Maura Tierney’s Net Worth and the Quiet Power of a Lasting Career

Maura Tierney isn’t some name you toss around lightly. She’s the kind of actor you recognise, maybe even love, without knowing why exactly at first, because she’s one of those performers who slips into your subconscious through some of your favourite shows and movies. She’s familiar. She’s talented. And she’s built a career that’s both steady and deeply respected.

Now… about her net worth?

It depends on who you ask.

Some peg Maura Tierney’s net worth at around $6 million. Others say it’s closer to $10 million, and it is well deserved for someone whose career has spanned decades on TV, film, and stage.

Early Life: Where She Came From

Maura Lynn Tierney was born on February 3, 1965, in Boston, Massachusetts, in the Hyde Park neighbourhood, which, at least in imagination, sounds like the kind of place where people grow up really curious about the world. Her dad, Joseph M. Tierney, wasn’t just a dad. He was on the Boston City Council for years, and her mom, Pat, worked in real estate.

She’s got an Irish-American background. She actually studied drama in high school, performed in festivals, and carried that forward to New York University, where she initially studied dance before switching to acting.

That move from dance to drama kind of says all you need to know about her: she wasn’t chasing easy. She was chasing meaningful work.

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Career Beginnings

After NYU, Maura moved to Los Angeles in the late 1980s, a city that chews up and spits out manyIn  actors who think they’re ready for Hollywood. She wasn’t immune to the grind. Her earliest roles were small: a Disney TV movie here, a guest spot there, a tiny role in a low-budget picture called Dead Women in Lingerie (yes, really).

But then something clicked…

In 1995, she landed the role of Lisa Miller on the sitcom NewsRadio, and that was the first moment she stopped being “someone you might’ve seen” and became someone you remember*.

She was funny. Sharp. Quick with timing. And suddenly, casting directors and audiences alike woke up to a presence that was more than just pleasant; it was distinct. That show ran for several seasons, and for many, it was the first real taste of Tierney’s talent.

Breakthrough and Rise

But wait… it gets bigger.

1999, she joins ER, one of the biggest TV shows in America. And not as a one-off guest star. She became Dr Abby Lockhart, first a nurse, then a doctor, and one of the most emotionally complex characters on the series.

This role launched her into a different orbit.

People weren’t just talking about NewsRadio anymore; they were talking about Abby. Her struggles, her strength, her vulnerability, it was the sort of performance that doesn’t hide behind spectacle. It demands your attention.

If there’s one part of her filmography that most people link her to, it’s ER. She lived with that character in a way only a great actor can.

Films, Later TV, and What She’s Done Since

But Maura didn’t stop with TV.

She popped up in mainstream films you probably remember (and maybe quote at parties):

• Liar Liar with Jim Carrey, where she showed she could hold her own beside comic giants.
• Primary Colours, a political drama.
• Insomnia, that gripping Christopher Nolan thriller.

And on The Affair, she delivered one of the most critically acclaimed performances of her career. Winning a Golden Globe in the process.

She’s also popped up in beloved shows like The Good Wife, Rescue Me, and more recent dramas like American Rust and The Diplomat, proving she’s not content to be boxed in by any genre.

So yeah, range. Depth. Consistency.

So What About That Net Worth?

There are various estimates of her net worth. Some say:

• About $6 million, a respectable amount for a career like hers.
• Others say up to $10 million, more in line with her long, steady career and recurring work.

There are no megabucks endorsements. No huge business ventures are publicly attached to her name. Just consistent acting across TV, film, and stage with projects that, frankly, demanded respect (even if they weren’t always blockbuster paychecks).

Whatever the exact number? It tells a story. Not of flashy fame, but of solid craft and longevity.

Personal Life

Tierney married director Billy Morrissette in 1993. They were together for over a decade before divorcing in 2006. They didn’t share any children as well.

She’s kept her personal life private, although she has had her tough seasons. In 2009, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She stepped away from a role on Parenthood to focus on treatment, underwent surgery, and slowly but surely came back to acting when she was ready.

That’s one of those facts that doesn’t show up on a resume, but it does show up in the kind of depth she brings to her work because she’s lived through stuff most of us only watch on screen.

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The Real Maura Tierney: What Makes Her Tick

Let’s be honest:

She’s not in your face.

She doesn’t sell perfume or flash every move on social media.

She doesn’t need that.

What she does is she shows up. In roles that matter. In moments that stick with you. In characters that live long after the credits roll.

Her career isn’t flashy. It’s lasting. And in entertainment, where so much burns hot and fades fast, that’s worth more than most of the shallow wins Hollywood chases.

Maura Tierney:

• A respected actor with an estimated net worth in the mid-single to low-double-digit millions.
• A career built on depth, range, and commitment.
• A private person who’s still doing meaningful work.
• Someone who’s quietly shaped the TV and film audiences without being loud about it.

And maybe that’s exactly why she’s still here, still relevant, and still worth talking about.