Connie McDowell

Connie McDowell is a fictional character in the television series NYPD Blue.^[1] She was played by Charlotte Ross from Season 8 to 11.^[1] Ross had previously guest starred on the show as another character in two episodes of Season 5.^[2]

McDowell was born in 1968 and was from upstate New York, where her father had been the chief of police for the city of Saratoga Springs.^[3] She began her detective career as a "floater" working temporary assignments in whichever precinct was shorthanded until receiving permanent assignment to the 15th Precinct.^[3]

Soon after her arrival, Lieutenant Arthur Fancy was promoted to captain, and McDowell did not hit it off with his intended replacement, Susan Dalto.^[4] Upon asking if it was too late for her transfer out of the 15th Precinct, Fancy counseled her to stay, so that she did not develop a reputation as someone who could not get along with her superiors.^[4] Fancy ultimately solved the problem by engineering Dalto's transfer out; her replacement was Lieutenant Tony Rodriguez, with whom McDowell got along well.^[5] McDowell partnered first with Diane Russell, and later with Rita Ortiz.^[6]

McDowell dealt with some dysfunction in her family; she had a baby when she was 16, and her parents insisted she give the girl up for adoption.^[3] In late 2001 she contacted her daughter, by then a 16-year-old known as Jennifer Beck, by arranging a fake arrest for smoking marijuana; the attempted reunion was unsuccessful.^[3] McDowell was told by her doctors that she could not become pregnant again; still desiring to be a parent, she began to help Andy Sipowicz by babysitting his son Theo.^[3] McDowell also had a sister, Michelle, who was in an abusive relationship; after several unsuccessful efforts by McDowell and her co-workers to stop the abuse, Michelle's husband Frank killed her.^[3] McDowell ended up as the adoptive parent of her sister's child, after successfully fighting Frank's parents for custody.^[3]

After McDowell became the adoptive mother of her niece, her relationship with Andy continued to blossom; soon afterwards, McDowell became pregnant, despite her previous medical prognosis.^[3] Despite their age difference, they decided to marry, and she gave birth to a son, Matthew.^[3] After giving birth, McDowell left work to stay at home and raise the three children in the blended family she and Sipowicz had created.^[3] (In reality, McDowell's pregnancy and departure from the show coincided with Ross's real life pregnancy.^[7]) She is referred to several times during the rest of the series, usually as Sipowicz is talking to her on the phone while he is at work.^[3] When it was confirmed that Season 12 would be the series' last, the show's producers and Dennis Franz both reached out to Charlotte Ross to make a few return appearances as Connie. She politely declined.

• Sepinwal, Alan. "Biographies: Connie McDowell, Charlotte Ross". NYPD Blue Online. Alan Sepinwal. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
• Sepinwal, Alan. "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about NYPD Blue: Question 2, the Characters; Lt. Tony Rodriguez". NYPD Blue Online. Alan Sepinwal. Archived from the original on July 28, 2005. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
• "Season 8, Episode 13: Flight of Fancy". Episode Data: NYPD Blue. Episodedata.com. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
• "NYPD Blue Season 5 Episode Guide: Episodes 16, 18". TV Guide. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
• "NYPD Blue: Regulars, Episode List and Details". NYPD Blue: (A Titles & Air Dates Guide). Epguides.com. Retrieved December 6, 2016.

• Huff, Richard (April 7, 2004). "Actress is 'NYPD' Thru". New York Daily News. New York, NY.
• Rohan, Virginia (April 8, 2001). "NYPD Blue's Ross Is Doing Her Time With The Crime". Sun-Sentinel. Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016.