Traylor Howard Bio
Traylor Elizabeth Howard (born June 14, 1966) is an American actress whose television work has spanned network sitcoms, prime-time dramas, and cable comedies. She is best known for her role as Natalie Teeger, the trusted assistant to Adrian Monk, on the USA Network comedy-drama Monk from 2005 to 2009. Earlier in her career, Howard appeared in the NBC sitcom Boston Common and the ABC sitcom Two Guys and a Girl, and she has built a film résumé that includes Dirty Work, Me, Myself & Irene, and Son of the Mask. She has remained active in occasional projects, including a Monk reunion film released in 2023.
Early Life and Background
Traylor Elizabeth Howard was born on June 14, 1966, in Orlando, Florida. She is the daughter of Peggy (née Traylor) and Robert M. Howard Jr., and she grew up as the middle of three children, with an older brother, John R. Howard, and a younger brother. Howard spent her childhood in Orlando and attended Lake Highland Preparatory School. As a teenager, she worked at SeaWorld Orlando, an early job that gave her familiarity with the Central Florida community in which she was raised.
After high school, Howard enrolled at Florida State University, where she earned a degree in communications, advertising, and English. While still in school, she appeared in a Juicy Fruit chewing gum commercial, marking her earliest on-screen work. Following her graduation, Howard relocated to Los Angeles, California, to pursue opportunities in entertainment.
Path to Acting
Once in Los Angeles, Howard supported herself with jobs at a public relations firm and a greeting card company while performing in local theater productions. Those stage experiences helped her sharpen her craft and build the confidence needed to audition for television roles. In 1994, she appeared in one of the AT&T Corporation’s “You Will” television commercials, an early national commercial credit that brought her wider exposure.
Howard’s transition from local theater and commercials to scripted television came in the mid-1990s, when she began booking guest spots and recurring parts. Her persistence in Los Angeles, paired with a communications degree from Florida State, allowed her to move steadily toward full-time acting work and, eventually, her first major sitcom role.
Traylor Howard Career
Early Career (1991–1997)
Traylor Howard’s professional career began in 1991, the same year she married Cameron B. Hall, and she has been active in the industry ever since. Her first notable television role arrived in 1996, when she was cast as Joy Byrnes on the NBC sitcom Boston Common. Howard played the doctoral student and love interest of Anthony Clark’s Boyd Pritchett across the show’s two seasons, earning her first sustained prime-time presence. The series ran from 1996 to 1997, and although The Orlando Sentinel panned the show, the role helped establish Howard as a working television actress.
During this period Howard also made a guest appearance in one of the AT&T Corporation’s “You Will” television commercials in 1994, a national campaign that reached broad audiences. These early years laid the groundwork for the larger parts that followed on both the small and big screen.
Breakthrough (1998–2009)
Howard’s profile rose in 1998 when she joined the cast of the ABC sitcom Two Guys and a Girl, originally titled Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place. She starred as Sharon Carter, the titular “girl” of the series, opposite Ryan Reynolds and Richard Ruccolo. The show ran from 1998 to 2001 and gave Howard steady exposure during its four seasons.
That same year, 1998, Howard took on the romantic lead in the comedy film Dirty Work, starring opposite Norm Macdonald. In 2000, she appeared in the Jim Carrey comedy Me, Myself & Irene as Carrey’s adulterous bride, and she also featured in the Foo Fighters’ music video for “Breakout,” a song tied to the film’s soundtrack. That year she also performed in the play How I Fell in Love by playwright Joel Field at the Williamstown Theater Festival in North Adams, Massachusetts.
In 2002, Howard starred in the short-lived NBC sitcom Bram & Alice alongside Alfred Molina, and she made a guest appearance in the third season of The West Wing. Two years later, in 2005, she appeared in the film Son of the Mask.
Her most recognizable role began in 2005, when Howard was cast as Natalie Teeger on the USA Network comedy-drama detective series Monk. She starred opposite Tony Shalhoub as the titular character’s faithful assistant, and she remained on the show until its conclusion in 2009.
Notable Works and Milestones
Howard’s signature role is that of Natalie Teeger on Monk, a part that defined her career and earned her a loyal fan base. Her other defining works include Sharon Carter on Two Guys and a Girl and Joy Byrnes on Boston Common, along with film roles in Dirty Work, Me, Myself & Irene, and Son of the Mask. Following the end of Monk, Howard stepped back from full-time acting to spend more time with her children, before later returning for Monk-related projects.
Howard reprised her role as Natalie Teeger in two later projects tied to the original series: the Peacock At-Home Variety Show short episode “Mr. Monk Shelters in Place,” released on May 11, 2020, and the follow-up film Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie, released on December 8, 2023.
Traylor Howard Award Nominations
No major award nominations for Traylor Howard are verified in the available sources, so a detailed summary of nominations across her career cannot be presented with confidence.
Traylor Howard Awards Won
No major award wins for Traylor Howard are verified in the available sources, so a summary of confirmed award victories cannot be presented with confidence.
Traylor Howard Family
Traylor Howard was born to Peggy (née Traylor) and Robert M. Howard Jr., and she grew up with two brothers, including an older brother, John R. Howard. Her mother Peggy’s maiden name, Traylor, became the given name of her daughter, a detail that reflects the family’s connection to its own roots. Howard attended Lake Highland Preparatory School and later Florida State University, where she completed her studies before moving to Los Angeles.
Personal Life
In 1991, Howard married Cameron B. Hall in Orlando, Florida, and the couple later lived in Beverly Hills, California. In April 2003, she married wine merchant Christian Navarro; the couple divorced in 2005. In November 2006, Howard gave birth to a son, Sabu. In 2011, Howard married Jarel Portman, son of architect John C. Portman Jr., and the couple has a son, Julien, born in 2011. In July 2019, Howard was interviewed by Jane Mayer for a New Yorker piece about sexual misconduct allegations against former United States Senator Al Franken, with whom she had performed on a 2005 USO tour, and she defended Franken, saying, “I get the whole #MeToo thing, and a whole lot of horrible stuff has happened, and it needed to change. But that’s not what was happening here. Franken is a good man.”