Kathy Najimy

Kathy Ann Najimy ( ; ar, كاثي ان نجيمي ; born February 6, 1957) is an American actress and activist. She is best known for her roles in the films '' Soapdish'' (1991), '' Sister Act'' (1992), ''Hocus Pocus'' (1993), '' Hope Floats'' (1998), '' The Wedding Planner'' (2001), ''Rat Race'' (2001), and '' Hocus Pocus 2'' (2022), as well as her portrayal of Olive Massery on the NBC sitcom '' Veronica's Closet'' (1997–2000) and for voicing Peggy Hill on the animated television series ''King of the Hill'' (1997–2010).

She also starred in Disney and Pixar's Academy Award winning film '' WALL-E'' (2008), '' Step Up 3D'' (2010), ''The Guilt Trip'' (2012), Tyler Perry's '' A Madea Christmas'' (2013), '' A Christmas Melody'' (2015), ''Dumplin''' (2018), ''Music'' (2021), and '' Single All the Way'' (2021).

She was first nationally known for her feminist play ''The Kathy and Mo Show'', which she wrote and performed with Mo Gaffney.

Early life

Najimy was born on February 6, 1957, in San Diego, California, the daughter of Lebanese-American parents Samia (''née'' Massery; 1928–2015) and Fred Najimy, a postal worker. Her mother immigrated from Lebanon to the United States in 1946. She was raised Maronite Catholic and attended Crawford High School. Her father died when she was 14. She is a 1995 graduate of San Diego State University.

Career

Najimy and Mo Gaffney's feminist comedy play ''The Kathy and Mo Show'' premiered in 1986 and had three long term New York City runs and generated two HBO specials, ''Parallel Lives'' and ''The Dark Side''.

Najimy's film career began in the early 1990s, with a number of offbeat minor roles in '' The Fisher King'', '' Soapdish'', ''This Is My Life'', '' The Hard Way''. Her first major role was as Sister Mary Patrick in the 1992 comedy '' Sister Act'', a role she reprised in 1993 in '' Sister Act 2''. She also starred in ''Hocus Pocus'' as Mary Sanderson, alongside Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker, and the 1994 made-for-TV movie ''In Search of Dr. Seuss'' as Kathy Lane. In 2000, she played the Stepmother in ''CinderElmo'', a primetime special for '' Sesame Street''. In 2001, she co-starred in the hit comedy film '' Rat Race'' alongside John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Whoopi Goldberg, Jon Lovitz and Seth Green. She has made four movies with Goldberg (''Soapdish'', ''Sister Act 1'' and ''2'', and ''Rat Race''). Najimy starred in Disney and Pixar's Academy Award winning film '' WALL-E'' and Tyler Perry's '' A Madea Christmas''.

From film, Najimy expanded into television roles, including a dramatic recurring role on '' Chicago Hope'', She was part of the cast of '' Veronica's Closet'' from 1997 to 2000. She played Wendy Keegan in HBO's '' Veep'' for four seasons. She appeared with Ellen DeGeneres in three episodes of her sitcom '' Ellen'', playing a different character each time (including a non-speaking cameo in the iconic " Puppy Episode") and in the TV movie '' If These Walls Could Talk 2''. Najimy was a series regular season 4 of '' Unforgettable'', season 4 of '' The Big C,'' and season 3 of '' Numbers''. She guest starred on '' That's So Raven'', '' Drop Dead Diva'', '' Desperate Housewives'', '' Ugly Betty'', and '' Franklin & Bash''. She starred in TNT's ''In Search of Dr. Seuss''.

Najimy starred as Mae West in the Broadway hit '' Dirty Blonde''. She appeared in V'Day's '' Vagina Monologues'' on Broadway and in Nassim Soleimanpour

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