky new book.  Also in the works for Leary is the fourth installment of the Ice Age films, in which Leary reprises his role as Diego.

“Rescue Me” premiered in 2004 and will conclude when the seventh series ends on September 7, 2011.  The season will reportedly center on Tommy Gavin’s struggle with 9/11 sightings and his anger at those who continue to benefit financially from the disaster.

Spotted at the Four Seasons on Boylston Street in downtown Boston on May 6: Worcester’s own Denis Leary, lunching it with his “Rescue Me” costar Lenny Clarke, who’s originally from Boston. Leary presumedly is in town to see his son graduate from Emerson College at their 129th Commencement on May 18. Leary’s Boston area roots extend beyond his Emerson connections, as he himself also graduated from the prestigious communication and arts school. He’s also a cousin of the Brookline-bred fellow funny-man, Conan O’Brien. No word on what the faux firefighters had to eat, but if anyone noticed the two, it wasn’t apparent; they were not approached by anyone other than their waiter. What do they say about the famous Boston reserve?