Merrin Dungey

Merrin Dungey is an upcoming actor on Once Upon a Time, portraying the role of Ursula.

Early Life
Dungey was born and raised in Sacramento, California, the daughter of Don Dungey, a general services manager. As a child, she was active in ballet and dance as well as piano. Dungey was also an accomplished ice skater. Dungey graduated in 1989 from Rio Americano High School in Sacramento, California. She earned a degree of Bachelor of Arts from UCLA in 1993. Merrin Dungey has one sister, Channing Dungey, who is also deeply involved in the film industry. Channing Dungey has worked for various studios including Steven Seagal's Steamroller Productions, Warner Bros. Productions, and is currently Senior VP of Drama Development at ABC Entertainment.

Career
Dungey had small roles in Hollywood films such as EDtv and Deep Impact and on television series such as Martin, before landing the role of Kelly Palmer on the CBS television series The King of Queens, on which she starred from 1999 to 2007. She appeared in every season in the series except for the 2002-2003 season.

Dungey is also well known for her role as Francie Calfo on the drama series Alias, on which she starred from 2001 to 2003 (with an appearance in the 2006 series finale episode All the Time in the World). She also had a recurring role on the FOX sitcom Malcolm in the Middle as Stevie's mother, Kitty Kernaban. At one point in 2001, Dungey was appearing in all three shows (King of Queens, Malcolm in the Middle and Alias) at the same time.

Dungey then portrayed Susannah in the WB drama series Summerland from 2004 to 2005.

She has also guest starred on various TV series including Living Single, ER, Murphy Brown, Seinfeld, Friends, The West Wing, Babylon 5 and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Dungey appeared in the pilot of the series Private Practice but was replaced by actress Audra McDonald for the actual series.

Most recently, Dungey guest-starred on the ABC sitcom's Surviving Suburbia starring Bob Saget, Better Off Ted starring Portia de Rossi, Castle starring Nathan Fillion and HBO's Hung starring Thomas Jane. She portrayed Ellie on the Nick at Nite television series Hollywood Heights in 2012 and the recurring role of Alissa Barnes on ABC's Betrayal in 2013. Next she appeared in a featured role opposite Pierce Brosnan in How to Make Love Like an Englishman.

In 2014, she was cast as Ursula on ABC's Once Upon a Time.

Personal Life
Dungey briefly dated fashion model Travis Fimmel in the early 2000s before breaking up in 2003. Merrin married Matthew Drake in a Mariachi style wedding ceremony in Cancun, Mexico in May 2007. She gave birth to their first daughter in June 2008, and a second daughter in 2011.