Julie Bowen

Julie Bowen Luetkemeyer (born March 3, 1970), known professionally as Julie Bowen, is an American actress. She is best known for playing Carol Vessey on Ed (2000–04), Denise Bauer on Boston Legal (2005–07), Sarah Shephard on Lost (2005–07), and Claire Dunphy on the comedy Modern Family (since 2009). The latter earned her six nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, winning in 2011 and 2012.

Bowen has also appeared in films such as Happy Gilmore (1996), Multiplicity (1996), Venus and Mars (2001), Joe Somebody (2001), Kids in America (2005), Sex and Death 101 (2007), Crazy on the Outside (2010), Jumping the Broom (2011), and Horrible Bosses (2011).

Early life

Bowen was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the middle of three daughters of Suzanne (née Frey) and John Alexander Luetkemeyer, Jr., a commercial real estate developer. She is of English, French, German, Irish, and Scottish descent. One of her paternal great-great-grandfathers was John V. Le Moyne, a Representative from Illinois, and one of her great-great-great-grandfathers was Magnus Miller Murray, two-time Mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.