Attended New York University and Circle in the Square Theatre School.
Attended Notre Dame Academy, an all-girls Catholic high school in Hingham, Massachusetts (SE of Boston).
Owns a black pug, with her husband Billy Morrissette, named Rose-Kennedy. They take her everywhere with them.
Met her husband, Billy Morrissette, in the revolving lounge at the top of the Hollywood Holiday Inn. It was a blind date of sorts set up by their mutual friends.
Wrote an article in the spring 2001 issue of Flaunt titled, "'Rudy Giuliani' : A Fascist? You Be The Judge."
Was cast in the role of Nurse Abigail 'Abby' Lockhart in "ER" (1994), without an audition.
Daughter of former Boston City Council president Joseph Tierney.
Maura was added to the cast of "NewsRadio" (1995) the day before they shot the pilot.
On "Last Call with Carson Daly" (2002), she admitted that she was fired from the television show "Growing Pains" (1985). The show was supposed to have an episode arc in Europe, but the idea was scrapped when Kirk Cameron expressed a fear of flying.
On "Last Call with Carson Daly" (2002), she stated that she and her husband Billy Morrissette were fired from a sitcom known as The Ralph Macchio Project.
Favorite food is Kraft macaroni & cheese.
In the "NewsRadio" (1995) episode "Presence," her character Lisa is a math whiz who learns to play poker to win back Bill (Phil Hartman) after their boss Jimmy James ('Stephen Root' ) loses Bill in an inter-station poker game. In real life, Tierney won the 2004 (Season 2) Celebrity Poker Showdown, hosted by Dave Foley. Tierney defeated Lauren Graham at the final table. Foley and Tierney both also appeared in "NewsRadio" (1995).
Of Irish Catholic extraction
Landed a key part of a single mom who falls for hockey player Bruce Willis in a romantic comedy titled "The Broadway Brawler." After just two weeks' shooting, however, "creative differences" brought an end to the project.
One of the brightest acting talents to emerge in recent years, Maura Tierney is currently gracing television screens every week on the top rated NBC series ER, for which she just received her first Emmy nomination. Prior to joining the cast of ER, Tierney spent four years on the critically acclaimed NewsRadio.
Tierney has successfully managed to juggle both television and film careers, starring in such films as Instinct opposite Sir Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding Jr. and Forces of Nature with Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock. Additionally, she earned critical praise for her role in Primary Colors as well as for her work opposite Jim Carrey in the smash hit Liar Liar. Tierney was most recently seen in the independent dark comedy Scotland, PA opposite Christopher Walkin and James LeGros, which premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. Her additional film credits include Primal Fear, The Temp, White Sands and Oxygen.
On stage she has been seen in productions of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, and The Bald Soprano at the Boston Globe as well as Baby with The Bathwater, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Talking With and Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean at New York University.
Born and raised in Boston, Tierney currently divides her time between Los Angeles and New York.
