Phyllis Smith (born August 15, 1949) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Phyllis Vance in the television 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 ...

'' and her voice role as Sadness in Pixar's animated franchise '' Inside Out''.

Early life and education

Smith was born on August 15, 1949, in St. Louis,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. She graduated from Cleveland High School. Smith graduated from the

University of Missouri–St. Louis The University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL) is a Public university, public research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Established in 1963, it is the newest of the four universities in the University of Missouri System. Located ...

in 1972 with a degree in elementary education. In the 1970s and 1980s, she was a dancer, a cheerleader for the St. Louis Cardinals football team, and a

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

performer. She said that there was "no stripping, but I did wear feathers." She was forced to quit dancing after suffering a knee injury. She later worked in

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

as an actress and in casting.

Career

Smith was working as a casting associate under the direction of Allison Jones on the television series ''The Office'', when she was offered the role of Phyllis Lapin, a character created specifically for her, a soft-spoken saleswoman who tended to disagree with pompous office manager Michael Scott. She received Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2006 and 2007 for her performance in ''The Office'' in the category "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series". In June 2008, she appeared with the cast of ''The Office'' on '' Celebrity Family Feud''. In 2011, Smith played a supporting role in the film '' Bad Teacher''. In 2015, she voiced the character Sadness in the Pixar film '' Inside Out'', receiving high critical praise for her performance. In 2016, she starred as Betty Broderick-Allen in the Netflix series '' The OA''. She reprised her role as Sadness in ''

Inside Out 2 ''Inside Out 2'' is a 2024 American animated coming-of-age film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The sequel to '' Inside Out'' (2015), it was directed by Kelsey Mann and was produced by Mark Nielsen, from a screen ...

'' in 2024.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Production work

References

External links

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Deadspin profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Phyllis 1949 births Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from St. Louis American burlesque performers American cheerleaders American dancers American erotic dancers American female dancers American female erotic dancers American film actresses American television actresses American voice actresses American women comedians Annie Award winners Comedians from St. Louis NFL cheerleaders Actors from St. Louis County, Missouri University of Missouri alumni University of Missouri–St. Louis alumni