Amy Carlson

Amy Lynn Carlson (born July 7, 1968) is an American actress known for her roles as Linda Reagan in the CBS police procedural Blue Bloods, as Alex Taylor on the NBC drama Third Watch, and Josie Watts in the NBC daytime soap opera Another World. Early life Carlson was born in Elmhurst, DuPage County, Illinois, near Chicago, and was raised in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, the daughter of schoolteacher parents, Barbara Jane (Hultman) and Robert Eugene Carlson. She is of Swedish descent, with roots in Småland. Career 1986–1992: College and early career She was introduced to Hollywood when she worked as a background actor in the film Lucas starring Charlie Sheen, Corey Haim, and Winona Ryder. Later she followed her older sister Betsy to Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. While in college, Carlson was active in the school's theatre department, appearing in Fifth of July, Noises Off, A Lie of the Mind, and School for Scandal. She also got her first taste of directing when she directed Wallace Shawn's Aunt Dan and Lemon her senior year. Carlson graduated cum laude with a degree in East Asian Studies with a concentration in theater.