Isabel Gillies Explained

Isabel Gillies
Birth Name:Isabel Boyer Gillies
Birth Date:9 February 1970
Birth Place:New York City, U.S.
Occupation:Author, actress
Years Active:1990–2011; 2021; 2023 (acting)
Spouse:
    Children:3

    Isabel Boyer Gillies (born February 9, 1970) is an American author and actress. She played Kathy Stabler, Elliot Stabler's wife in . Her memoir Happens Every Day was a New York Times bestseller, and her most recent book is Cozy.

    Early life and education

    Gillies was born and raised in New York City. She attended the Brearley School before graduating from the Nightingale-Bamford School. As a student, Gillies struggled with severe dyslexia. She graduated from New York University with a BFA in film. Gillies is the daughter of Archibald and Linda Gillies.

    Career

    Gillies landed her first movie role when Whit Stillman cast her as Cynthia McLean in his pioneering independent film, Metropolitan (1990).[1] Other film credits include Finley in Another Girl Another Planet (1992), Alison in I Shot Andy Warhol (1996), Moira Ingalls in On Line (2002),[2] Isabel in Happy Here and Now (2002), and Kathryn in New Orleans, Mon Amour (2008).

    Prior to her role as Kathy Stabler on SVU, which she played from 1999 to 2011, Gillies appeared in "Bad Girl," an episode of the original Law & Order series, playing Monica Johnson, a young woman who murders an undercover police officer and then undergoes a religious conversion during her trial and is born again. In 2000, she played the role of Alison in the short-lived Fox series, The $treet. In 2021, she reprised her role as Kathy Stabler for one episode during season 22 of SVU; the cross-over episode that launched .[3] The handling of her character led Gillies to discuss how fandom had changed due to social media.[4]

    Books

    In addition to writing for a number of outlets, including the Los Angeles Times,[5] The New York Times,[6] Gillies has four books to her credit.

    Her 2009 memoir, Happens Every Day, is about her leaving New York City to follow her first husband to Oberlin College.[7] Happens Every Day was a New York Times bestseller. It was featured by Starbucks as a nationwide selection for its book program. NPR's Fresh Air selected it as a Top Ten Book of 2009.[8] [9] Her follow-up memoir, A Year and Six Seconds, was published in 2011.[10] [11]

    In 2014, Gillies tried her hand with fiction with Starry Night. This young-adult novel was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in September 2014.[12] [13]

    In 2019, she returned to non-fiction with Cozy.[14] This was published by Harper Wave. The New York Times Book Review said of it, “For Gillies, coziness is a state of mind, the environments we create in our homes to feel at ease. Think of her as a companion to Marie Kondo, filling up all those spaces once they’ve been decluttered.”

    Personal life

    She was married to DeSales Harrison, an English professor at Oberlin College, from 1999 to 2005.[15] Gillies married Peter Lattman, an editor at The New York Times, on October 13, 2007.[16] Gillies spends her summers in Islesboro, Maine.[17]

    Filmography

    Film

    !Year!Title!Role!Notes
    1990MetropolitanCynthia McLean
    1992Another Girl Another PlanetFinley
    1994NadjaWaitress
    1995Comfortably NumbAshely Van Dyne
    1996I Shot Andy WarholAlison
    1996One Way OutBetsy
    1997Wishful ThinkingSusan - Roommate
    1998Chocolate for BreakfastK.C.
    2001The Girl Under the WavesIsabel
    2002On LineMoira Ingalls
    2002Happy Here and NowIsabel
    2008New Orleans, Mon AmourKathryn

    Television

    YearTitleRoleNotes
    1998Law & OrderMonica JohnsonEpisode: "Bad Girl"
    1998Sex and the CityElaineEpisode: "Bay of Married Pigs"
    1999–2021Kathy Stabler32 episodes
    2000The StreetAlison3 episodes
    2021, 2023Kathy StablerEpisodes: "The Stuff That Dreams Are Made of", “Pareto Principle”

    Notes and References

    1. News: Canby. Vincent. Reviews/Film Festival; The Dance Is Over, but the Whirl Goes On. The New York Times. 18. 23 March 1990.
    2. News: Holden. Stephen. FILM REVIEW; When Cybersex Addicts Try Real Life. The New York Times. 10. 27 June 2003.
    3. News: 2021-10-06 . SVU's Isabel Gillies Broke Down in Tears Over Kathy Stabler Backlash . en-US . 2021-12-28.
    4. News: Tapp . Tom . 2021-10-05 . 'Law & Order: SVU' Actress Isabel Gillies On Fans' Reactions: "Something Has Seriously Changed" . en-US . Deadline . 2021-12-28.
    5. News: Gillies . Isabel . 2019-04-26 . Reading Nook: Nourishing both the mind and the stomach . en-US . Los Angeles Times . 2021-12-28.
    6. News: Gillies . Isabel . 2011-11-09 . Opinion, Mom to N.B.A.: Play Ball! . en-US . The New York Times . 2021-12-28 . 0362-4331.
    7. Book: Isabel Gillies . Happens every day: an all-too-true story . registration . Scribner . New York . 2009 . 978-1-4391-2662-2.
    8. News: 'Happens Every Day': A Marriage's Abrupt Ending . March 17, 2009 . Maureen Corrigan . .
    9. News: Isabel Gillies' memoir: An iced cup of revenge . Deirdre Donahue . . 2009-04-13 .
    10. Book: Isabel Gillies . A Year and Six Seconds: A Love Story . Voice . 2011 . 978-1-4013-4162-6 .
    11. Web site: A Year and Six Seconds: A Love Story . April 15, 2011 . .
    12. Web site: Rights Report: August 25 . Aug 25, 2011 . . 23 August 2012.
    13. News: Doll . Jen . 2014-10-03 . Y.A. Crossover . en-US . The New York Times . 2021-12-28 . 0362-4331.
    14. News: Dunham . Lena . 2019-03-14 . Call Me Cozy . en-US . The New York Times . 2021-12-28 . 0362-4331.
    15. News: WEDDINGS; Isabel Gillies, DeSales Harrison. The New York Times. 12. December 19, 1999.
    16. News: Isabel Gillies, Peter Lattman . The New York Times . 18 . October 14, 2007.
    17. http://alanhuffman.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/islesboro-maine.html Alan Huffman: Islesboro, Maine