Good actresses can often accomplish miracles, and it is possible to be someone you've never been or will be. But in a sitcom, there's no time.

She is a 1973 graduate of Southern Methodist University where Patricia Richardson was friends with classmates Beth Henley and Stephen Tobolowsky who was slated to be a cast member of Home Improvement but had other contractual commitments when the series began filming. Richardson also appeared in the first season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. U.