Where Ally McBeal cast are now – from secret health battle to shock affair claims and infamous Hollywood bust-up
IT was one of the biggest TV hits of the 90s - and now Ally McBeal is coming back with a new spin-off series.
US channel ABC is reviving the Emmy-winning comedy drama series with a new focus on a young black woman - the daughter of Boston-based lawyer Ally’s old roommate Renee Raddick.
It's not yet known if original star Calista Flockhart, who played the title role, will return - she's reportedly waiting to see a script before signing up.
The show ran from 1997 to 2002, launching the careers of stars including Lucy Liu and Jane Krakowski. It's fourth season also featured a recurring role from the late Anne Heche as Melanie West.
Here we take a look at what the original cast have been up to in the years since.
Calista Flockhart - Ally McBeal
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The cult show made Calista, now 57, a household name at just 33, and bagged her a Golden Globe Award in 1998 - four years before she met future husband Harrison Ford, 79, at the event.
Calista adopted a son, Liam, in 2001, and she married Harrison - becoming his third wife - in 2010 during a laidback ceremony where he wore jeans.
She supports her husband's passion for flying, despite the amateur pilot crashing his plane in 2015, leaving him with a broken back, shattered ankle and pelvis, and a head wound.
He said: “My wife, who is a wonderful lady, understands my passion for aviation, she understands what it means to me and flies with me to this day.”
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After Ally McBeal, Calista starred as Kitty Walker in ABC's Brothers & Sisters, and turned down a role on Desperate Housewives - taken up by Teri Hatcher.
She served as the national spokeswoman for Peace Over Violence from 2004 to 2014.
Greg Germann - Richard Fish
Greg, 64, made his name playing money-hungry, smooth-talking Richard Fish, co-founder of law firm Cage & Fish.
He went on to star in several long-running shows including Once Upon a Time, Ned & Stacey and Grey's Anatomy.
Greg has also guest-starred in Desperate Housewives, NCIS and Limitless, among many others.
The actor - married to school headteacher Martha Champlin, with whom he shares a child - is incredibly private.
Back in 2019 he suggested a remake of the classic show would be a mistake, claiming "it's perfect in its little place it has".
Lisa Nicole Carson - Renee Raddick
Lisa, 54, charmed audiences as bubbly Renée Raddick on Ally McBeal and Carla in ER before disappearing due to a mental health breakdown.
Behind the scenes she was struggling with bipolar disorder, and ended up being sectioned and placed on suicide watch.
She had her first psychotic breakdown in 1997 and another in 2000 at a Manhattan hotel which made headlines after she was hospitalised.
She previously admitted: "When you lose your mind it's as traumatic as it sounds. It's not anything you can imagine happening to you... I remember glass breaking, yelling, screaming and terror, sheer terror."
Her contract wasn't renewed for the final season of Ally McBeal, leaving her "devastated". She told Essence Magazine in 2015: "Nobody gave me an explanation, but I assumed it had to do with what had happened."
Following another breakdown in 2004 - which she described as the worst - she spent a decade away from Hollywood to heal before attempting to relaunch her acting career in 2014.
Jane Krakowski - Elaine Vassal
Since appearing on Ally McBeal, Jane, 53, has been a regular face on TV, starring as Jenna Maroney in NBC comedy series 30 Rock.
She's also starred on Broadway, winning a 2003 Tony Award for the revival of Nine, as well as feature films Ice Age, Alfie, and The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas.
Jane hosted a 2020 reboot of the 1950s gameshow Name That Tune, and guest-starred in multiple episodes of Modern Family.
Last year it was alleged she'd had a secret romance with My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, one of Donald Trump's biggest backers.
Her spokesman slammed the claim, saying: "Jane has never met Mr. Lindell. She is not and has never been in any relationship with him, romantic or otherwise."
Peter MacNicol - John Cage
In 2001 Peter, now 68, won a Primetime Emmy Award for his role as awkward law firm boss John Cage in Ally McBeal - famed for his obsession with Barry White.
