Chicago Med’s revolving door of incredible guest stars continues with Chicago Med season 11, episode 11, “Our So Called Lives,” which welcomes in some amazing guest performers who are no strangers to the world of television!
Leading the guest cast for the episode are Brenda Strong and Mark Linn-Baker, who will drop into Gaffney Chicago Medical Center to seek treatment… and stir up some old resentment in the process. You see the pair will not be playing any ordinary duo, rather they’ll be playing Dr. Charles’ best friends from med school.
Strong will be playing Dr. Suzie Mankiewicz, while Linn-Baker will be playing her husband, Dr. Howie Mankiewicz. The pair come through the Gaffney ED to seek medical treatment for Suzie, whose status seems to be severe enough to warrant a consult from Dr. Sam Abrams, the Head of Neurosurgery.
Suzie and Howie might be new to the One Chicago universe, but the actors playing the two characters are far from strangers to the small-screen!
Strong is a legend of the small-screen, having played some truly iconic characters. Strong is best known for playing Mary Alice Young on ABC’s Emmy-winning series Desperate Housewives, a role which earned her two Emmy nominations. In addition to Desperate Housewives, Strong has appeared in several hit series with a long list of credits that include her work as Lillian Luthor on Supergirl, Nora Walker on 13 Reasons Why, and Ann Ewing on TNT’s Dallas revival.
As for Linn-Baker, Ghosts fans will quickly recognize him for his recurring role of Henry Farnsby on CBS’s supernatural comedy. Henry is Sam and Jay’s neighbor who has proven to be a thorn in their side on many occasions during the show’s run. Fans might also recognize him from some of his other notable credits including his role as the father of Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters in Marvel’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and from his roles in series such as Succession, Blue Bloods, Twins, and his breakout performance as Larry Appleton in Perfect Strangers.
Also back as part of the guest cast of episode 11 is Hope Lauren, who reprises her role as Lynne Murphy. We first met Lynne back in season 9 as the girlfriend of Ripley’s friend Sully with her final appearance coming in season 10, episode 19, “The Stories We Tell Ourselves.”
Lynne returns in episode 11 as the show recognizes the one-year anniversary of Sully’s death. In a series of stills from the episode, fans got to see glimpses of Lynne and Ripley spending the day together, which is fitting as we cannot think of a better character to bring back as Ripley looks to honor the memory of his friend.