Celebrity crush: Sprague Grayden

Today's entry features an actress who, if she hasn't already entered the "Hey, it's that guy/that lady" hall of fame, seems surely destined for a place there.

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Name: Sprague Grayden (images | Web site | Twitter)
Hometown: The picturesquely named Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass., according to her Wikipedia profile.
Best Known For: Sprague has made her mark as a dramatic television actress, for the most part, with co-starring roles on 24, the FX Iraq war drama Over There, the short-lived thriller John Doe, and the post-apocalyptic drama Jericho.

In addition, she's had recurring roles on Sons of Anarchy, Six Feet Under (playing a friend of fellow celebrity crush Lauren Ambrose), Joan of Arcadia (which starred fellow crush Amber Tamblyn), and the dark comedy Weeds. And she's kept busy with one-off appearances on a variety of series, largely dramas.

On Six Feet Under with Lauren Ambrose.

Humble Beginnings: Her IMDB profile notes that Sprague began performing at age 5 and earned a bachelor's degree in American Studies at Barnard College, part of Columbia University in New York. She appeared in the Ted Danson/Jack Lemmon movie Dad, released in 1989, when she was about 9. Her next listed credit at IMDB was a 2001 horror film called Biohazard.

Obligatory Edgy Stuff: She's performed on stage in The Vagina Dialogues, meaning she's helped advance awareness of Teh Secks, the shameless hussy.
Why Ye Olde Podcaster Likes Her: Sprague is a solid character actress who specializes in characters who mix person-next-door with a hint of desperation or alienation. Her work alongside Cherry Jones on 24 in its seventh season, and her performance as the wife of a wounded warrior in Over There, showed depth beyond her recurring role on Six Feet Under.
Film and TV-movie credits: Camera Obscura (2010 short) (Amazon | iTunes) * Paranormal Activity 2 (Amazon | iTunes) * Wake (2009) (Amazon | iTunes) * The Last Lullaby (2008) (Amazon | iTunes) * Mini's First Time (Amazon | iTunes) * Six Months Later (2005 short) (Amazon | iTunes) * Biohazardous (2001) (Amazon | iTunes)

TV and Web video credits: Grey's Anatomy, season 7: "Unaccompanied Minor" (Amazon | iTunes) * House, season 7: "Larger Than Life" (Amazon | iTunes) * Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hondo Field" (Amazon | iTunes) * Drop Dead Diva, season 2: "A Mother's Secret" (Amazon | iTunes) * Three Rivers: "Every Breath You Take" (Amazon | iTunes) * Criminal Minds, season 5: "Public Enemy" (Amazon | iTunes) * Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, season 10: "Liberties" (Amazon | iTunes) * CSI: Miami, season 7: "Collateral Damage" (Amazon | iTunes) * 24, season 7 (Amazon | iTunes) * Sons of Anarchy, season 1 (Amazon | iTunes) * Without a Trace, season 6: "A Dollar and a Dream" (Amazon | iTunes) * Jericho (2006), season 2 (Amazon | iTunes) * Weeds, season 3 (Amazon | iTunes) * Private Practice, season 1: "In Which Sam Gets Taken for a Ride" (Amazon | iTunes) * Jericho (2006), season 1 (Amazon | iTunes) * CSI: New York, season 2: "Fare Game" (Amazon | iTunes) * Over There (Amazon | iTunes) * Six Feet Under, season 5 (Amazon | iTunes) * One Tree Hill, season 2: "The Lonesome Road" (Amazon | iTunes) * Six Feet Under, season 4 (Amazon | iTunes) * Joan of Arcadia, season 2 (Amazon | iTunes) * Crossing Jordan, season 4: "Intruded" (Amazon | iTunes) * John Doe (Amazon | iTunes)