Laura Linney Net Worth

What Is Laura Linney's Net Worth?

Laura Linney is an American actress, producer, and director who has a net worth of $10 million.

Laura Linney has built one of the most consistently acclaimed careers in American film, television, and theater. She has received three Academy Award nominations, five Tony Award nominations, and nine Primetime Emmy nominations, winning four Emmys. Linney earned her Oscar nominations for "You Can Count on Me," "Kinsey," and "The Savages," while her other major films include "The Truman Show," "Mystic River," "Love Actually," "The Squid and the Whale," and "Sully." On television, she won Emmys for "Wild Iris," "Frasier," "John Adams," and "The Big C" before reaching another large audience as Wendy Byrde opposite Jason Bateman on Netflix's "Ozark."

"Ozark" also became one of the most lucrative projects of Linney's career. A 2017 industry salary survey placed both Linney and Bateman's compensation at $300,000 per episode. Linney later became a co-executive producer and made her directing debut on the series. She has since expanded her directing career while continuing to act on stage and screen.

Early Life and Education

Laura Leggett Linney was born on February 5, 1964, in Manhattan, New York City. Her father, Romulus Linney, was a prominent playwright and professor whose work had a major influence on Laura's early interest in the theater. Her mother, Miriam Anderson "Ann" Leggett, worked as a nurse.

Linney's parents divorced when she was an infant, and she primarily grew up with her mother. Nevertheless, she remained immersed in her father's theatrical world and spent significant time around writers, actors, rehearsals, and plays.

She attended the Northfield Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts before enrolling at Brown University. At Brown, Linney studied theater arts and performed in student productions, including one of her father's plays. She graduated in 1986.

Linney continued her training at the Juilliard School in New York, where she studied acting as a member of Group 19. She also studied at the Arts Theatre School in Moscow. Brown later awarded her an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree, and Juilliard also presented her with an honorary doctorate.

Theater Career

Although Linney became internationally famous through film and television, theater has remained a central part of her career. She began appearing on Broadway in the early 1990s, with credits including "The Seagull," "Six Degrees of Separation," "Hedda Gabler," "Holiday," "Honour," and "Uncle Vanya."

Her first Tony Award nomination came in 2002 for playing Elizabeth Proctor opposite Liam Neeson in a Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible." She earned a second Tony nomination for "Sight Unseen" in 2005 and a third for "Time Stands Still" in 2010.

Linney earned her fourth Tony nomination for the 2017 Broadway revival of "The Little Foxes." The production featured an unusual arrangement in which Linney and Cynthia Nixon alternated between the roles of Regina Giddens and Birdie Hubbard.

In 2018, Linney made her London stage debut in "My Name Is Lucy Barton," a one-woman play adapted from Elizabeth Strout's novel. She reprised the performance in London the following year before bringing it to Broadway in 2020. The role earned Linney her fifth Tony nomination.

She returned to Broadway in 2023 opposite Jessica Hecht in David Auburn's two-character play "Summer, 1976." In 2026, Manhattan Theatre Club named Linney its inaugural Artist-in-Residence, reflecting a relationship with the theater company that stretches back to the early 1990s.

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Film Career

Linney began appearing in films during the early 1990s, taking small parts in "Lorenzo's Oil," "Dave," and "Searching for Bobby Fischer." She gained more substantial exposure in the adventure film "Congo" in 1995 and opposite Richard Gere in the 1996 thriller "Primal Fear."

Her breakthrough with mainstream audiences came in Peter Weir's 1998 film "The Truman Show." Linney played Meryl Burbank, the seemingly cheerful wife of Truman Burbank, played by Jim Carrey. Her character is ultimately revealed to be an actress participating in the elaborate television production built around Truman's life.

Linney's standing as a dramatic actress rose dramatically with Kenneth Lonergan's 2000 film "You Can Count on Me." Her performance as single mother Sammy Prescott earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress as well as Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations.

In 2003, she appeared in two major ensemble films: Clint Eastwood's "Mystic River" and the romantic comedy "Love Actually." The following year, she played Clara McMillen, wife of sex researcher Alfred Kinsey, in "Kinsey." Her performance opposite Liam Neeson earned Linney an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

She reunited with Jeff Daniels for Noah Baumbach's 2005 film "The Squid and the Whale," playing a writer navigating a bitter divorce and the effect it has on her children. The performance brought her another Golden Globe nomination.

Linney earned her third Academy Award nomination for the 2007 film "The Savages," in which she and Philip Seymour Hoffman played siblings struggling to care for their aging father.

