Kate Flannery (born June 10, 1964)
is an American actress. Following her early theatre work, Flannery had her screen breakthrough playing
Meredith Palmer on the
NBC series ''
The Office
''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...
'', which won her two
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1995 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...
. She went on to guest star on
CBS shows ''
Magnum P.I.'' and ''
Young Sheldon''. She competed on the
28th season of ''
Dancing with the Stars
''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...
'' and voiced Barb on the animated series ''
Steven Universe
''Steven Universe'' is an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It tells the coming-of-age story of a young boy, Steven Universe (character), Steven Universe (Zach Callison), who lives with the Crys ...
''.
Early life
Flannery was born in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, daughter of Tom and Joan Flannery,
and was raised in the suburb
Ardmore, Pennsylvania.
She studied for two years at
Shenandoah Conservatory in Virginia and then transferred to the
University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
She has five sisters and a brother,
and is three minutes younger than her twin sister, who is a social worker.
Career
A former member of
The Second City's National Touring Company, Flannery is an original member of
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
's
Annoyance Theatre, where she appeared in over 15 shows including ''The Miss Vagina Pageant'' and ''The Real Live
Brady Bunch''.
''The Lampshades'', a cult comedy lounge act consisting of Flannery and veteran improviser Scot Robinson, has been running in
Hollywood and in comedy festivals since 2001 and was seen at the
U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in
Aspen, Colorado
Aspen is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population ...
. ''The Lampshades'' was ''
New York'' magazine's "LA Pick" for 2006, and was declared "Best Saturday Comedy Show of the Year" by ''
LA Weekly
''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...
''.
Flannery appeared as the alcoholic, divorced, single mother
Meredith Palmer on the television comedy ''
The Office
''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...
'', following appearances on ''
The Bernie Mac Show'', ''
Boomtown
A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although t ...
'', ''
Curb Your Enthusiasm
''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', also known colloquially simply as ''Curb'', is an American television comedy of manners created by Larry David that premiered on HBO with an hour-long special in October 17, 1999, followed by 12 seasons broadcast from Oc ...
'', and ''
Jimmy Kimmel Live!''. ''The Office'' earned her and the rest of its cast acclaim, along with several accolades, such as winning two
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1995 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...
for
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, with an additional five nominations for the same award. In 2008, Flannery was a talent scout on ''
Last Comic Standing
''Last Comic Standing'' is an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, and again in 2014 and 2015. Each season a comedian from an initially large group of hopefuls was picked as ...
'' with her ''Office'' costar
Brian Baumgartner, and she appeared with the cast of ''The Office'' on ''
Celebrity Family Feud''.

In 2010, Flannery played Harper's mom on the Disney Channel's ''Wizards of Waverly Place'' as Elaine Finkle. Flannery also appeared as a judge in a 2009 episode of ''
Iron Chef America''. Flannery has been touring with
Jane Lynch
Jane Marie Lynch (born July 14, 1960) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. Known for playing starring and recurring roles in comedic television, her accolades include one Golden Globe, five Primetime Emmys and two Screen Actors Gui ...
as her sidekick on stage since 2013 in her show ''See Jane Sing'' with Tim Davis and the
Tony Guerrero Quintet, playing the Kennedy Center, Joe's Pub, the Borgata and 30 cities.
Flannery was in the long running New York hit,
Nora Ephron
Nora Ephron ( ; May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing romantic comedy films and received numerous accolades including a British Academy Film Award as ...
's ''Love, Loss, and What I Wore''. She also played Neely O'Hara in the 1996
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 tha ...
musical ''Valley of the Dolls'', an adaptation of the
1967 film, at the
Circle in the Square Theatre
The Circle in the Square Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 50th Street, within the basement of Paramount Plaza, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. The current Broadway theater, completed in 1972, i ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. Also in Los Angeles, she played the teen prostitute and Blair's sister in ''The Phacts of Life'' at the Renberg Theatre and in the
Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner production of ''Three Feet Under'' at The Evidence Room. Jane Lynch's Christmas album ''A Swingin' Little Christmas'' features Kate Flannery, and reached #8 on the ''Billboard'' top 100 charts.
Flannery also appeared on ''
The Jay Leno Show
''The Jay Leno Show'' is an American prime time talk show hosted by Jay Leno that was broadcast by NBC from September 14, 2009, to February 9, 2010. The series was a spiritual successor to his previous late-night talk show ''The Tonight Show wit ...
'' portraying Wendy in a skit at the time of
the burger chain's 40th anniversary. She was a contestant on 19 episodes of ''
Celebrity Name Game'', two episodes of ''
Hollywood Game Night'' with Jane Lynch. Flannery also appeared on ''
Don't Forget the Lyrics'' and hosted ''
Standup in Stilettos'' for two seasons on the
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media
In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...
network. She is the former musical director of the Los Angeles Drama Club, teaching
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 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 natio ...
to children and young adults.
In 2016, she had a recurring role on ABC's ''
American Housewife'' as Crossing Guard Sandy, played a janitor in an episode of ''
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' is an American police procedural sitcom television series that aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox, and later on NBC, from September 17, 2013, to September 16, 2021, for eight seasons and 153 episodes. Created by Dan G ...
'', appeared on FOX's ''
New Girl'' and MTV's ''
Mary + Jane'', and in 2017, recurred on
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
's ''
Steven Universe
''Steven Universe'' is an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It tells the coming-of-age story of a young boy, Steven Universe (character), Steven Universe (Zach Callison), who lives with the Crys ...
'' as Barbara "Barb" Miller. Flannery was a member of the band
Mono Puff under the stage name "Lady Puff". She toured with the band and sang on their second album, ''It's Fun to Steal''.
In 2019, Flannery was announced as one of the celebrities to compete on
season 28 of ''
Dancing with the Stars
''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...
''. She was partnered with first-time professional Pasha Pashkov and was eliminated fifth. She joined the show's live tour in 2020, but it was cut short due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
In 2022, it was announced that Flannery would star in the comedy film ''Plan B'' alongside
Jon Heder,
Tom Berenger
Tom Berenger (born Thomas Michael Moore; May 31, 1949) is an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes in ''Platoon'' (1986). He is also known for playing ...
, and
Shannon Elizabeth.
In 2024, Flannery competed in
season eleven of ''
The Masked Singer'' as "Starfish". She was eliminated on "
Queen
Queen most commonly refers to:
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen (band), a British rock band
Queen or QUEEN may also refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Q ...
Night" alongside
Charlie Wilson as "Ugly Sweater".
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
''Dancing with the Stars'' performances
1 Score given by guest judge
Leah Remini.
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
''The Lampshades'' Flannery's comedy lounge act
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flannery, Kate
1964 births
Living people
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
20th-century American comedians
21st-century American comedians
Actresses from Philadelphia
American film actresses
American people of Irish descent
American television actresses
American twins
American voice actresses
American women comedians
Comedians from Philadelphia
University of the Arts (Philadelphia) alumni