Quick Facts
Biography
Roma Maffia (born May 31, 1958) is an American actress.
Life and career
Roma Maffia was born in Manhattan, New York of Afro-Caribbean descent; she got her Italian surname from her stepfather.
Maffia began her official acting career in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions. In 1994, she played Carmen in director Ron Howard's film The Paper. Soon after, she landed a role on the television series Chicago Hope. Maffia's television career continued as she played Grace Alvarez, the forensic pathologist for the Violent Crimes Task Force for four seasons on Profiler. She has had guest-starring and recurring roles on shows such as ER, The West Wing, and Law & Order.
Her most widely seen performances may be playing Seattle attorney Catherine Alvarez in the film Disclosure (1994), starring Michael Douglas and Demi Moore. She followed this with a series of performances as Vanessa Galiano in the TV series Law & Order and as Judge Victoria Peyton on Boston Legal.
Since 2003, Maffia has appeared as Liz Cruz on the FX Network series Nip/Tuck, the anesthesiologist colleague of two dysfunctional plastic surgeons. Maffia and Julian McMahon worked on the TV show Profiler.
Maffia is a 1973 graduate of St. Michael Academy.
Maffia had a supporting role on Pretty Little Liars from season 4 to season 7. Her character Linda Tanner is a savvy, no-nonsense state investigator working on unsolved murder cases in the fictional town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Smithereens | Prostitute | |
| 1983 | Stuck on You! | Attila's Sister | |
| 1988 | Married to the Mob | Angie's First Customer | |
| 1991 | American Blue Note | Marie | |
| 1994 | The Paper | Carmen | |
| 1994 | Disclosure | Catherine Alvarez | |
| 1995 | Nick of Time | Ms. Jones | |
| 1996 | Eraser | Claire Isaacs | |
| 1997 | Kiss the Girls | Dr. Ruocco | |
| 1999 | Double Jeopardy | Margaret | |
| 2000 | Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her | Debbie | Segment: "Love Waits For Kathy" |
| 2001 | The New Women | Virginia VanUpp | |
| 2001 | I Am Sam | First Family Court Judge | uncredited |
| 2002 | Treading Water | The Agent | |
| 2003 | Holes | Atty. Carla Morengo | |
| 2006 | Scarface: The World Is Yours | Voice | Video game |
| 2007 | Totally Baked: A Pot-U-Mentary | Dr. Willa Peterson | |
| 2007 | Ghost ImageI | Detective Amos | |
| 2008 | Yonkers Joe | Santini | |
| 2008 | The Blue Tooth Virgin | Dr. Christopher | |
| 2009 | Kingshighway | Rosa | |
| 2013 | The Call | Maddy | |
| 2019 | Leave Not One Alive | TBA | filming |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985–86 | The Equalizer | Sindee | Episode: "Desperately" Episode: "Dead Drop" |
| 1988 | Internal Affairs | Diane | TV film |
| 1993 | The X-Files | Uncredited | Episode: "Born Again" |
| 1993 | The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles | New York Cabbie | Episode: "Young Indiana Jones and the Scandal of 1920" |
| 1994–95 | Chicago Hope | Angela Giandamenicio | Episodes: "Pilot" "Over the Rainbow" "Food Chains" "With the Greatest of Ease" "You Gotta Have Heart" "Great White Hope" |
| 1995 | Her Deadly Rival | Officer Caldwell | TV film |
| 1995 | The Heidi Chronicles | TV film | |
| 1995 | Courthouse | Ms. Marino | Episodes: "Order on the Court" "One Strike and You're Out" "Injustice for All" |
| 1996 | Wings | Claire Barnett | Episode: "Porno for Pyros" |
| 1996 | Her Costly Affair | Sally Canter | NBC TV film |
| 1996 | Mistrial' | Laurie Meisinger | TV film |
| 1996–2000 | Profiler | Grace Alvarez | 82 episodes |
| 1997 | The Defenders: Payback | Julie Bishop | TV film |
| 1998 | The Daily Show | Herself | Episode dated 06-23-98 |
| 1998 | Welcome to Paradox | Barbara Cloak | Episode: "Research Alpha" |
| 1998 | Route 9 | Agent Ellen Marks | TV film |
| 2000 | The David Cassidy Story | Ruth Aarons | TV film |
| 2001 | The West Wing | Officer Rhonda Sachs | Episode: "Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail" |
| 2001 | Gideon's Crossing | Valerie Thomlinson | Episode: "Freak Shows" |
| 2001 | The Division | Sandra | Episode: "Intervention" |
| 2001 | Ally McBeal | Werner's Attorney | Episode: "Fear of Flirting" |
| 2001 | ER | Ms. Prager | Episodes: "Partly Cloudy, Chance of Rain" "Quo Vadis?" "I'll be Home for Christmas" |
| 2002 | Judging Amy | Amanda York | Episode: "Tidal Wave" |
| 2002 | Taina | Gladys | Episode: "The Fear Factors" |
| 2002 | For the People | Sophia | Episode: "Lonely Hearts" |
| 2002 | Endgame: Ethics and Values in America | Julia | TV film |
| 2002 | The Sopranos | Professor Longo-Murphy | Episode: "Christopher" |
| 2002 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Adelle Cross | Episode: "Fight Night" |
| 2003 | Boomtown | Sally Jacobson | Episode: "Inadmissible" |
| 2003–06 | Law & Order | Vanessa Galliano | Episodes: "Ill-Conceived" "The Dead Wives Club" "Cost of Capital" |
| 2003–10 | Nip/Tuck | Dr. Elizabeth "Liz" Troy Cruz | Series Regular |
| 2004 | Century City | Janice Cahn | Episode: "To Know Her" |
| 2005 | Strong Medicine | Rafael's mother | Episode: "Dying Inside" |
| 2006 | Ghost Whisperer | Dr. Hillary Sloan | Episode: "The Ghost Within" |
| 2007–08 | Boston Legal | Judge Victoria Peyton | 9 episodes |
| 2009 | Dexter | Marriage Therapist | Episode: "If I Had a Hammer" |
| 2009 | Criminal Minds | Det. Reese Evans | Episode: "Conflicted" |
| 2009 | Eastwick | Mme. Aleksandra | Episode: "Madams and Madames" |
| 2010 | Medium | Victoria Gossett | Episode: "Dead Meat" |
| 2011 | Off the Map | Matilda | Episode: "Everything's as It Should Be" |
| 2012 | Grey's Anatomy | Roberta Thompson | 4 episodes |
| 2013–2017 | Pretty Little Liars | Linda Tanner | 17 episodes |
| 2013 | NCIS | NCIS Special Agent Vera Strickland | Episode: "Under the Radar" |
| 2018 | Bull | Hazel Diaz | Episode: "Witness for the Prosecution" |