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This article's subject relates to Season 1 of 24.This article's subject relates to Season 2 of 24.This article's subject relates to Season 3 of 24.This is a production article written from an out-of-universe perspective
"I think her focus was straight-forward, she always knew what she wanted, and she just had different tactics of getting it."
Penny Johnson Jerald discussing Sherry Palmer's motivation and drive as a character.

Penny Johnson Jerald (born March 14, 1961; age 63) played Sherry Palmer on 24.

Biography[]

Penny Johnson was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She studied at Juilliard School during the early 80s. Johnson has had an extensive career in film and television, otherwise best known for her portrayals of Beverly Barnes on The Larry Sanders Show and Kasidy Yates on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Johnson Jerald began her career with small guest roles on series like T.J. Hooker and Hill Street Blues. On 1984, she landed a recurring role on The Paper Chase as Vivian. The role lasted until 1986 when she also appeared on General Hospital. She continued with roles on The Cosby Show, Simon & Simon, Tour of Duty, Freddy's Nightmares, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Grace Under Fire, and Cosby. However, it was on 1992 that she starred in her first recognizable role on The Larry Sanders Show as Beverly Barnes, Sanders' indispensable, unflappable personal assistant. The show also starred Mary Lynn Rajskub and Janeane Garofalo. She also had recurring roles on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (with Alexander Siddig and Greg Ellis) and ER (with Paul McCrane, Silas Weir Mitchell, and Burt Bulos).

24 Day 2 Finale Penny Johnson and Kiefer Filming

Filming Day 2 with Kiefer Sutherland.

After her first appearance on 24, she also had guest roles on The X-Files, Citizen Baines (with James Cromwell), The Practice, October Road, Eve and The 4400 (with Megalyn Echikunwoke).

Johnson Jerald has also appeared in the 1997 film Absolute Power (with Dennis Haysbert), Automatic (with Jeff Kober), and Death Benefit (with Dean Norris and Glenn Morshower). She also appeared as Roscoe Dellums in the Emmy Award winning TV movie The Color of Friendship. In 2003, Jerald played Condoleezza Rice in the TV movie DC 9/11: Time of Crisis, which had Gregory Itzin (Charles Logan) as John Ashcroft.

From 2011 to 2015, she played Stana Katic's boss, Captain Victoria "Iron" Gates, on Castle.

Jerald has been married for over twenty years and has an adult daughter.

Role on 24[]

Day 2 Penny Johnson Jerald Filming

Filming the Season 2 Finale.

Penny Johnson Jerald played the role of Sherry Palmer, the ambitious wife of Senator David Palmer on Season 1. Although she wasn't part of the Main cast, Johnson appeared in 22 episodes. On Season 2, she was promoted to main cast. In Season 3, massive fan response convinced the producers to bring Sherry back, even though her return strained credibility.

Given that each season of the show takes place over the course of one day, most actors on 24 are restricted to one or two outfits. To date, Jerald (and Kiefer Sutherland) is the only real exception to this rule, having worn around six different costumes in the first season, two in the second season and at least three in the third season.

24 credits[]

24-related appearances[]

External links[]

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