Melanie Kay Hutsell (born ) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for her work as a cast member on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

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 ...

series ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' from 1991 to 1994.

Early years

Hutsell is the daughter of Will and Linda Hutsell, who worked for Tennessee Eastman. She has a brother. She grew up in Bloomingdale, Tennessee, and graduated from Sullivan North High School in 1991. In 1997 she completed a bachelor's degree with highest honors at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

. She earned two master's degrees, one in English from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

in 1997, and the other in business administration from

East Tennessee State University East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. It was historically part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee under the Tennessee Board of Regents, but since 2016, ...

in 2003. A novel, ''Children of the Forgotten World'', written by Hutsell when she was 14, won her age category at the Virginia Highlands Creatve Writing Contest in 1987.

Career

Melanie Hutsell began her career performing

improv comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...

at the Annoyance Theater in Chicago and starred in its production of '' The Real Live Brady Bunch'' in 1990. The comedic stage show consisted of eight actual episodes of the TV show ''

The Brady Bunch ''The Brady Bunch'' is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired five seasons from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family of six children, with three boys and three gir ...

'', with Hutsell cast as Jan Brady. The company toured to New York City, where Hutsell was hired as a cast member for the 17th season of ''Saturday Night Live''. Hutsell was a performer on ''Saturday Night Live,'' from 1991 to 1993 as featured player, then from 1993 to 1994 as main cast member. While on the show, she reprised her stage portrayal of Jan Brady for a series of ''

Weekend Update ''Weekend Update'' is a ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch and satirical news program that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest-running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast and been featu ...

'' and other sketch appearances, making it one of Hutsell's biggest characters while on the show. Other recurring characters included sorority pledge Di in a series of sketches about the sorority girls of

Delta Delta Delta Delta Delta Delta (), also known as Tri Delta, is an international collegiate Fraternities and sororities in North America, women's fraternity. It was founded on November 27, 1888 at Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts. History File:S ...

, which she starred in alongside fellow castmates Siobhan Fallon and Beth Cahill. Her notable celebrity impressions on ''Saturday Night Live'' included

Tori Spelling Victoria Davey Spelling (born May 16, 1973) is an American actress. Her first major role was Donna Martin (character), Donna Martin on ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', from 1990 to 2000. She has appeared in made-for-television films, including ''A Fri ...

Charo María Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza, professionally known by her stage name Charo, is a Spanish-born actress, singer, comedian, and flamenco guitarist who rose to international prominence in the 1960s on American television, as well ...

Monica Seles Monica Seles (born December 2, 1973) is a Serbian–American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter, considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Lynn, Wynette helped bring a ...

, and

Tonya Harding Tonya Maxene Price (née Harding; born November 12, 1970) is an American former figure skater and boxer, and reality television personality. Born in Portland, Oregon, Harding was raised by her mother, who enrolled her in ice skating lessons w ...

. Hutsell left ''Saturday Night Live'' after three seasons in 1994. After co-starring in the film '' Can't Stop Dancing'' in 1999, Hutsell temporarily left show business to raise her children. She returned from retirement in 2008, appearing in ''He's Such a Girl'', a 2008 comedy also starring Ed Begley Jr. In May 2009, she appeared as a guest on ''Best Dishes'' with

Paula Deen Paula Ann Hiers Deen (born January 19, 1947) is an American chef, cookbook author, and TV personality. Deen resides in Savannah, Georgia, where she owns and operates The Lady & Sons restaurant with her sons, Jamie and Bobby Deen. She has pu ...

on the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

, where she appeared in character as

's impersonator. She stated that she was making a comeback, focusing on writing. She played the role of Carol in the 2011 comedy hit ''

Bridesmaids Bridesmaids are members of the bride's party at some Western culture, Western traditional wedding ceremonies. A bridesmaid is typically a young woman and often the bride's close friend or relative. She attends to the bride on the day of a weddi ...

''. From 2015 to 2017, she appeared with recurring roles as Kristen Rhydholm-Rhydholm in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series '' Lady Dynamite'', and as Jocelyn in the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

series '' Transparent''. She most recently wrote and starred in the comedic drama ''Mother's Little Helpers'', which premiered at

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

film festival in 2019.

Writing

Hutsell's short stories have appeared in literary journals. Her first novel, ''The Dead Shall Rise: A Tale of the Mountains'' was published by Celtic Cat Publishing in 2016.

References

External links

* Year of birth missing (living people) 1970s births Living people 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American actresses People from Maryville, Tennessee American film actresses Screenwriters from Tennessee American impressionists (entertainers) American musical theatre actresses American women comedians American women screenwriters Actresses from Tennessee American sketch comedians Comedians from Tennessee East Tennessee State University alumni Indiana University Bloomington alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni {{US-screen-actor-1970s-stub