Cheryl Ann Oteri () is an American actress and comedian. A nominee of a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

, Oteri is best known for her tenure as a cast member on the NBC

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

series ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...

'' from 1995 to 2000.

Early life

The daughter of Gaetano Thomas Oteri, she has Italian ancestry.

Career

''Saturday Night Live'' (1995–2000)

After moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

at age 25, Oteri worked at

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

for four years and eventually joined famed comedy troupe

The Groundlings The Groundlings is an American improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school based in Los Angeles. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin, whose improvisational theater techniq ...

. In 1995, producers of ''

'' (''SNL'') attended a performance with the intention of auditioning fellow Groundlings member

Chris Kattan Christopher Lee Kattan () (born October 19, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1996 to 2003. He played Doug Butabi in ''A Night at the Roxbury'', Bob on the first four seasons of '' The M ...

. Oteri performed a monologue during one of Kattan's costume changes, which led to her own invitation to audition for ''SNL'', along with Kattan and fellow Groundling Will Ferrell. She was hired as a repertory performer in September 1995 as part of an almost entirely new cast, which was brought in after the show's disastrous 1994–1995 season. Celebrities that Oteri impersonated included

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with two ...

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, Marla Maples,

Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer, and businesswoman. Her career spanned almost 70 years. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her portra ...

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series '' In Living Color'', where she re ...

Lisa Marie Presley Lisa Marie Presley (born February 1, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter. She is the only child of singer and actor Elvis Presley and actress Priscilla Presley, as well as the sole heir to her father's estate. Presley has developed a caree ...

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, Jennifer Tilly,

Paula Jones Paula Corbin Jones (born Paula Rosalee Corbin; September 17, 1966) is an American civil servant. A former Arkansas state employee, Jones sued United States President Bill Clinton for sexual harassment in 1994. In the initial lawsuit, Jones cite ...

, Tori Spelling, Melanie Chisholm,

Jessica Simpson Jessica Ann Simpson (born July 10, 1980) is an American singer, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist. After performing in church choirs as a child, Simpson signed with Columbia Records in 1997, aged seventeen. Her debut studio album, ''Swee ...

Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress and film producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Since her career ...

Lacey Chabert Lacey Nicole Chabert ( ; born September 30, 1982) is an American actress. One of her first roles was playing Erica Kane's daughter on ''All My Children''. She was the third actress to play Bianca Montgomery, playing the part from 1992 until 1993. ...

Fran Drescher Francine Joy Drescher (born September 30, 1957) is an American actress, comedian, writer, activist, and trade union leader. She is known for her role as Fran Fine in the television sitcom '' The Nanny'' (1993–1999), which she created and prod ...

and

Katie Couric Katherine Anne Couric ( ; born January 7, 1957) is an American journalist and presenter. She is founder of Katie Couric Media, a multimedia news and production company. She also publishes a daily newsletter, ''Wake Up Call''. From 2013 to 2017, ...

Original characters

*Arianna, a member of The Spartan Cheerleaders (with Will Ferrell) *Rita DelVecchio, a grouchy Philadelphia woman who is mean to the neighborhood children, patterned after Oteri's tough-talking grandmother. * Cass Van Rye, the dim-witted co-host of the "'' Morning Latte''" talk show (with Will Ferrell) *Mickey "The Dyke", a butch public-access television cable TV host (with

Mark McKinney Mark Douglas Brown McKinney (born June 26, 1959) is a Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known as a member of the sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall, which includes starring in the 1989 to 1995 TV series ''The Kids in the Hall'' and 1 ...

) *Nadeen, a testy employee whose

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

constantly orders everyone to "Simmer down now!" *Althea McMahonaman, an absurdly hyper child who is an awful passenger and disturbs public servants *Collette Reardon, a prescription pill-addict *Joy Lipton, Erotic Attic boutique owner *Adele, a vulgar and highly sexual office worker whose attempts at sexual innuendos disgust rather than attract her colleagues *Laura Zimmerman, one half of the Zimmermans, who suddenly break into rough and sexual behavior before returning to casual conversation as if nothing happened (with

)

2001–present

Oteri has appeared in a number of movies, including ''

Scary Movie ''Scary Movie'' is a 2000 American slasher parody film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and written by Marlon and Shawn Wayans (who both also star), alongside Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. Starring Anna Far ...

'', '' Inspector Gadget'', '' Liar Liar'', '' Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd'', '' Shrek the Third'' and '' Southland Tales''. She starred in two TV pilots that did not make it to air: '' Loomis'' and ''With You in Spirit''. Shows on which she made guest appearances include ''

Just Shoot Me! ''Just Shoot Me!'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from March 4, 1997, to November 26, 2003, with a total of 145 half-hour episodes spanning seven seasons. The show was created by Steven Levitan, the show's executive ...

'', '' Strangers with Candy''. She portrayed Martine, the emotionally unstable

nanny A nanny is a person who provides child care. Typically, this care is given within the children's family setting. Throughout history, nannies were usually servants in large households and reported directly to the lady of the house. Today, modern ...

on ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired televi ...

''. In 2009, Oteri became a regular

voice cast Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

in the Fox animated comedy series, '' Sit Down, Shut Up''. She voices Helen Klench, the unappreciated

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

who often gets mistaken for objects, such as brooms or toilet brushes. The series premiered on April 19, 2009 and moved to Comedy Central in May 2010. Oteri played a

tooth fairy The Tooth Fairy is a fantasy figure of early childhood in Western and Western-influenced cultures. The folklore states that when children lose one of their baby teeth, they should place it underneath their pillow or on their bedside table and t ...

Imagination Movers The Imagination Movers are an American children's band formed in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2003. The line-up includes drummer Rich Collins, lead singer, keyboardist and mandolin player Scott Durbin, bassist Dave Poche, and guitarist Scott "Sm ...

, a regular on the

Playhouse Disney Playhouse Disney was a brand of programming blocks and international cable and satellite television channels that were owned by the Disney Channels Worldwide unit (now Disney Branded Television) of The Walt Disney Company's Disney–ABC Tel ...

block. She starred in the AMC

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

''Liza Life Coach'' in 2010. Oteri appeared in the pilot episode of '' Glory Daze'', which premiered on TBS on November 16, 2010. She hosted

AXS TV AXS TV is an American cable television channel. Majority-owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, it is devoted primarily to music-related programming (such as concert films, documentaries, and reality series involving musicians) and combat spor ...

's ''Gotham Comedy Live'' on May 26, 2016, in New York City. Cheri is an occasional guest on Jeff Lewis' talk radio show on

Radio Andy Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

, the

Andy Cohen Andrew Joseph Cohen (born June 2, 1968) is an American radio and television talk show host, producer, and writer. Cohen is the host and executive producer of Bravo's late night talk show, '' Watch What Happens Live!'' He also has a pop culture ...

channel on SiriusXM.

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oteri, Cheri Living people People from Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania Actresses from Pennsylvania American film actresses American people of Italian descent American television actresses American voice actresses American women comedians Actresses from Philadelphia 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses American sketch comedians 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians Comedians from Pennsylvania Comedians from Los Angeles County Cartoon Network people Nickelodeon people Year of birth missing (living people)