Megan Mullally
(born November 12, 1958) is an American actress, singer and media personality.
After working in theatre in Chicago, Mullally moved to Los Angeles in 1981, and appeared in small or supporting roles in film and television productions.
She made her Broadway debut in 1994, and has appearance in several musical theatre productions.
From 1998 until 2006 she played Karen Walker on Will & Grace
. She won two Emmy Awards from seven consecutive nominations in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and was nominated four times for a Golden Globe Award.
From 2006 until early 2007, Mullally hosted the talk show The Megan Mullally Show
, but it was cancelled due to poor ratings. She has since appeared in guest roles in several television programs.
|
MEGAN MULLALLY TICKETS
|
Early life
Mullally was born in
Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Martha (
née Palmer), a model, and Carter Mullally, Jr., an actor who was a contract player with
Paramount Pictures during the 1950s.
[1] Mullally moved to her father's native
Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma, at the age of seven.
[2] She studied
ballet from the age of six and performed in a ballet company during high school. She spent her summers in Los Angeles because of her mother's work.
[3]
Following her graduation from
Casady School, she attended
Northwestern University, she went on to study
English Literature and
Art History but after two years she dropped out. However she became active in local
theaters. She worked in
Chicago theater for six years.
Career
Television
Mullally moved to Los Angeles in 1981. After two weeks as a client with the
William Morris Agency, she began appearing in bit parts in films and television, such as
Murder She Wrote
with
Angela Lansbury. She made her series debut in
The Ellen Burstyn Show
and guest starred in popular sitcoms such as
Seinfeld
,
Frasier
,
Wings
,
Ned and Stacey
,
Mad About You
, and
Just Shoot Me!
. She auditioned unsuccessfully for the role of Elaine on
Seinfeld
;
Julia Louis-Dreyfus was cast.
In 1998, Mullally began the role of
Karen Walker,
Grace Adler's shrill-voiced, pill-popping, eccentric assistant in the
NBC sitcom Will & Grace
. She won the
Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2000 and 2006, and was nominated in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005. She twice won the
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series, in 2002 and 2003, and with cast members
Eric McCormack,
Debra Messing and
Sean Hayes, she shared the
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2000. She was nominated each year from 2000 until 2003, for the
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film. Although her own voice has a fairly high range, she developed an exaggeratedly high one for the character. However, in the pilot episode of the series, she used her real voice.
Will & Grace
ended in May 2006.
In 2005, Mullally "discovered" comedian and actor
Bill Hader while he was with the troupe "Animals From The Future," bringing Hader to the attention of
Saturday Night Live
producer
Lorne Michaels.
Following
Will & Grace
, Mullally hosted her own
talk show,
The Megan Mullally Show
, which was launched in September 2006. It was canceled in early 2007 due to poor ratings.
[4] [5]
Mullally was the host of the 2006
TV Land Awards. She has been featured in advertisements for
M&M's candies and the website
CheapTickets. Mullally has a voice cameo as the mother of
Neil Patrick Harris' character in a recurring role on the CBS sitcom
How I Met Your Mother
, and guest starred on
Campus Ladies
. She was in one episode of the drama
Boston Legal
in 2007.
On July 3, 2008, Mullally appeared in an episode of
Kathy Griffin's
My Life on the D-List
, and appeared on
NBC's hit show
30 Rock
on October 30, alongside her friend Tina Fey. Mullally played a social worker, part of an adoptive agency, who made Liz (Fey) jump through hoops to prove she was qualified to have a child.
Starting March 2009, Mullally co-starred in the
ABC sitcom
In The Motherhood
, where she acts out real-life stories submitted by mothers. The final episode of the failed sitcom aired on June 25, 2009.
[6]
Theatre and Music
She made her
Broadway debut in 1994 in a revival of
Grease
in the role of Marty, with
Rosie O'Donnell and later appeared in
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
with Matthew Broderick. She is heard in the cast albums of both productions.
In Los Angeles, she has appeared in her own one-woman show,
Sweetheart,
in 1999; in
Charles L. Mee's
The Berlin Circle,
for which she won both the
LA Weekly Theater Award and the
Back Stage West Garland Award in 2000; and in Kelly Stuart's
Mayhem
in 2003. She is a member of the Evidence Room theater company.
