Lisa Nicole Carson (born July 12, 1969) is an American actress. She is best known for her work on U.S. television, including supporting roles in NBC's ER and Fox's Ally McBeal. Carson appeared in the roles simultaneously, but has since appeared in no other roles.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, her father is a journalism professor at the University of Florida, and her mother is a kindergarten teacher in New York. She spent her adolescence in Gainesville, Florida and attended F. W. Buchholz High School. Her parents split up when she was 14, and her mother moved back to New York alone.
A keen singer, in 1986 she entered in "America’s Junior Miss" talent show, taking second place. After graduating in 1987, Carson returned to New York and decided that she wanted to be an actor. She began her career by appearing in a number of After School Specials and Home Box Office made short films.
On television, she played the recurring character Carla Reece, the on/off girlfriend of Eriq La Salle's Dr Peter Benton in NBC's ER between 1996 and 2001. Between 1997 and 2002 she played prosecutor Renee Raddick in Fox's Ally McBeal, a role for which she received multiple award nominations. Carson was fired from both roles, amid reports about her erratic behavior on and off set, alleged drug use, being arrested and admissions to a mental health facility.
