Mary Scheer (born March 19, 1963) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer, best known for her work in

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

. She had recurring roles as Marissa Benson on the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

iCarly ''iCarly'' is an American teen sitcom created by Dan Schneider, which originally aired on Nickelodeon from September 8, 2007, to November 23, 2012. The series tells the story of Carly Shay (Miranda Cosgrove), a teenager who creates and hosts ...

'' and as Gladys on the

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

series '' Bunk'd''. She voiced Alice the Zookeeper on DreamWorks

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

series ''

The Penguins of Madagascar ''The Penguins of Madagascar'' is an American animated television series produced by DreamWorks Animation in collaboration with Nickelodeon Animation Studio. It stars nine characters from DreamWorks' animated film ''Madagascar'': the penguin ...

,'' was part of the original cast on the

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

show ''

Mad TV ''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series created by David Salzman, Fax Bahr, and Adam Small. Loosely based on the humor magazine '' Mad'', ''Mad TVs pre-taped satirical sketches were primarily parodie ...

'', voiced every female character on '' Most Extreme Elimination Challenge'' and appeared in

GEICO The Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO ) is an American vehicle insurance company headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland. In addition to auto insurance, GEICO provides motorcycle, ATV, RV, boat, snowmobile, travel, pet, event, hom ...

commercials.

Career

She is known for playing comedic characters in sitcoms, movies, and cartoons.

''Mad TV''

Scheer was one of the original nine cast members of ''Mad TV'' when the series debuted in 1995. She came to the show with a background in sketch comedy from her day at The Groundling. During her tenure, Scheer developed characters such as the chain-smoking Mrs. Jewel Barone, Cabana Chat host Dixie Wetsworth, Connie Linder, Debbie Dander, Lily Don, and Mrs. Vigor (Killer Grandma). Scheer also performed impressions of celebrities and public figures during her tenure on ''Mad TV'', some of which included

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Janet Reno Janet Wood Reno (July 21, 1938 – November 7, 2016) was an American lawyer and public official who served as the 78th United States Attorney General, United States attorney general from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. A member of ...

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, Kathy Griffin,

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, Fran Drescher,

Shirley MacLaine Shirley MacLaine (born Shirley MacLean Beaty; April 24, 1934) is an American actress and author. With a career spanning over 70 years, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Shirley MacLaine, numerous accolades, including a ...

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, Sherry Stringfield,

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Irene Vernon Irene Vernon (born Irene Vergauwen, January 16, 1922 – April 21, 1998) was an American actress. Background Vernon was born Irene Vergauwen in Mishawaka, Indiana, and graduated from Mishawaka High School. Following graduation, she moved to ...

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Geri Halliwell Geraldine Estelle Halliwell-Horner (''née'' Halliwell; born 6 August 1972) is an English singer, songwriter, television personality, author, and actress. She rose to fame in the mid-1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which ...

and Barbara Feldon. Other impersonations include

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...

in the ''Mad TV'' spoof video "Terms Of Imprisonment", where she portrays Streisand as an egomaniac who abuses her co-star,

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

and

Gillian Anderson Gillian Leigh Anderson ( ; born August 9, 1968) is an American actress, writer, and activist. She is best known for her roles as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the sci-fi series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002; 2016–2018), Lily Bart in the dr ...

Dana Scully Dana Katherine Scully, M.D., is a fictional character and one of the two protagonists in the Fox science-fiction, supernatural television series ''The X-Files'', played by Gillian Anderson. Scully is a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Spe ...

in the "XXX Files" sketch. Towards the end of the second season, Scheer became pregnant and was visibly pregnant at the beginning of the third season, continuing to perform on the show. After giving birth, Scheer finished the third season before leaving in 1998.

Characters

Other projects

Besides ''

'', Scheer has appeared in several other television shows. Her credits include ''

Reno 911! ''Reno 911!'' is an American television sitcom created by Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney-Silver for Comedy Central. It is a mockumentary-style parody of law enforcement documentary shows, specifically '' Cops'', with comic ...

'', '' Primetime Glick'', '' X-Chromosome'', '' Free Ride'', and ''

Dropping Out Dropping out refers to leaving high school, college, university or another group for practical reasons, necessities, inability, apathy, or disillusionment with the system from which the individual in question leaves. Canada In Canada, most in ...

''. She had a recurring role on the

sitcom ''

'' as Marissa Benson, the extremely overprotective mother of Nathan Kress's character Freddie Benson. The show ran from September 8, 2007, to November 23, 2012. She also reprised the same role for the ''

'' reboot on

Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...

. After leaving ''Mad TV'', she appeared in the films '' Elvira's Haunted Hills'', '' The New Women'' '' Chump Change,'' and '' It Can Always Get Worse Kathy,'' from 2001 to 2005. She also starred as Gladys, the grumpy and lonely camp director of Camp Kikiwaka in the first 2 seasons of '' Bunk'd''. Besides her on-screen appearances, Scheer has also become a voice actress, lending her voice to numerous commercials and several animated projects, including ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

'' and ''

King of the Hill ''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels that initially aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, with four more episodes airing in First-run syndicati ...

''. Scheer's voice also appears in the animated feature film '' Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker''. Scheer performed all female voices in

Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are locate ...

's humorous game show '' MXC'' (she was credited as portraying ''Everygirl''). In season four, she became ''MXCs supervising producer. Scheer also appeared on the

Jennette McCurdy Jennette McCurdy (born June 26, 1992) is an American writer, filmmaker, former actress, and singer. Her breakthrough role as Sam Puckett in the Nickelodeon sitcom ''iCarly'' (2007–2012) won her four Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. She repri ...

web series ''What's Next for Sarah?'' as Sarah's therapist.

Filmography

Film

Television

Voice acting appearances

Web series

Personal life

Scheer married her husband Bob Bush on October 10, 1992. Together they have two children, a daughter, Abigail (b. October 1, 1997), who is a theatre actress and opera singer and a son, Nate (b. June 15, 2002).

References

External links

*
Mary Scheer at Voices.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheer, Mary 1963 births American film actresses American impressionists (entertainers) American television actresses American voice actresses Actresses from Detroit American women comedians Living people American sketch comedians 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians Comedians from Detroit