Judith Ivey's acting career followed a direct line from Illinois State University to Chicago's Goodman Theatre. She was a notable Broadway success, with award-winning comedy performances in the plays Steaming and Hurlyburly to her credit. Judith's first film was the 1984 farce The Lonely Guy, in which she jilts title character Steve Martin in favor of nightclub star Steve Lawrence, then is reunited with Martin while throwing herself off a bridge (you had to be there). Most of her film roles have continued in this comic vein, though unlike The Lonely Guy these films have yet to find an appreciative audience. In 1990, Judith Ivey starred in her own TV sitcom, Down Home, and in 1992 she became a regular as on the long-running series Designing Women.