Vanessa Ray Liptak (born June 24, 1981)[1] is an American actress. She started her career portraying Teri Ciccone in the soap opera As the World Turns (2006–2010) before taking on recurring roles in Damages (2010) and Suits (2011–2012). Her breakthrough came with the role of Charlotte Drake / A in the Freeform thriller drama series Pretty Little Liars (2012–2017), winning a Teen Choice Award. She has since acted in the police drama series Blue Bloods (2013–2024).
Ray earned her Actors' Equity Association card while performing the role of Rusty and singing "Let's Hear It for the Boy" in the musical Footloose. She played the role of Nemo in Robert and Kristin Lopez's Finding Nemo: The Musical at Orlando's Disney World. Ray played the character Olive Ostrovsky in the national tour of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. She joined the Broadway cast of Hair in its final year as Crissy, and sang the song "Frank Mills". She made her on-screen debut as Chris in the youth-oriented video short feature The Sparky Chronicles: The Map (2003).
Between 2012 and 2017, Ray appeared as CeCe Drake, a "beyond-charismatic twenty-something blonde stylist at a boutique that has one heel in the present, one in the past",[2] in the television series Pretty Little Liars. Ray was announced to start filming again for PLL, and spoke about returning, saying, "It's so fun to do, and what a crazy character I get to play. She's sort of a sociopath. I think she's so weird because she's, like, 22 but hangs out with high-schoolers. It's like, 'Hey, girl! Get a life!'"[3]
In 2013, Ray joined the Season 4 cast of the CBS police procedural drama Blue Bloods as Officer Edit "Eddie" Janko,[4] a role she continued throughout the show's run until its cancellation in December 2024.
Ray now lives and works between Los Angeles and New York City. She married actor Derek James Baynham on January 8, 2003.[5][6] In 2007, the first season of the HGTV series Marriage Under Construction covered their purchase, renovation and eventual sale of a house in Toronto.[7][8] The couple divorced in 2009.[9]
In March 2015, Ray announced on Instagram and Twitter that she was engaged to her boyfriend of six years, Landon Beard.[10] On June 14, 2015, they married at the Condor's Nest Ranch in eastern San Diego County, California.[11]
In December 2020, while being interviewed in The Pink Lemonade podcast, Ray revealed she has bipolar disorder. She was first diagnosed while spending three months in a mental health facility.[12]
On March 1, 2024, it was revealed that Ray and her husband welcomed a baby boy via adoption.[13]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | The Sparky Chronicles: The Map | Chris | Video |
| 2004 | Is He... | Steph | Short |
| 2010 | Nice Guy Johnny | Best Friend | |
| 2011 | Trust Me | Girlfriend | Short |
| 2012 | Not Waving but Drowning | Adele | |
| Frances Ha | Random Girl #2 | ||
| The Last Day of August | Phoebe | ||
| 2013 | Mutual Friends | Lucy | |
| 2014 | Devil's Due | Suzie | |
| Are You Joking? | Haley Lusky | ||
| 2015 | All in Time | Rachel | |
| The Rumperbutts | Ashlee | ||
| 2016 | Serialized | Hannah Ryan | TV movie |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006–10 | As the World Turns | Teri Ciccone | Regular Cast |
| 2008–09 | The Battery's Down | Vanessa | Recurring Cast: Season 1, Guest: Season 2 |
| 2009 | Bored to Death | Claudia | Episode: "The Case of the Missing Screenplay" |
| 2010 | Damages | Tessa Marchetti | Recurring Cast: Season 3 |
| 2011 | White Collar | Maggie 'Rocker' Sheldon | Episode: "What Happens in Burma" |
| Nurse Jackie | Mrs. Donovan | Episode: "Have You Met Ms. Jones?" | |
| 2011–12 | Suits | Jenny Griffith | Recurring Cast: Season 1-2 |
| 2012 | Girls | Heather Travis | Episode: "The Return" |
| Pretty Dirty Secrets | CeCe Drake | Episode: "A Reunion" and "Call Security" | |
| 2012–17 | Pretty Little Liars | CeCe Drake | Recurring Cast: Season 3-7 |
| 2013 | The Mentalist | Cayce Robbins | Episode: "Red Lacquer Nail Polish" |
| 2013–24 | Blue Bloods | Officer Edit “Eddie” Janko-Reagan | Recurring Cast: Season 4, Main Cast: Season 5-14 |
| Year | Song | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | "Bring Back The Time" | New Kids on the Block featuring Salt-N-Pepa, Rick Astley & En Vogue |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Work | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV: Villain | CeCe Drake | Won | [14] |
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