Mullally starred in the new
Mel Brooks musical,
Young Frankenstein
, as Elizabeth. The role was made famous by
Madeline Kahn in the
original film. She is featured on the cast album and performs "
Please Don't Touch Me," "Deep Love," and "Surprise." Her character is the wealthy fiancée of the title character, Dr. "Fronkensteen", who breaks her engagement with Frankenstein after falling in love with his monster. Her co-stars included
Tony Award-winners
Roger Bart,
Sutton Foster,
Andrea Martin, and
Shuler Hensley. Rehearsals for the production began in June 2007 and a pre-Broadway run opened to mixed reviews in
Seattle,
Washington. The show premiered after previews on November 8, 2007. Mullally performed her final performance at the
Hilton Theatre on August 3, 2008 to focus on the new television series in which she will play the role of
Alicia Silverstone's mother.
[7] Michele Ragusa took over the role of Elizabeth following Mullally's departure.
Mullally is also a singer and performs in her own group called The Supreme Music Program. The band has released three albums,
The Sweetheart Break-In
,
Big as a Berry
and
Free Again!
. She recorded a duet with
Carly Simon on the track
The Right Thing To Do
for the
Will & Grace: Let the Music Out!
soundtrack. The third album from the SMP was originally titled
The Many Moods… Vol, 1
. However, the title was changed before going to print. The third album,
Free Again!
, was released online on July 28, 2007.
She also had recorded with Meatloaf.
Film
Her feature film debut was as a call girl in
Risky Business
and has parts in
Stealing Harvard
,
Anywhere but Here
and the
Martin Lawrence comedy
Rebound
. She also is a
voice actress who has done work on several cartoons, such as the 1990s version
The Flintstones
,
Batman: The Animated Series
,
King of the Hill,
the Disney feature film
Teacher's Pet,
and the Dreamworks film
Bee Movie
. She also had a role in the 2001 film "
Monkeybone" as the sister of a character played by
Brendan Fraser. Mullally filled the role of a voice instructor in the upcoming film remake of
Fame
which will also star
Debbie Allen,
Charles S. Dutton,
Kelsey Grammer,
Bebe Neuwirth, Paul McGill and
Paul Iacono.
[8]
Personal life
In 1999, Mullally reportedly commented in an interview in
The Advocate
magazine, "I consider myself
bisexual, and my philosophy is, everyone innately is."
[9]
Mullally dated actor
William H. Macy while in college.
[10] Her first marriage, in the mid-1990s, was to talent agent Michael Katcher. In 2003, Mullally married actor
Nick Offerman, who guest-starred on
Will & Grace
during its fourth season. She and Offerman currently live in
West Hollywood, California.
She has said in interviews that she has frequently been approached by fans while grocery shopping, some of whom tell her "My friends tell me I'm just like
Karen,", to which she said she replies, "Oh, honey, take stock of your life, because that's not a compliment!"
Filmography
- Risky Business
(1983)
- Once Bitten
(1985)
- Last Resort
(1986)
- About Last Night...
(1986)
- Queens Logic
(1991)
- The Pact
(1998)
- Anywhere But Here
(1999)
- Best Man in Grass Creek
(1999)
- Everything Put Together
(2000)
- Speaking of Sex
(2001)
- Monkeybone
(2001)
- Stealing Harvard
(2002)
- Teacher's Pet
(2004) (voice)
- Rebound
(2005)
- Bee Movie
(2007)
- Fame
(2009)
- In the Motherhood
(2009)
References
- Megan Mullally Biography (1958-)
- Stated in interview on ''Inside the Actors Studio''
- Stated in a March 2006 episode of NBC's ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno''
- NBCU Pulls Plug on Megan Mullally - 1/3/2007 4:11:00 PM - Broadcasting & Cable
- [1]
- Horatio Sanz Embraces ''Motherhood''" ''TV Guide''. November 24, 2008. Retrieved on November 26 2008.
- Leavel, Ragusa and Sullivan Join 'Frankenstein' This Summer (BroadwayWorld.com)
- Allen, Mullally, Grammer, Dutton & Neuwirth Join FAME Film Remake
- The Advocate's 25 Coolest Women
- ''The Megan Mullally Show'' interview with Felicity Huffman.