After a striking entrance--arising nude from a lake like Venus--Warner's character turned out to be an earth mother, vegetarian, animal rights activist, ambulance driver, law student. In "Mr. Saturday Night" (1992), Warner gracefully aged 40 years on screen over the course of playing Billy Crystal's long-suffering wife. She next joined an impressive young ensemble playing summer campers grown up and reunited in "Indian Summer" (1993) but the film's lack of box office success stalled her career. After tanking further with "The Puppet Masters" (1994), Warner rebounded slightly starring opposite Chris Farley in the comedy "Tommy Boy" (1995).
Before her fast track feature career, Warner worked in summer stock, conservatory theater and TV. She was Andrew Dice Clay's girlfriend on his 1988 HBO special, "The Diceman Cometh", as well as providing guest spots on the series "The Outsiders", "21 Jump Street", "Star Trek: The Next Generation", and "Herman's Head". As her film career stalled, she turned to the small screen, headlining the pleasantly innocuous but low-rated sitcom "Pride & Joy" (NBC, 1995), playing a new parent. After time off to marry and experience motherhood in her real life, Warner returned to series TV as an ambitious legal beagle in the CBS drama "Family Law" (1999- ).
