Alison La Placa

Alison La Placa (December 16th, 1959) was born in New Jersey and reared in suburban Chicago. She graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University with a degree in theatre and intensive instruction in classical piano and voice. She is a Talented comedy actress who has constantly been working since the early 1980s, appearing in numerous highly anticipated (but ultimately failed) television shows. She has been in regional versions of "Dames at Sea" and " Company Click to look into! >> Read More... ," as well as the Los Angeles Cast Theatre's production of "Strider."When she was 23, she had her first taste of fame when she played Elyse in the television pilot spin-off of Barry Levinson's feature film Diner.

Her later work includes roles in Fletch (1985) and Voyage of the Rock Aliens, both of which were commercial failures (1988). She also appeared on Cheers and Remington Steele, and by the second half of the 1980s, she had carved herself a solid television career, beginning with the FOX network's Duet (1987), which led to a huge part on the FOX series Open House (1989). La Placa eventually achieved success in 1994 when she joined the cast of The John Larroquette Show, after a string of unsuccessful shows including The Jackie Thomas Show (1992) and Tom (1994), she portrayed Tom Arnold's wife. La Placa's most notable work since then has been as Rachel's employer Joanna, in F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

whose interaction with Matthew Perry's Chandler – notably a furiously comic performance in the episode "The One with the 'Cuffs" – led to several great comedy situations until she was killed off in "The One Where They're Going To Party" by being hit by a cab. Joanna dated Chandler in seasons 3 and 4 for a few episodes. She is best remembered for her portrayal as snobby yuppie Linda Phillips in the 1987 situation comedy Duet and its spin-off Open House (1989). Alison has appeared as a guest star on many television series, including ER and Cheers.

Her spouse, actor/director Philip Charles MacKenzie, lives in Los Angeles, California (her co-star on "Open House"). Before relocating to Los Angeles, she worked as a cocktail server. La Placa likes playing classical piano and going to Italy in her leisure time. La Placa is well-positioned to appear in television comedy for many years to come with those credits behind her. Alison La Placa doesn’t use social media.