Gilpin was born in Waco, Texas, as Peri Kay Oldham, daughter of James Franklin Oldham and his wife Sandra Jo Hauck. After her parents divorced, her mother married Wes Gilpin in 1969. Gilpin then took her stepfather's surname, as her mother thought that it would be fun for the whole family to work together. Gilpin grew up in Dallas, where her family encouraged her acting abilities. After studying at the Dallas Theater Center, she pursued acting at the University of Texas at Austin and the British American Drama Academy in London.
Career
Gilpin appeared on the TV seriesCheers, playing Holly Matheson in the 21st episode of the 11th season, which aired in April, 1993. From 1993 until 2004, Gilpin played Roz Doyle in the television series Frasier, a spin-off of Cheers, starring Kelsey Grammer as Frasier Crane, the role he had played on Cheers since 1984. Along with the principal cast, Gilpin won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 1999. In 2009, Gilpin appeared in the ABC Family drama Make It or Break It, for which she received a Gracie Award in the category of "Outstanding Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Drama Series". Gilpin and Frasier co-star Jane Leeves ran a production company, "Bristol Cities", whose projects included a Fox network pilot titled Minister of Divine, an American remake of the British sitcom The Vicar of Dibley with Kirstie Alley in a starring role. Gilpin is the voice artist for the character Jane Proudfoot in '. She also provided the voices of Desiree in the Nickelodeonanimated television seriesDanny Phantom, Volcana in ' and Justice League, Hecate in Hercules: The Animated Series, and Kate Corrigan in the Hellboy animated films. Gilpin also did voice work for several Wells Fargo and Johnsonville Meats TV commercials. Gilpin has appeared on the television series Medium and Desperate Housewives. She has a supporting role on the television series Make It or Break It and has appeared on '. She starred alongside Teri Polo in the Lifetime movieFor the Love of a Child. In 2012, Gilpin guest-starred with another Cheers stalwart, Ted Danson, in '. She also had a recurring role in Men at Work on TBS as editor of Full Steam magazine. In the second season of Scorpion, she was introduced as Katherine Cooper, a team superior in homeland security.
