Park Overall

Park Overall (born March 15, 1957) in Horse Creek, Tennessee, grew up in nearby Greeneville as the daughter of federal magistrate judge Thomas Wesley "Jack" Overall, Jr. and English professor Frances Bernard. From an early age she was immersed in politics, volunteering for the campaigns of Tom Wiseman and Jim Sasser, a habit that foreshadowed her later activism. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Tusculum University and spent a brief period in graduate studies at the University of Tennessee before relocating to New York in her late twenties to chase an acting career. Her first professional stage work was the off‑off‑Broadway production Skin, a play about Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick, and she soon appeared in both the stage and film versions of Neil Simon’s Biloxi Blues. The breakthrough arrived in 1988 when she was cast as the endearingly blunt nurse Laverne Higby Todd Kane on the NBC sitcom Empty Nest, a role she reprised in the short‑lived spinoff Nurses and which cemented her reputation for a distinctive heavy Southern accent. Beyond television, Overall’s film credits include Mississippi Burning, Talk Radio (voice only), Beer for My Horses and the award‑winning indie drama In the Family. Parallel to her acting, she has become a vocal environmental activist, challenging corporate polluters such as Champion International for contaminating the Pigeon River and leading citizen petitions against Nuclear Fuel Services’ uranium processing plant in Erwin, Tennessee. Her commitment to clean‑water and anti‑nuclear causes propelled her into politics, culminating in a 2012 run for the U.S. Senate as a Democratic candidate where she championed women’s health, LGBTQ rights, and stringent environmental protections, though she finished third in the primary. An outspoken supporter of labor unions, gay marriage, and reproductive rights, Overall continues to leverage her public platform, endorsing progressive politicians like Bernie Sanders in 2016 and speaking out on legislative measures she deems harmful to civil liberties. Her blend of Southern charm, gritty acting talent, and unwavering advocacy makes her a unique figure at the intersection of entertainment and public policy.