Traylor Howard is an American actress, known widely for playing Natalie Teeger in the USA Network TV show “Monk”, and for her appearance in the series “Two Guys and a Girl.”
Age, Early Life, and Education Background
Traylor Elizabeth Howard was born in Orlando, Florida, under the Gemini zodiac sign on 14 June 1966, which makes her 56 years old as of 2022. Her mother is Peggy E. Howard, and father Robert Howard, Jr., who served as the president of Howard Fertilizer and Chemical Firm, situated in Orlando. Traylor developed an interest in acting as a child, and at first appeared in many adverts as a child actress, including a Juicy Fruit chewing gum commercial.
Traylor went to Lake Highland Preparatory School in Orlando, and was a very bright student. She matriculated to Florida State University in 1984, and in 1988 graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Communication and Advertising with an English minor. She started working at a greeting-card firm soon after she graduated.
Howard also worked as an advertising professional shortly after graduation, and appeared in many commercials for AT&T Corporation. In addition, she appeared in Foo Fighters’ music video “Breakout.”
Facts and Hobbies
Traylor is keen on her mental well-being, and practices yoga and meditation daily.
She is good friends with the American actress Emmy Clarke, who portrayed her daughter in the TV show “Monk.”
Her family and close friends called her several odd nicknames when she was growing up, such as Park, Hitch, Trash, and Tray.
She was given the name Traylor by her mother, to hide her family’s maiden name.
Traylor Howard Portman couldn’t make it to FSU to receive her CCI Distinguished Alumni Award in 2015. The stars finally aligned yesterday and we were able to present Traylor with the CCI Distinguished Alumni Award for her career accomplishments in advertising, television & film. pic.twitter.com/Xu0NyOeXLY
— FSU CCI (@FSUCCI) August 30, 2018
Career
TV Appearances
Traylor made her TV debut in early 1994. in an episode entitled “Madame Ex” of the much-admired TV series “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” She then landed the role of Joy Byrnes in the sitcom “Boston Common,” which aired on NBC in 1996 and 1997, sharing the screen with Alfred Molina, and caught the attention of other mainstream networks with her acclaimed performance – she appeared for 32 episodes before the show was canceled. From 1998 to 2001, Traylor portrayed Sharon in the series “Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place” – also called “Two Guys and a Girl,” – which starred Ryan Reynolds and Richard Ruccolo. The show aired for four seasons before its cancellation in 2001.
2002 saw Traylor appearing in several , including “The West Wing” in which she played Lisa Sherborne, then in the episode “Right to Die” of the series “First Monday” portraying Ashley Riverton, and later in the episode “Remembrance” of the TV show “The Division” as Sarah Frazen. In the same year, she was cast in the role of Alice in the short-lived series “Bram and Alice” appearing in four episodes before it was canceled in the same year.
Traylor next landed her most important role, as Natalie in the comedy-drama “Monk” which aired from 2005 to 2009. She appeared in the tenth episode of the third season playing the assistant of Adrian Monk, which was played by Tony Shalhoub. The series was the most widely viewed on cable before ‘The Walking Dead” broke the record. Traylor won a 2009 Gracie Allen Award in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actres for her praised role in “Monk”. She later landed the main role of Julie Nolan in the series “Nolan Knows Best” in 2010, but the series received many negative reviews.
Film Appearances
1994 saw Traylor making her film debut as Fran in “Till the End of the Night.” Four years later, she played Anne Henning in the film “Confessions of Sexist Pig”, then starred as Kathy in the Bob Saget-directed romantic movie “Dirty Work” in the same year. In 2000, she landed a supporting role in the movie “Me, Myself & Irene,” which starred Jim Carrey and was one of the most successful movies of the year. Her next film role came in 2005 when she was cast as Tonya in “Son of the Mask,” which was poorly received and didn’t become the anticipated hit. In 2010, Traylor landed a voicing project in the film “Simon Says Let’s Stop Climate Change!” a role she reprised in its 2016 sequel entitled “Simon Says Save the Climate.”
Personal Life
Traylor has been married thrice. She first walked the aisle with Cameron Hall in February 1991, after dating him briefly; they did not welcome a child together, and parted ways two years later. She then married American actor Christian Navarro on 26 April 2003 and they later welcomed a son, Sabu Howard in November 2006. However, the couple divorced after three years of togetherness in 2006.
Traylor is now married to the American businessman, Jarel Portman, who serves as the Managing Director of Portman House at Portman Holding’s real estate development company. The duo exchanged vows in 2011, and have a son, Julien, born in 2012. After the birth of her second son, Traylor took a break from acting to focus on her family.
Previously, Traylor was rumored to be in brief affairs with the actors Ryan Reynolds in 1998 and 1999 and George Clooney in 2000.
Controversy
The “Monk” starlet became the subject of controversy in 2019, when she admitted that she supported the former senator Al Franken during an interview for an article by Jane Mayer, who was addressing the sexual harassment accusation against the former senator. Traylor had met the former senator during a USO tour in 2005, and they had become friends. She told Mayer that Franken was an outstanding man despite the accusations; nonetheless, she made it clear that she did not support injustices against women.
Height, Weight, and Physical Appearance
Traylor is of Caucasian ethnicity and has a set of green eyes, and brown hair. She is 5ft 6ins (1.67m) tall and weighs approximately 110lbs (50kgs) and her vital statistics of 32-25-34. She wears shoe and dress sizes 8(US) and 2(US) respectively.
Net Worth
Howard has made a name for herself in the showbiz industry, and has appeared in over 15 TV and film titles, which has seen her accumulate a good net worth. In addition to acting, Howard earns from her modeling and brand endorsement deals, so according to sources, her net worth is approximately $2 million as of late-2022.