Since then his career has gone from strength to strength; he has appeared in numerous shows including Numbers, Grey's Anatomy and CSI: Cyber.
Hit film credits include Sophie's Choice, Ghostbusters II, Addams Family Values, and Bean.
In 2016 he was nominated for an Emmy for his guest role in Veep but it was withdrawn because he appeared in too much of the show.
The notoriously private star has been married to Martha Cumming since 1986, but little is known about their relationship. They never had children.
Gil Bellows - Billy Thomas
Gil, 55, was already a household name by the time he appeared as notoriously sexist lawyer Billy Thomas in Ally McBeal, having played Tommy Williams in The Shawshank Redemption.
The Canadian actor has managed to remain squeaky clean and keep his private life out of the headlines.
He is married to fellow actress Rya Kihlstedt - who starred in Heroes Reborn and Dexter - and shares two children with her.
Gil has most recently starred in Women of The Moment on ABC and is also known for his role in The Agency.
Courtney Thorne-Smith - Georiga Thomas
Courtney, 54, joined the legal drama as Billy's wife Georgia fresh from starring as Alison Parker on Melrose Place.
She was written out of the show in series four and has since claimed that appearing in the series put pressure on her to stay thin.
"I started undereating, over-exercising, pushing myself too hard and brutalizing my immune system," she told US Weekly. "The amount of time I spent thinking about food and being upset about my body was insane."
In June 2000 she married geneticist Andrew Conrad, but they divorced less than a year later in January 2001.
She married artist and adventurer Roger Fishman on New Year's Day in 2007 and gave birth to their son aged 40.
In September that year she published her first novel, Outside In, a fictional comedy about life in Hollywood.
Following her stint on Ally McBeal she starred in Two and a Half Men, Sorority Wars and Fresh Off the Boat.
Portia de Rossi - Nelle Porter
Actress Portia, 49, who played ice queen Nelle, is probably now best known for being the wife of Ellen DeGeneres, but she wasn't always open about her sexuality.
She hit the headlines in the early 2000s when photos of her with girlfriend Francesca Gregorini, the stepdaughter of Ringo Starr, were published.
At the time she claimed many of her Ally McBeal castmates didn't know she was gay and later admitted she was fearful of being exposed.
Their romance came to an abrupt end after she met Ellen and the pair got engaged in 2008 and married the same year.
Australian born Portia was previously married to documentary filmmaker Mel Metcalfe between 1996 and 1999 reportedly to get a green card, but she didn't follow through with it.
In her autobiography, Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain, Portia shared that she had been suffering from anorexia nervosa and bulimia and that she had been misdiagnosed with lupus.
She claimed her eating issues started when she was 12 and were at their height during Ally McBeal.
It got so bad she passed out on the set of Who Is Cletis Tout? and a medical examination revealed she was suffering from cirrhosis, osteoporosis and organ failure. She has since recovered and is now a healthy weight.
In 2017, Portia claimed actor Steven Seagal exposed himself to her while she was auditioning for one of his films.
Lucy Liu - Ling Woo
Lucy, 53, joined Ally McBeal in the second series as no-nonsense Ling Woo, landing the role shortly before she starred in two Charlie's Angels films.
Shortly before taking up her role on the legal drama she had a breast cancer scare, admitting: "The doctor sort of felt and said it was cancer and it needs to come out. I went into shell-shock. It was pretty traumatising."
Once removed doctors found that the lump was benign.
Lucy allegedly had a famous bust-up with Charlie's Angels co-star Bill Murray, claiming he hurled insults at her on set.
"Some of the language was inexcusable and unacceptable, and I was not going to just sit there and take it. I stood up for myself, and I don’t regret it,” she said.
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It is rumoured to be the reason the comedian didn't return for the second Charlie's Angel film.
Lucy is a single mum, having opted to have her son Rockwell, six, through surrogacy as she was working.