Molly Shannon

Molly Shannon (born September 16, 1964) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2001. In 2017, she won the Film Independent Spirit Award for playing Joanne Mulcahey in the Chris Kelly autobiographical film '' Other People''.

Shannon appeared in supporting roles in several films, including ''Happiness'' (1998), '' A Night at the Roxbury'' (1998), '' Never Been Kissed'' (1999), '' How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' (2000), '' Wet Hot American Summer'' (2001), '' Osmosis Jones'' (2001), '' My Boss's Daughter'' (2003), '' Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby'' (2006), '' More of Me'' (2007), '' Evan Almighty'' (2007), and '' Me and Earl and the Dying Girl'' (2015). She appeared in the animated films '' Igor'' (2008) and '' Hotel Transylvania'' (2012). On television, Shannon had roles in ''Enlightened'' (2013), ''Divorce'' (2016–2019), '' The Other Two'' (2019–2022), '' The White Lotus'' (2021), '' I Love That for You'' (2022), and '' Only Murders in the Building'' (2024), winning her first Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for the lattermost.

Early life

Shannon was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 16, 1964, to an Irish-American Catholic family. Her maternal grandparents were born in Ireland, with her grandfather being from Cloghmore, Achill, Mayo.

On June 1, 1969, when Shannon was four years old, she and her older sister, Mary, survived a car crash that killed her younger sister, Katie, her cousin Fran and her mother. Her father, Jim, was driving the family home from an all-day party during which he drank alcohol and subsequently took a nap. The crash occurred 90 minutes into the drive later that evening when the car struck a solid steel light pole (since that time, most light poles have been converted to breakaway poles to reduce injuries). Contrary to published articles that Jim had been driving drunk, there was no BAC report taken. In her memoir, ''Hello, Molly!'', Shannon writes: “There is no way to know exactly what happened that night, though my gut tells me he fell asleep at the wheel.”

Shannon attended St. Dominic School in Shaker Heights for grade school, and Hawken School in Gates Mills, Ohio. She attended New York University, where she studied drama and graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in 1987.

Career

Before ''Saturday Night Live'', Shannon worked as a hostess at Cravings restaurant on Sunset Boulevard and as a food demo girl at Gelson's super market in Marina Del Rey. She auditioned for her first big film role and was cast, playing the supporting part of Meg in the 1989 horror film remake of '' The Phantom of the Opera'', with Robert Englund. In 1991, she had a brief appearance in the second season of ''Twin Peaks'' as "the happy helping hand lady", and in 1993, she appeared with minor roles in three episodes of '' In Living Color'', the first in a fake TV commercial with Shawn Wayans playing Chris Rock, the second in a sketch with Jim Carrey, playing LAPD Sergeant Stacey Koon, and third being a parody of ''Star Trek''.

Shannon's major break came in February 1995, when she was hired as a featured player on ''Saturday Night Live'' to replace Janeane Garofalo after Garofalo left mid-season, the reason being that the experience left her "anxious and depressed", and that she believed a sexist attitude pervaded the show. Shannon was one of the few cast members to be kept (along with David Spade, Norm Macdonald, Mark McKinney and Tim Meadows) when Lorne Michaels overhauled his cast and writers for season 21 (1995–96).

She appeared in a 1997 episode of ''Seinfeld'' titled " The Summer of George", where she played Sam, the co-worker who drove Elaine Benes crazy because she did not swing her arms while walking. She appeared in Sheryl Crow's video for the song "A Change (Will Do You Good)" and played the recurring role of loony neighbor Val Bassett, Grace Adler's nemesis, on '' Will & Grace'', appearing in five episodes over the sitcom's eight-season run. In 1998, she played the role of Emily Sanderson in the film '' A Night at the Roxbury'', featuring Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan who were also cast members of ''SNL'' at the time. She appeared in ''Sex and the City'' in a number of episodes.

In 1999, Shannon starred in '' Superstar'', a feature film based on her ''SNL'' character Mary Katherine Gallagher, the awkward Catholic school student who aspires to be a musical superstar.

During her run on SNL, Shannon starred in the film '' Never Been Kissed'' (1999), '' How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' (2000), '' Osmosis Jones'' (2001) and '' Serendipity'' (2001). Shannon left ''SNL'' in 2001. In 2003, she appeared in the romantic comedy '' My Boss's Daughter'' and the television remake of ''The Music Man''.

