Given how long “Blue Bloods” has been on the air, it’s hardly a surprise the series’ list of special guest stars has outgrown its primary ensemble. And given how far the Reagan family tree branches out these days, that’s saying a lot — even more so when you account for some of the prominent names that have graced “Blue Bloods” call sheets over the years. TV vet Gloria Reuben added “Blue Bloods” to her impressive list of credits during a thrilling Season 11 arc.
The actor joined the drama as Special Agent in Charge Rachel Weber, the ATF boss overseeing the undercover operation that puts Joe Hill (Will Hochman) in the line of fire of his dear uncle, Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg). That situation earns the ire of Tom Selleck’s stodgy NYPD Commissioner Frank Reagan and leads to a fiery exchange between him and Weber. That showdown came in the second to last episode of the season, with Reuben returning for the finale to cap her two-episode arc.
As fans of the actors know, those “Blue Bloods” exchanges carry extra meaning, as Selleck and Reuben were regular scene partners in the made-for-TV Jesse Stone franchise. Fittingly, that series kicked off on CBS via the 2005 offering, “Jesse Stone: Stone Cold,” with Selleck reprising the title role in eight sequels. Reuben joined the action as Thelma Gleffey for the last three installments: 2011’s “Innocents Lost,” 2012’s “Benefit of the Doubt,” and 2015’s “Lost in Paradise.”
Reuben has appeared in more hit series than you likely realize
Referring to Gloria Reuben as a “TV vet” feels like a grievous understatement. She has become a legit small-screen all-star over the last few decades, earning credits on some of television’s biggest hits throughout her career. That includes early roles on late-’80s staples like “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and “21 Jump Street.” The early ’90s brought appearances on “China Beach,” “The Flash,” and “Homicide: Life on the Streets.” Reubens got the biggest break of her career in 1995 when she claimed the role of Jeanie Boulet on the era-defining medical drama, “ER.”
Reuben would play that character for the better part of six full seasons, earning a pair of Emmy nominations for her efforts. As noted, “ER” was hardly the last big series she lent her talents to. Just a few years after her “ER” departure, she had a one-off turn on the hit series “Numbers” and appeared in several episodes of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” In 2012, Reuben earned one of her most notable roles when Steven Spielberg cast her as noted slave-turned-author Elizabeth Keckley in the Oscar-winning film, “Lincoln.”
A year later, Reuben joined her “ER” co-star Noah Wylie in the Spielberg-backed sci-fi hit “Falling Skies,” with ensuing years bringing equally memorable performances in “Blindspot,” “Cloak & Dagger,” “Mr. Robot,” “The Blacklist,” and “City on a Hill.” Reuben also appears as Space Force Commander Tannnon McCarthy in “NCIS: Hawaii” and will no doubt be back on the small screen in the very near future.