Wendy Makkena is a renowned actress, musician, and entrepreneur hailing from New York City, boasting a diverse background in film, television, theatre, and the arts. She is a classically trained harpist from Juilliard, having performed at Carnegie Hall, and also plays R&B guitar. Additionally, she danced for six years with the renowned Balanchine's New York City Ballet.
In feature films, Makkena has appeared in "The Discovery" alongside Rooney Mara, Jason Segel, and Robert Redford, playing Redford's beloved wife Maggie. She has also starred in "The Enchanted Forest", "Fair Market Value", "State of Play", "Finding North", "Camp Nowhere", "Noise", "Air Bud", and John Sayle's "Eight Men Out". Her notable role is perhaps as the shy novice sister Mary Robert in "Sister Act" and "Sister Act 2".
Makkena has a recurring role on "NCIS" as Kate Todd's sister Dr. Rachel Cranston, and has starred in the Fox comedy series "Oliver Beene", the CBS series "Listen Up" opposite Jason Alexander, the ABC series "The Job" opposite Denis Leary, Fox's "The Mob Doctor", and the role of "All the Way" Mae in the TV series A League of Their Own, directed by Penny Marshall.
Her roles on stage have been as varied as they are on screen, ranging from leads in the farce of Broadway's "Lend Me a Tenor" to the holocaust drama, Cynthia Ozick's "The Shawl" opposite Dianne Wiest and directed by Sidney Lumet. She has appeared in numerous productions on Broadway, earning rave reviews, including the leading role of Crazy Terry in Roundabout's "Side Man", Tony Award winner for Best Play, and "Pygmalion" with Peter O'Toole.
Off Broadway, she has appeared in Richard Greenberg's "American Plan"; Donald Margulies's "Loman Family Picnic" and "Prin" with Eileen Atkins. At Playwrights Horizons, Wendy originated the roles of Carmen Berra in "Bronx Bombers" and Megan in The Water Children (NY & LA),winning the LA Drama Critics Circle Award and the Robby Award for Best Actress.
As a successful entrepreneur, Wendy is the founder and recipe inventor behind "Ruby's Rockets" frozen fruit and veggie pops, conceived and crafted with her daughter Ruby. Their first-to-market recipes have won the Masters Of Taste Award, The New Hope Editor's Choice NEXTY Award, and the SupplySide West Award. Ruby's Rockets have been featured on The Today Show, Forbes, and NY Business Insider, among others, and were selected to be in Oprah's coveted O list. They are now in over 3,000 doors nationwide.
