On television, Potts played Mary Jo Jackson Shively on the CBS sitcom Designing Women (1986–1993). She was nominated for a 1994 Primetime Emmy Award for playing Dana Palladino on the CBS sitcom Love & War (1993–1995), she played teacher Louanne Johnson on ABC drama Dangerous Minds for one season 1996–1997, and was nominated for Screen Actors Guild Awards in 1998 and 1999 for playing Mary-Elizabeth "M.E" Sims in the Lifetime drama series Any Day Now (1998–2002). Her other television credits include GCB (2012), The Fosters (2013–2018), and Young Sheldon (2017–2024).
She attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in theater. Potts and her first husband, Steven Hartley, were in a car crash that left several bones below her waist broken,[4] including compound fractures to both legs, and caused the loss of the heel of her right foot; Hartley lost his left leg.[5][6]
Potts has done work on audio books; including as the narrator and heroine of Larry McMurtry's Telegraph Days, winning the 2007 Audie Award for Solo Narration-Female, for her portrayal. She starred in the film version of McMurtry's Texasville, a sequel to The Last Picture Show. She made her Broadway debut upon joining the cast of the Tony Award–winning play God of Carnage on November 17, 2009, succeeding Hope Davis in the role of Annette.[8][9]
In 2012, Potts starred as Elizabeth "Gigi" Stopper in ABC's comedy-drama series GCB, with Leslie Bibb, Kristin Chenoweth, Jennifer Aspen, Miriam Shor, and Marisol Nichols.[10] She says she based her portrayal of the character on Dixie Carter, adding, "Were she still alive, the role would have been hers and should have been."[11] Potts also played a leading role in the 2012 Hallmark Channel original musical film The Music Teacher, about a high-school music teacher who is on the brink of losing her beloved school music program because of district budget cuts. In an effort to spare the program, Daley's former students band together to stage a musical to raise money to keep the program alive.[12]
In March 2013, Potts signed on for the lead role of the ABC comedy-drama pilot Murder in Manhattan about a mother and daughter who team up as amateur sleuths.[13] ABC later looked for a cable network to distribute the series, opting not to air it on network television.[14] In late 2013, it was announced that Potts would join Diane Paulus' revival of Pippin beginning January 21, 2014. She replaced Tony Award nominee Tovah Feldshuh in the role of Pippin's grandmother Berthe. This marked her first appearance in a Broadway musical.[15]
From 2017 to 2024 she was a series regular on the CBS sitcom Young Sheldon, playing Connie "Meemaw" Tucker, Sheldon's maternal grandmother.
Personal life
Potts is the mother of three sons: one with her third husband Scott Senechal, and two with her fourth and current husband James Hayman.[16]
^Allport, Brandy Hilboldt (October 28, 2006). "A.M.Stir". The Florida Times-Union. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved April 24, 2007.
^ abcde"Annie Potts (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved August 5, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.