Nicole Sullivan (born April 21, 1970) is an American actress and comedian best known for her six seasons (1995–2001) on the

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 '' MADtv''. She also played Holly Shumpert in five seasons (2001–2005, 2007) of the CBS sitcom ''

The King of Queens ''The King of Queens'' is an American television sitcom that ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007, a total of nine seasons and 207 episodes. The series was created by Michael J. Weithorn and David Litt, who also served as the show ...

''. Sullivan played the recurring character of Jill Tracy on '' Scrubs.'' She voiced heroic Mira Nova in

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...

's ''

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command ''Buzz Lightyear of Star Command'' is an American animated science fiction action-adventure comedy television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and co-produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It serves as a spin-off of the ''Toy Sto ...

'' and the villainous Shego in

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Comp ...

's ''

Kim Possible ''Kim Possible'' is an American animated Action comedy TV series, action comedy-Adventure fiction, adventure television series created by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle for Disney Channel. The Kim Possible (character), title character is a teen ...

''. She had recurring voice roles on ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their ch ...

'' and voiced Franny Robinson in Disney's '' Meet the Robinsons''. From 2008 to 2009, she starred in and was the lead of her own Lifetime television series ''

Rita Rocks ''Rita Rocks'' is a Lifetime original sitcom that ran from 20 October 2008 to 7 December 2009. It was the network's first original comedy in over a decade. The series debuted alongside re-runs of '' Reba'' as part of a new comedy hour for Tuesday ...

''. From 2008 to 2013, she voiced Marlene the Otter in '' The Penguins of Madagascar''. She played Jules' (

Courteney Cox Courteney Bass Cox (previously Courteney Cox Arquette; born June 15, 1964) is an American actress and filmmaker. She gained international recognition for her starring role as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom ''Friends'', which aired from 1994 ...

) therapist, Lynn Mettler, on the comedy '' Cougar Town''. She portrayed Lyla in the

original movie '' Let It Shine'' in 2012. In 2013, she starred in the short-lived Nickelodeon sitcom '' Wendell & Vinnie'' as Wilma Basset. From 2014 to 2022, she portrayed Janine, the Johnsons' next-door neighbor, on the ABC sitcom '' Black-ish''. She also voiced Kara Danvers aka Supergirl in ''

DC Super Hero Girls ''DC Super Hero Girls'' or ''DC Superhero Girls'' (in various countries) is an American superhero web series and franchise Produced by Warner Bros. Animation for Cartoon Network based on characters from DC Entertainment that launched in the th ...

''.

Early life

Sullivan was born in Manhattan on April 21, 1970. She took dance classes at age 7 and performed in

Off Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

and Broadway productions with the First All-Children's Theatre. Sullivan's mother Madonna (Rauscher) Sullivan, a businesswoman, and her father Edward C. Sullivan, who represented Manhattan's 69th district in the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

from 1977 to 2002, moved the family upstate to Middleburgh, New York, in 1982. During high school, Nicole was class treasurer throughout her junior year. She played

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

in high school, recorded statistics for the boys'

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team and was a member of student council. After graduating from Middleburgh in 1987, she attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

as a theatre major. She studied

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that span ...

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential pla ...

and Greek tragedies while working two jobs to pay her way through college and writing plays and sketches for the student theatre. Sullivan spent her junior year in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, studying at the

British American Drama Academy The British American Drama Academy is a drama school in London, in the United Kingdom. It is affiliated with Sarah Lawrence College and Yale University. Background The British American Drama Academy (BADA) was founded in 1983 by Tony Branch and ...

and became a member of the Greenwich Shakespeare Company. Sullivan graduated from Northwestern with honors and then moved to Los Angeles to start a television career. After appearing in commercials and sporadic guest roles on shows including ''

Herman's Head ''Herman's Head'' is an American sitcom that aired on the Fox network from September 8, 1991, until April 21, 1994. The series was created by Andy Guerdat and Steve Kreinberg, and produced by Witt/Thomas Productions in association with Touch ...

'', she was recruited to join the cast of '' MADtv''.

