Early work and breakthrough Light made her
Broadway debut in ''
A Doll's House in 1975. She also starred in the 1976 Broadway play Herzl''. Light also acted for such theatre companies as the
Milwaukee Repertory Theater and the
Seattle Repertory Theatre. In the late 1970s, Light went through a real crisis after a period of not landing any parts. Light's dramatic, confessional courtroom performance of a housewife-turned-prostitute on the
witness stand is regarded as one of the most memorable moments in television by
TV Guide. In 1980, this won Light her first
Daytime Emmy Award for
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series; the scene in which she confessed her guilt in court is held in such high esteem that it is still used in acting classes. Light recalled: "I was scared before those courtroom scenes. I was afraid to put myself out that much. With the agony of pulling it out piece by piece and having the prosecutor stick the knife in her gut, I couldn't help but let everything spew out of her." Light won another Daytime Emmy Award in the role in 1981. She appeared in an episode of
St. Elsewhere in its first season, called "Dog Day Hospital", in which she played a housewife who became pregnant for the ninth time even though her husband claimed he had had a vasectomy. In an effort to punish the doctor who botched the job she took an operating room hostage though it was later revealed that her husband had not had the procedure.
Continued success and film expansion After her success on daytime television, Light landed the leading role of assertive advertising executive Angela Bower on the ABC sitcom ''
Who's the Boss?''. Light shaved her head for the role in the play. Light returned to television with the recurring role of
Judge Elizabeth Donnelly in the
NBC legal crime drama
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2002. She appeared in 25 episodes of the series from 2002 to 2010. In 2004 she starred in another short-lived CBS sitcom,
The Stones. In 2006, Light joined the cast of the ABC comedy-drama series
Ugly Betty as
Claire Meade, the mother of
Alexis and
Daniel. She was a recurring guest-star during the first season and was promoted to series regular as of the second. Light appeared in the show until the series finale in 2010. She was nominated for the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2007, and for the
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2008, for her performance in show. Light's character, Gayle, runs a Christian ministry known as Genesis House, which works to help gay men recover from their 'affliction.' She is challenged by the arrival of Mark, an ill gay man who reminds Gayle of her dead, homosexual son, and the movie chronicles the challenges of the two as they learn to accept each other as they are.
Acclaim in theater and return to television The New York Times said in 1999 of Light's lead performance in the Broadway play Wit, "It is the sort of transformational work that would hint at other future successes, with Shakespeare, maybe, if a full-time career in the theater were truly an option these days. In any event, it gives rise to a wish. Ms. Light, don't touch that dial again, at least not for a while." Nevertheless, it would be another decade before Light returned to a major theatrical role on Broadway. From 2010 to 2011, Light appeared on Broadway as witty alcoholic Marie Lombardi in the play
Lombardi, for which she received a nomination for the
Tony Award, for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play. Another role on Broadway followed, as Silda Grauman in
Other Desert Cities from 2011 to 2012, which garnered Light her first Tony Award for Featured Actress in a Play and the 2012 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play. Light also starred in two television pilots, ABC's sitcom ''Other People's Kids'' and
USA Network's drama
Eden, both in 2011 and neither of which were
green-lit to continue. in New York CityLight appeared on Broadway as Faye in the 2013 play,
The Assembled Parties, and won her second Tony Award for Featured Actress in a Play for her performance. In the same year, she joined the cast of
TNT's continuation of the television series
Dallas, in the role of
Judith Brown Ryland, villainous mother of
Harris Ryland (despite being only three years older than
Mitch Pileggi who plays her TV son). She received positive reviews for her recurring role in
Dallas, with
Entertainment Weekly naming her the "scene-stealer" of the series. In 2014, she was cast opposite
Jeffrey Tambor in the critically acclaimed
Amazon Studios dark comedy-drama series,
Transparent created by
Jill Soloway. She plays Shelly Pfefferman, ex-wife of the transgender character played by Tambor. The pilot episode debuted on February 6, 2014, and later episodes premiered on September 26, 2014. Light received
Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film nominations for her performance. Light appeared opposite
Patricia Clarkson in the 2014
rom-com,
Last Weekend, and as the mother of
Melanie Lynskey's character in a comedy-drama film, ''
We'll Never Have Paris'', the same year. She returned to Broadway in 2015 as
Madame Raquin in
Helen Edmundson's adaptation of
Thérèse Raquin, starring opposite
Keira Knightley and
Matt Ryan. In 2017, Light was featured in the
American Theatre Wing's
Working in the Theatre series on solo performance. Light received critical acclaim for her portrayal of Marilyn Miglin in 2018's
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, a
mini-series on
FX, culminating in a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. In 2019, Light guest-starred in the Netflix series,
The Politician. Together with
Bette Midler, she joined the main cast of the series for the second season, which premiered in June 2020. She received a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 12, 2019. In 2021, Light played Rosa Stevens in the biographical musical drama film
Tick, Tick... Boom! directed by
Lin-Manuel Miranda. She later starred in the comedy-thriller
The Menu. She also was cast in the comedy-drama
Down Low, and comedy-drama
The Young Wife starring
Kiersey Clemons. On television, Light played
Courteney Cox's mother in the Starz horror comedy series
Shining Vale, and
Blanche Knopf in the
HBO Max series
Julia, both having premiered in 2022. ==Personal life==