Polly Draper

Personal life

Draper was born in Gary, Indiana, to Phyllis (née Culbertson), a Peace Corps administrator, and William Henry Draper III, a venture capitalist and civic leader of the United Nations Development Programme. She is the sister of venture capitalist Tim Draper and granddaughter to banker and diplomat William Henry Draper, Jr.

Draper grew up in the California communities of Palo Alto and Arlington. She earned her B.A.A. from Yale University (1977) and her Master of Fine Arts from the Yale School of Drama (1980).

Following a seven-year marriage with playwright Kevin Wade, Draper married musician Michael Wolff after meeting him in 1989 when making a cameo appearance on the syndicated late-night talk show Arsenio Hall, where Wolff served as the bandleader. Wolff's life with Tourette syndrome influenced The Tic Code; he provided the score. She and Wolff have two sons, Nat Wolff and Alex Wolff. Draper's husband and sons played the father and sons in The Naked Brothers Band series and film, which included Draper's niece Jesse Draper as the band's babysitter.

Draper is a member of the Democratic Party, and voted for Democratic Presidential candidates John Kerry in 2004 and Barack Obama in 2008. Her late grandfather, William Henry Draper, Jr., was a member of the Republican Party.

Career

Draper began her acting career appearing Off-Broadway, including a role in Split (1980). She later starred as Ellyn Warren in the ABC television drama Thirtysomething, and in 1993, as Adrian in the NBC television movie adaptation of Danielle Steel's Heartbeat.

She starred in the off-Broadway production of Four Dogs and a Bone (1993), and also made appearances on TV shows such as The Larry Sanders Show (1998); Monk and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, both in 2002; as well as in the Lifetime TV movie special Too Young to Marry (2007).

Draper's played Laura in her screenwriting debut The Tic Code. In 2003, she starred in, provided lead vocals and lyrics for her playwriting Getting Into Heaven (2003) at The Flea Theater; the music was also composed and performed by her husband. Draper also played Nina in the Broadway production of Brooklyn Boy in 2005. By 2007, Draper served as creator, writer, executive producer, and director of the Nickelodeon musical comedy series The Naked Brothers Band. The series was adapted by the pilot episode The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie which she wrote and directed as an independent film in mid-2004.

In 2010, she appeared with a recurring guest role in the Showtime comedic television drama The Big C. Draper directed her youngest son's play What Would Woody Do? (2010) at The Flea Theater. In 2011, she also wrote and starred in an episode of the Current TV science fiction series Bar Karma and appeared in the play My Brilliant Divorce (2012) at the Bay Street Theater. Since then, she appeared in the film Side Effects and in the CBS television drama Golden Boy, both in 2013. In 2014, Draper appeared in the film Obvious Child.

Awards

Draper's work on Thirtysomething earned her an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. In addition, her starring role in the Off-Broadway production of Four Dogs and a Bone (1993) won her a New York Magazine award for Best Broadway Actress. Draper's portrayal in her screenwriting The Tic Code (1998) won her the Bronze Gryphon award for Best Actress at the Giffoni Film Festival.

Draper wrote her directing debut The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie, which earned her an Audience Award for a Family Feature Film at the Hamptons International Film Festival in 2005. The film became the pilot to the Nickelodeon musical comedy series The Naked Brothers Band (2007–09) which she created, wrote, executive produced, and directed, earning her two Writers Guild Award nominations. The first one, in 2007, Draper was nominated in the section of Children's Episodic Shows & Specials for the episode "Nat is a Stand Up Guy". She also won the Children's Script: Long Form or Special category for the TV movie "Polar Bears" in 2009.