Molly Ephraim (born May 22, 1986) is an American actress who has appeared in films, television, and Broadway,

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 ...

, and regional theater productions. She is best known for her role as Mandy Baxter on the ABC/Fox sitcom '' Last Man Standing'' during its original run (2011–2017) before its move to

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

after its sixth season. Ephraim has also appeared on a number of other TV series, including '' Brockmire'' (2017), '' Halt and Catch Fire'' (2017), and '' Casual'' (2018). Ephraim portrayed Irene Kelly in the

Hugh Jackman Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian and British actor, singer, and producer. Beginning in theatre and television, Jackman landed his breakthrough role as Wolverine in the ''X-Men'' film franchise and the Marvel Cinem ...

movie '' The Front Runner'' (2018), her second collaboration with her '' Last Man Standing'' co-star

Kaitlyn Dever Kaitlyn Rochelle Dever (; born December 21, 1996) is an American actress, singer, musician, and songwriter. She is best known for her roles in the television series ''Justified (TV series), Justified'' (2011–2015), ''Last Man Standing (America ...

. She also appeared on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

's '' Perry Mason'' as Della Street’s lover Hazel Prystock. She plays Maybelle Fox on the Amazon series ''

A League of Their Own ''A League of Their Own'' is a 1992 American sports comedy drama film directed by Penny Marshall that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). It stars Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Ma ...

''.

Early life

Ephraim 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 ...

. She is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

.Steinberg, Lisa
"Molly Ephraim – Bad Jews"
starrymag, June 9, 2015 She grew up in

Bucks County, Pennsylvania Bucks County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the List of counties in Pennsylvania, four ...

. Ephraim performed in shows at the Bucks County Playhouse, and in professional productions at the

Prince Music Theater The Prince Theater is a non-profit theatrical producing organization located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and specializing in music theatre, including opera, music drama, musical comedy and experimental forms. Founded in 1984 as the American ...

and at the Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia. In 2008, Ephraim graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

with a B.A. in

Religious Studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...

, after going to Central Bucks East High School. At Princeton she was a member of the Triangle Club and performed in and choreographed various shows for Princeton University Players and Theatre Intime."Rising star, Questions and answers with actress Molly Ephraim ’08"
princeton.edu, March 5, 2008

Career

Theater

Ephraim made her Broadway debut as Little Red Riding Hood in the Broadway revival of ''

Into the Woods ''Into the Woods'' is a 1986 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. T ...

'' in 2002, receiving a

Drama League Award The Drama League Awards, created in 1922, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing. Each May, the awards ...

nomination. She later played Bielke in a Broadway revival of ''

Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and musical theatre#Book musicals, book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Russian Empire, Imperial Russia in or around 19 ...

'' (2004).

, Ephraim played Rachel Stein in ''End Days'' at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in 2009. She played Olive in ''

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ''The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'' is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by William Finn, with a book written by Rachel Sheinkin, created by Rebecca Feldman with additional material by Jay Reiss. The show centers on a fictional ...

'' at the Barrington Stage Company in 2008, in a remounting of the production with new direction by Jeremy Dobrish, and at the North Shore Music Theatre. In 2010, she played

Anne Frank Annelies Marie Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – February or March 1945)Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new li ...

in '' The Diary of Anne Frank'' at the

Westport Country Playhouse Westport Country Playhouse is a not-for-profit regional theater in Westport, Connecticut, Westport, Connecticut. It was founded in 1931 by Lawrence Langner, a New York theater producer. Langner remodeled an 1830s tannery with a Broadway-quality ...

.Gates, Anita
"Review. In the Attic With Anne Frank"
''The New York Times'', October 8, 2010 In 2015, Ephraim appeared as "Daphna Feygenbaum" in Joshua Harmon's '' Bad Jews'' at the

Geffen Playhouse The Geffen Playhouse is a not-for-profit theater company founded in Los Angeles, California by Gilbert Cates in 1995. It produces plays in two theaters in Geffen Playhouse, which is owned by University of California Los Angeles. The Playhous ...

in Los Angeles.

Film and television

Ephraim appeared as a series regular in the role of Mandy Baxter, daughter of series' lead Mike Baxter (portrayed by

Tim Allen Timothy Alan Dick (born June 13, 1953), known professionally as Tim Allen, is an American actor and comedian. He is known for playing Tim "The Toolman" Taylor on the ABC sitcom ''Home Improvement'' (1991–1999) for which he won a Golden Gl ...

), on the ABC sitcom '' Last Man Standing'', which premiered on October 11, 2011 and originally ended in March 2017, canceled after six seasons. The series was revived by

in May 2018, but Ephraim opted not to return for the show's seventh season, with Molly McCook recast in the role. Ephraim has appeared on several other television series, including ''

Royal Pains ''Royal Pains'' is an American comedy-drama television series that ran on the USA Network from 2009 to 2016. The series is based in part on contemporary concierge medicine practices of independent doctors and companies and follows Hank Lawson, ...

'' (2009), ''

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

'' (2008), the

Michael J. Fox Michael Andrew Fox (born June 9, 1961), known professionally as Michael J. Fox, is a Canadian and American actor and activist. Beginning his career as a child actor in the 1970s, he rose to prominence portraying Alex P. Keaton on the NBC sitcom ...

-produced pilot ''Hench at Home'' (2003), the

pilot '' The Wonderful Maladys'' (2009), and has had recurring roles on '' Brockmire'' (2017), '' Halt and Catch Fire'' (2017), '' Casual'' (2018) and '' Perry Mason'' (2020). Ephraim portrayed Wendy Greenhut in the film ''

College Road Trip ''College Road Trip'' is a 2008 American family comedy film directed by Roger Kumble and starring Martin Lawrence, Kym Whitley, Raven-Symoné, Brenda Song, Margo Harshman, and Donny Osmond. The film centers on college-bound teen Melanie Por ...

'' (2008) and Ali Rey in the film ''

Paranormal Activity 2 ''Paranormal Activity 2'' is a 2010 American found footage supernatural horror film directed by Tod Williams, and written by Michael R. Perry, Christopher Landon and Tom Pabst. It is the second installment of the ''Paranormal Activity'' fi ...

'' (2010) and the spin-off film '' Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones'' (2014)."Ephraim Biography"
tcm.com, retrieved August 24, 2018 Ephraim appeared in a supporting role in the 2018 biographical political drama '' The Front Runner'', portraying Irene Kelly. She also played Gypsy Rose Blanchard's attorney in '' The Act'' on

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

. As of August 12, 2022, Ephraim plays Maybelle Fox on the Amazon series ''

''.

Personal life

Ephraim married in September 2021. Her husband, Evan, works at a software company. On December 1, 2021, Ephraim gave birth to the couple's first child, daughter Zia.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ephraim, Molly Living people 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Philadelphia American child actresses American film actresses American musical theatre actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Actors from Bucks County, Pennsylvania Princeton University alumni Jewish American actresses 21st-century American Jews 1986 births