Betty Lynn Buckley is an American actress and singer, winner of a Tony Award. Betty Buckley was born in Big Spring, Texas, and grew up in Fort Worth. She was the eldest of four children and studied at Texas Christian University. During her studies she won the title of Miss Fort Worth and placed second in the Miss Texas pageant. While performing for soldiers during her studies she also worked at a local newspaper, and in 1969 she moved to New York after landing the lead role in the Broadway musical 1776, which brought her good reviews from critics and helped launch her career. In 1976 Betty Buckley made her big-screen debut in the film Carrie. The following year she got one of the lead roles in the television series Eight Is Enough, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1981 and was a ratings success. After the series ended she returned to Broadway and in 1983 won a Tony Award for her role in the musical Cats. In 1983 she played a country singer in the film Tender Mercies, and in 1988 she starred with Harrison Ford in director Roman Polanski's thriller Frantic.

She also appeared on the big screen in the films The Other Woman, Rain Without Thunder, Wyatt Earp, Simply Irresistible and The Happening. From 2001 to 2003 she starred in the television series Oz. In 2006 Betty Buckley got the lead role of Nora Walker in the television series Brothers & Sisters, but was fired by ABC executives after filming a pilot episode that never aired, when two-time Academy Award winner Sally Field agreed to take the role. In recent years she was notable in the television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and The Pacific and mainly performed on the stage. In 2017 she starred in the thriller Split as psychiatrist Karen Fletcher. Betty Buckley received two honorary doctoral degrees from the Boston Conservatory and Manhattan College Marymount.