Which actress played Lisa Cuddy, Princeton-Plainsboro’s dean of medicine, in House M.D.?

Lisa Edelstein played Lisa Cuddy, Princeton-Plainsboro’s dean of medicine, in House M.D.

Cuddy is House’s supervisor and one of the hospital’s senior administrators. She repeatedly challenges his unconventional methods, protects the institution from legal and financial trouble, and recognizes that his diagnostic ability can justify giving him unusual freedom.

Edelstein joined the principal cast in the first season and remained a major character through the show’s seventh season. Cuddy’s professional relationship with House gradually develops into a romantic relationship, adding personal stakes to their frequent arguments about patients, rules, and responsibility.

The character’s title is sometimes simplified as hospital administrator, but the series identifies her as dean of medicine and later as hospital dean. Edelstein’s portrayal made Cuddy a central authority figure rather than merely an obstacle to House. She left the regular cast before the eighth and final season.