Later film credits included "The Nanny Diaries," "Hyde Park on Hudson," "Mr. Holmes," "Nocturnal Animals," "Genius," and Clint Eastwood's "Sully," in which Linney played the wife of airline pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, portrayed by Tom Hanks.

She continued working steadily after "Ozark," starring alongside Maggie Smith and Kathy Bates in 2023's "The Miracle Club." In 2024, she played the mother of Nico Parker's character in "Suncoast," which also starred Woody Harrelson.

Television Career

Linney's television career has been every bit as successful as her film work. One of her earliest major roles was Mary Ann Singleton in the 1993 miniseries "Tales of the City," adapted from Armistead Maupin's novels. She returned to the character in "More Tales of the City," "Further Tales of the City," and Netflix's 2019 revival of "Tales of the City."

Her first Primetime Emmy came for the 2001 television movie "Wild Iris." She won another Emmy in 2004 for guest-starring as Charlotte, the final romantic interest of Kelsey Grammer's title character on "Frasier."

In 2008, Linney portrayed Abigail Adams opposite Paul Giamatti's John Adams in HBO's acclaimed miniseries "John Adams." Her performance earned her an Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award.

Linney next starred as Cathy Jamison in Showtime's "The Big C," which ran from 2010 through 2013. Her character is a suburban teacher who radically reevaluates her life after being diagnosed with cancer. Linney also served as an executive producer. She won a Golden Globe for the role and, for the concluding limited-series installment "The Big C: Hereafter," won her fourth Emmy.

"Ozark" and Salary

Linney began starring as Wendy Byrde on Netflix's "Ozark" in 2017. Jason Bateman played her husband, Marty, a financial adviser who moves his family from Chicago to Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks after becoming entangled with a Mexican drug cartel.

Wendy evolves from a political consultant and reluctant participant in Marty's criminal activities into one of the show's most ambitious and ruthless power brokers. Linney's performance became one of the defining elements of the series and earned her three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

"Ozark" was also an important financial project for Linney. Variety's 2017 television salary survey reported that Linney and Bateman were each earning $300,000 per episode. At that rate, a 10-episode season represented $3 million in acting compensation. The series ultimately produced 44 episodes over four seasons, although Linney's compensation for the later seasons was not publicly disclosed.

Her involvement eventually went beyond acting. Linney became a co-executive producer on "Ozark," sharing in an Emmy nomination when the show was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series in 2022. She also made her directorial debut during the fourth and final season.

The series concluded in 2022 after four seasons. Julia Garner, who played Ruth Langmore, won three Emmys for her work on the show.

Directing and Later Television Work

Linney continued directing after "Ozark." In 2025, she reunited professionally with Jason Bateman by directing two episodes of the Netflix limited series "Black Rabbit," starring Bateman and Jude Law.

In 2026, Linney returned to series television as Kristen Forrest Bean in "American Classic," starring with Kevin Kline and Jon Tenney. The comedy-drama revolves around a disgraced Broadway star returning to the small-town theater operated by his family. Linney also served as an executive producer on the series.

That same year, she joined the cast of HBO's DC Studios series "Lanterns," starring Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre. The role added a major franchise production to a career that has generally been distinguished by smaller prestige dramas rather than superhero projects.

Awards and Recognition

Linney has received three Academy Award nominations: Best Actress for "You Can Count on Me," Best Supporting Actress for "Kinsey," and Best Actress for "The Savages."

She has won four Primetime Emmy Awards from nine nominations, along with two Golden Globe Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Her stage career has produced five Tony nominations for "The Crucible," "Sight Unseen," "Time Stands Still," "The Little Foxes," and "My Name Is Lucy Barton."

Despite spending much of her career moving among film, television, and theater, Linney has resisted becoming associated with a single type of role. Her credits range from studio hits such as "The Truman Show" and "Sully" to independent dramas, Broadway productions, prestige miniseries, and long-form streaming television.

Personal Life

Linney married actor David Adkins in 1995. They divorced in 2000.

She met Marc Schauer at the Telluride Film Festival in 2004, where he was working as a festival liaison assigned to assist her. They remained in contact after the festival and eventually began a relationship.

Linney and Schauer married in May 2009 at her home in Connecticut. Her longtime friend and "Kinsey" co-star Liam Neeson walked her down the aisle.

In January 2014, Linney gave birth to their son, Bennett Armistead Schauer, shortly before her 50th birthday. His middle name honors author Armistead Maupin, Linney's longtime friend and the creator of the "Tales of the City" novels that played an important role in her early television career.

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