In 2004, she starred in a short-lived Fox network television series '' Cracking Up''. That same year, she guest starred in an episode of '' Scrubs'' and starred as Mrs. Baker in the film ''Good Boy!'' In 2006, Shannon was featured in the Sofia Coppola-directed movie ''Marie Antoinette'' as Aunt Victoire. The next year, Shannon guest-starred on ABC's '' Pushing Daisies'', and appeared in the film '' Evan Almighty''. At that time, Shannon also made a move to drama, appearing in Mike White's film '' Year of the Dog'' in 2007. In 2013, Shannon joined White again, playing his love interest Eileen in the HBO show '' Enlightened'', for which she was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding guest actress.

Shannon hosted ''Saturday Night Live'' on May 12, 2007, making her the second former female cast member to host (after Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and the first one to have been a cast member for Lorne Michaels (Louis-Dreyfus was a cast member under Dick Ebersol).

In 2008, Shannon starred as Kath in the American version of the Australian sitcom '' Kath & Kim''.

In early 2010, Shannon was cast in a recurring role on the Fox television series ''Glee'' as Brenda Castle, an astronomy and badminton teacher who has a rivalry with main character Sue Sylvester.

She returned to ''Saturday Night Live'' for a special Mother's Day episode on May 8, 2010, and the October 2010 reunion special "Women of SNL".

Shannon replaced Katie Finneran in the role of Marge McDougall in the Broadway revival of '' Promises, Promises'' on October 12, 2010, and remained through its closure on January 2, 2011, along with co-stars Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth.

Shannon's first children's book, ''Tilly the Trickster'', was released September 1, 2011.

As of spring 2012, she has replaced Pauley Perrette as the spokesperson for Expedia.

In 2015, Shannon starred in the Sundance premiere of '' Me and Earl and the Dying Girl'' directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. She was a guest, along with Denis Leary, on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' on June 9, 2015.

In 2016, Shannon co-starred in the HBO comedy ''Divorce'' opposite Sarah Jessica Parker and Thomas Haden Church.

Shannon won the 2017 Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the highly acclaimed drama, '' Other People''. She had two films premiere at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival: '' The Little Hours'' and '' Fun Mom Dinner''.

In 2018, Shannon co-hosted the Rose Parade with Will Ferrell on Amazon Prime Video in character as fictional local television personalities, Tish and Cord. In 2018, Shannon and Ferrell co-hosted HBO's broadcast of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as their characters Tish and Cord.

In 2018, Shannon co-starred in the critically acclaimed Netflix film '' Private Life'', playing prickly Cynthia.

In 2022, Shannon released ''Hello, Molly!: A Memoir'' ().

In 2022, Shannon co-starred in the Showtime comedy television series '' I Love That for You'' alongside fellow former ''SNL'' alum Vanessa Bayer.

In 2024, Shannon joined the cast of the Hulu comedy series '' Only Murders in the Building'' for its fourth season.

''Saturday Night Live'' characters

* Mary Katherine Gallagher: Shannon's best known character. An odd, outcast student at a Catholic school who enjoyed performing in the choir and school plays. Shannon starred in the 1999 feature film '' Superstar'' based on the character.
* Sally O'Malley: a proud 50-year-old dancer ("I'm FIFTY!") with a bouffant hairdo, who wore tight red pants and proclaimed how much she loved to "kick, stretch and kick!"
* Circe Nightshade: co-host of " Goth Talk" (with Chris Kattan).
* Miss Colleen: co-host of " Dog Show" (with Will Ferrell).
* Elizabeth: one of the " Southern Gals."
* Helen Madden: an overly exuberant self-proclaimed "Joyologist", who appeared on talk shows with the trademark catchphrase "I love it, I love it, I love it!"
* Veronica Kilvere: an airhead fashion model who hosts the " Veronica & Co." talk show.
* Janette Blow: wife of Joe Blow (played by Colin Quinn) on "The Local News" public-access television cable TV talk show.
* Terri Rialto: co-host of the NPR radio show " Delicious Dish" (with Ana Gasteyer).
* Margaret Healy: a woman who enjoys doing many voices and accents.
* Jeannie Darcy: an unfunny mullet-haired stand-up comedian, who ended almost every joke with the phrase "Don't get me started, don't even get me started!"

Celebrity impressions

Personal life

Shannon married artist Fritz Chesnut on May 29, 2004. They have two children.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web series

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shannon, Molly
1964 births
Living people
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American memoirists
Actors from Shaker Heights, Ohio
Actresses from Cleveland
American film actresses
American people of Irish descent
American sketch comedians
American television actresses
American voice actresses
Circle in the Square Theatre School alumni
Hawken School alumni
Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female winners
Tisch School of the Arts alumni
Comedians from Cleveland