Career

''MADtv''

Sullivan was among the original cast members on '' MADtv'' when it premiered in 1995. She created numerous characters; her most popular was the mean-spirited Vancome Lady. Sullivan's other characters included ''X-News'' reporter Amy, dimwitted Antonia, Eracists leader Debbie, ''News at 6s Diane Lawyer-Trabajo (pronounced "trebalyo"), racist

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...

singer Darlene McBride, and Latina bimbo Lida. Sullivan appeared with Michael McDonald in a ''MADtv'' sketch about making an audition tape to appear on ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering ...

'' that mocked their acting prowess; she later guest-starred in the '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''

season one Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughters album), 2012 * ''Season One'' (Saukrates album), 2012 See also * * * Season 2 (disambiguation) Season 2 may refer to: ...

episode "Contact". Sullivan was featured in the November/December 2009 issue of '' Making Music Magazine''.

''King of Queens''

Sullivan played the role of Holly Shumpert from 2001 to 2005. She returned in 2007 to reprise the role for the final season. In most of the show, Holly's profession is a dog walker. The Heffernans hire her to 'walk' Arthur, Carries' father, to get him some exercise and keep him out of mischief, at least a bit.

Voice acting projects

Sullivan was originally cast as

Turanga Leela Turanga Leela is a fictional character from the animated television series '' Futurama''. Leela is spaceship captain, pilot, and head of all aviation services on board the ''Planet Express Ship''. Throughout the series, she has an on-again, o ...

, one of the main characters in the animated series ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years ...

'', but the role was recast with Katey Sagal before the show went to air. Sullivan has voiced Marlene the Otter on '' The Penguins of Madagascar'' – the first television series of the ''

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...

'' franchise – which aired on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

, Shego on ''

'';

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...

on '' Clone High''; Mira Nova on ''

''; and Joan on the ''

'' episode, " I Take Thee Quagmire", along with several other one time voices on the show. Sullivan has also starred in a pilot called ''Me and My Needs'' that was rejected by ABC. She played Franny Robinson in '' Meet the Robinsons''. Also, Sullivan was a voice actor in the '' Monsters, Inc.''

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...

. She played Luna in the 2007 video game '' Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters''. In 2012, she also provided the voice of Supergirl in ''

Super Best Friends Forever ''DC Nation Shorts'' are animated shorts featuring characters from DC Comics that aired in a series on Cartoon Network on Saturdays at 10/9c. Production On March 3, 2012, the shorts premiered as part of the '' DC Nation'' block, produced by War ...

'', a series of animated shorts which aired on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

DC Nation DC Nation was a programming block of DC Comics series and shorts that aired on American television channel Cartoon Network on Saturday morning. It premiered on March 3, 2012, and was produced by Warner Bros. Animation. Some of the shows in DC Na ...

block. with the role carrying on to television series ''

'', which led to appearances on '' Teen Titans Go!'' and a direct-to-video crossover film '' Teen Titans Go! & DC Superhero Girls: Mayhem in the Multiverse'', which was released on May 24, 2022.

Personal life

Sullivan is married to actor Jason Packham. They have two sons, born May 2007 and August 2009. Sullivan won the first edition of '' Celebrity Poker Showdown''. Her charity was

Alley Cat Allies Alley Cat Allies (incorporated on October 6, 1991) is a nonprofit animal welfare organisation. It advocates for reform of public policies and institutions to better serve the interests of cats. Based in Bethesda, Maryland, the group is best kn ...

, a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to transforming communities to protect and improve the lives of cats, which received $100,000 as a result of her victory. Sullivan also made an appearance in an episode of '' It's Me or the Dog'' along with her husband, their then twenty-month-old son Dashel (Dash), their three cats, and their four mixed-breed dogs: Paco (a

Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to: Places * Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state **Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state **Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state **Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state **Chihuahua Mu ...

mix), Jackson (a Lab mix), Donut (a

Great Pyrenees The Pyrenean Mountain Dog (french: Chien de Montagne des Pyrénées) is a breed of livestock guardian dog from France, where it is commonly called the Patou. The breed comes from the French side of the Pyrenees Mountains that separate France ...

mix), and Funzies (a Catahoula Leopard mix).

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

*
Nicole Sullivan's video interview with The Futon Critic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Nicole 1970 births Living people Actresses from New York (state) Alumni of the British American Drama Academy American film actresses American impressionists (entertainers) American poker players American sketch comedians American television actresses American video game actresses American voice actresses American women comedians Comedians from New York (state) Northwestern University School of Communication alumni People from Manhattan People from Middleburgh, New York 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians