Pauley Perrette

Perrette was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Paul Perrett and Donna (née Bell) Perrett and raised throughout the southern United States. She lived in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, New Jersey, and California. In a 2011 interview with the Associated Press, Perrette confessed her early ambitions were to work with animals, be in a rock and roll band, or be an FBI agent.

Perrette attended Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia, where she studied criminal justice, and later moved to New York City to study at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. In New York, she held a variety of jobs: "Not only was I bartending in the club kids scene, with a bra and combat boots and a white Mohawk, but I also wore a sandwich board on roller skates passing out flyers for Taco Bell in the Diamond District." Perrette also worked as a cook on a Manhattan dinner cruise boat.Perrette has worked in television and film, mostly doing commercials, voice-overs, music videos and short films. She worked as a bartender in New York City. While working odd jobs in New York, she was introduced by a friend to an advertising agency director. This prompted her move to Los Angeles, where she had a variety of bit parts and made several guest appearances. She appeared as a waitress at Cafe Nervosa in the sitcom Frasier during season four (in the episode "Three Dates and a Break Up"), and she guest-starred in season one of 24. She has made appearances in several films, including The Ring and Almost Famous.

In 2001, as a recurring character introduced in season two of Special Unit 2, she played Alice Cramer, the Unit's public relations person. She landed her most prominent role, that of Abby Sciuto, an eccentric forensic scientist, in NCIS, a television series based on the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Perrette's initial appearances as the character were in two episodes of JAG aired in spring 2003; these served as a backdoor pilot and introduced the characters. She has since appeared as Abby in two 2009 episodes of NCIS: Los Angeles, as well as in two episodes of NCIS: New Orleans in 2014 and 2016.

The character Abby Sciuto was created by Donald P. Bellisario, who "wanted to create ... a character who was seemingly an 'alternafreak', while portraying her as perhaps the smartest, most capable person on television. Not a junkie, killer, loser, or television stereotype." Perrette added some of her own "contributions" to the character, and also conferred with friend Clint Catalyst, the "author of Cottonmouth Kisses [who is] often brought in as a guest on TV shows when they are doing pieces on goth or alternative culture." Perrette explained that "Clint and I and our 3,000 closest friends all play together ... We've never sat around and labeled each other. Sure, there are nights when a certain event leans more towards one style than the other, but it's not like some turf war with gang colors." Like her character, Perrette has often been asked if she is goth or punk, to which her response is "Who cares?" Consequently, she told her employers that her character is not the type to seek out a label; Abby "wouldn't call herself anything but Abby ... What she represents is a smart, capable chick that cannot be reduced to a stereotype." On October 4, 2017, TV Guide reported that Perrette would be leaving the series at the end of the 15th season; she made her final appearance in the episode "Two Steps Back".

In addition to acting, Perrette is a poet and author (her short story "Cheers..." appears in the anthology Pills, Thrills, Chills, and Heartache: Adventures in the First Person). In 2007, she began production on a documentary about U.S. civil rights attorney and author Mark Lane. Entitled Citizen Lane, it was completed in 2013.

In a 2005 interview with Craig Ferguson, then host of The Late Late Show, Perrette said she has had a lifelong crime obsession. She was an undergrad student in sociology, psychology, and criminal science. She started her master's degree in criminal science before her career in the entertainment industry.

In the January/February 2010 Performer Q Score, Perrette tied in the top three alongside Tom Hanks and Morgan Freeman. She was also the only woman to make the top 10. Perrette began appearing in television commercials for Expedia.com in late 2010. She made a guest appearance as a judge on season four, episode six of RuPaul's Drag Race. As of winter 2018, her Q Score was 44, giving her the highest score of all current female television actors.

Perrette played the lead role as Jackie in the CBS sitcom Broke, which aired in 2020. In May 2020, Broke was cancelled after one season. On July 7, 2020, Perrette retired from acting.