Biography

Kelly Karbacz has been making a name for herself on the screen and on the stage over the past decade by taking on high-caliber roles and giving exceptional performances. Karbacz stars as inmate, Kasey Sankey, on Netflix's award-winning series, "Orange is the New Black." Introduced in season four, Sankey is a primary member of the White Power Group, inadvertently created by fellow inmate, Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling). Throughout the season, Karbacz is a scene-stealer as her character finds herself in multiple altercations with the other inmates and pursues Piper to be an active member of her "movement." Karbacz returned for season five where Sankey can be seen working together with the other inmates during the riot, and part of her backstory is revealed. In 2018, Karbacz and her co-stars were nominated for a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

Karbacz also starred alongside Judd Hirsch, Daniel Stern and John Francis Daley as Joanie Binder in the ABC sitcom, "Regular Joe." Her other television credits include guest appearances on NBC's "Do No Harm," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Law & Order" and "Third Watch," CBS' "Without a Trace" and "Queens Supreme" and FOX's "Undeclared."

On the film front, Karbacz appeared in the action comedy, "Get Smart" (Warner Bros.), alongside Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway and Dwayne Johnson, playing the snarky receptionist, Judy, at the top-secret intelligence agency, CONTROL. She reprised her role in the spin-off film, "Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control" opposite Masi Oka and Nate Torrence. Additionally, she shared the screen with Victor Williams and Melissa Leo, as Hannah, in the indie short, "First Breath."

On the theatre side, Karbacz made her Broadway debut in the leading role of Maureen Johnson, in "Rent" at the Nederlander Theatre, directed by Michael Greif. She also earned a Helen Hayes nomination for 'Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical' for her performance as Emily Andrews, in the world premiere of "Liberty Smith" at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Her other theatre credits include Alfred Uhry's "Without Walls" at The Williamstown Theatre Festival, "Nighthawks" at Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, "First Date" at the ACT/5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, and "The Sound of Music" at Lincoln Center's New York City Opera, where she starred as Louisa.

Born in Queens, New York and raised in Queens and Manhattan, Karbacz graduated from the prestigious Stuyvesant High School, and studied drama at The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute part of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

- IMDb mini biography by: Persona PR