The American actress was born in Teaneck, New Jersey, and grew up in Delaware, Illinois, West Virginia, and Washington D.C. Garlington was recently nominated for a 2018 Primetime Emmy Award / Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for her role as 'Darlene' in Broken. Garlington was a series regular on several series Lenny, Townies, and Blame it on Ernie as well as eleven other pilots that did not go to series. She had recurring roles in several notable television series, including The West Wing, The Killing, Flashforward, Everwood, The Riches, The Bridge, Will & Grace, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Mistresses, and Roseanne. She also played Kirsten, Rose Nylund's (Betty White) daughter in the final season of The Golden Girls, Ronni, the mistress of Joey Tribbiani's father on Friends, and the waitress Claire at Pete's Luncheonette in the pilot episode, The Seinfeld Chronicles. Her first professional acting job was "Myrna the Mean Waitress" in the sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, Psycho II in 1983 and its successor, Psycho III in 1986. The same year she starred alongside Sylvester Stallone and Brigitte Nielsen in the action/thriller Cobra. Garlington feels she was blessed that writer/director Phil Alden Robinson decided she was his "good luck charm" and cast her in almost all of his movies: In The Mood, Field of Dreams, Sneakers, Sum of All Fears, and The Angriest Man in Brooklyn. Garlington was also nominated for a 2015 (ISA) Indie Series Award / Best Guest Actress- Comedy for Mentor. Having appeared in over 25 plays in Los Angeles and winning numerous Dramalogue Awards, she won the 1999 Ovation Award (L.A.'s answer to the Tony's) for a Featured Role in the play Risk Everything.