Markie Post, born Marjorie Armstrong Post on 4 November 1950, was an American actress best known for playing Christine Sullivan on the NBC sitcom Night Court. She died on 7 August 2021, aged 70, after a nearly four-year private battle with cancer. Her death prompted an outpouring of tributes from co-stars and fans worldwide.
Early Life and Education
Markie Post was born in Palo Alto, California, and grew up in Walnut Creek, California. Her father, Richard F. Post, was a scientist; her mother, Marylee Post, was a poet. She had two brothers, Rodney and Stephen. She attended Las Lomas High School before earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lewis & Clark College in Oregon. After graduating, she began her career behind the camera rather than in front of it.
Career Beginnings and Television Debut
Post started out working behind the camera on game shows, including Split Second, Double Dare, and Card Sharks. These formative years gave her a thorough understanding of television production. Her on-screen debut came in 1979 with the series CHiPs. That same year she appeared on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, playing Joella Cameron in the two-part episode "The Plot to Kill a City" (broadcast October 1979), an early sign of the television stardom that would follow.
The Fall Guy and Night Court
Post's first prominent series regular role came in the Lee Majors action-adventure show The Fall Guy, where she played bail bondswoman Terri Michaels. She appeared alongside Majors from 1982 to 1985, establishing herself as a recognisable face in primetime television. She also guest-starred in The A-Team as Rina (1983–1984) during the same period.
Her most celebrated role came in NBC's Night Court, the Manhattan municipal court sitcom starring Harry Anderson as Judge Harry T. Stone. Post joined the cast as Christine Sullivan, a sincere and strong-willed public defender, becoming a full-time cast member from season three onwards. Christine's quick wit made her a constant foil to John Larroquette's womanising prosecutor Dan Fielding. She remained with the show for its entire run, from 1984 to 1992, seven seasons that earned Post critical recognition and a loyal global fanbase.
Later Roles and Working Through Illness
Following Night Court, Post starred in the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire as Georgie Anne Lahti Hartman, appearing from 1992 to 1995 alongside John Ritter. She played Elliot Reid's mother in the long-running medical comedy Scrubs, a recurring guest role that introduced her work to a younger generation of viewers. She voiced June Darby, the mother of protagonist Jack Darby, across all three seasons of the animated series Transformers: Prime (2010–2013), earning a devoted following among animation fans. Her film credits include There's Something About Mary (1998), alongside a range of television films and movies-of-the-week spanning four decades.
Even after her cancer diagnosis in 2017, Post continued to work. She filmed a Lifetime Christmas movie and appeared in a recurring guest-star role on the ABC series The Kids Are Alright, both during active chemotherapy treatment. Her former Chicago P.D. co-star, Sophia Bush, paid tribute to the late actress with a heartbreak tweet on X. She wrote: "She was a rock. A light. A great friend and a phenomenal scene partner. She brought sunshine everywhere she went."
Personal Life and Marriages
The late actress married her college sweetheart, Stephen Knox, in 1971. The marriage ended in divorce in 1972. In February 1982, she married actor and writer Michael A. Ross. Theirs was a partnership that lasted nearly four decades until her death. Actress Hilarie Burton Morgan described Markie Post as a loving person in her Instagram tribute. She wrote: "She was just so good at loving people. It came so easy to her... The way she talked about her husband and daughters… I wanted to be loved like that. I wanted to LOVE like that."
Post and Ross had two daughters: Kate Armstrong Ross, an actress who won Best Supporting Actress at the Creation International Film Festival in 2016 for Frog March; and Daisy Schoenborn. At the time of Post's death in August 2021, Daisy had a five-month-old daughter, making Post a grandmother.
Net Worth and Legacy
At the time of her death in 2021, Post's net worth was estimated at approximately $12 million, accumulated across four decades of television and film work. If reliable sources differ on the precise figure, the $12 million estimate is the most widely cited. She accumulated 76 acting credits and 2 producer credits across her career.
Markie Post started her career as a teenage California girl working behind the camera. She did not give up on her dreams and went on to become one of Hollywood's biggest on-screen divas. The late actress is survived by her screenwriter and producer husband, Michael A. Ross, and their two daughters, Kate and Daisy.
