Mary Lynn Rajskub Biography

Mary Lynn Rajskub (born June 22, 1971) is an American actress and comedian, best known for her leading role as Chloe O'Brian in the Fox action-thriller 24.

Early life

Rajskub was born in Detroit, Michigan and raised in Trenton, Michigan. Her father is a pipefitter of Czech descent and her mother worked as a pharmacist's assistant. Rajskub played the clarinet in the school band, and played Frenchie in the musical Grease. One of her childhood inspirations was Moonlighting with Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd.

Her first part was as an Oompa-Loompa in a community theater production of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and her first starring role was Raggedy Ann. Rajskub moved to Los Angeles where she worked as a waitress in a Hard Rock Cafe and as a ticket-taker at the Beverly Center movie theater before becoming an actress.

Career

Rajskub's most notable role is CTU Systems analyst Chloe O'Brian on 24, which she joined in 2003 at the start of the show's third season. Her character was a hit with viewers and critics and was one of the few cast members to return in the show's fourth season. After being a regular guest star for two seasons, Rajskub became a main cast member in the show's fifth season. By the end of the series she was lead female, with top billing second only to Kiefer Sutherland. Rajskub's character Chloe O'Brian also had the honor of saying the final words of the series in the season 8 series finale. Rajskub and Sutherland appeared briefly as their 24 characters in a 2007 episode, "24 Minutes", of the FOX TV animated series The Simpsons. In August 2013, it was announced that she will reprise her Chloe O'Brian role in the 2014 limited series 24: Live Another Day. She was one of the original cast members of Mr. Show, but was "not allowed on the set anymore" following her breakup with David Cross.

She appeared in Kelsey Grammer's The Sketch Show on Fox Television, King of Queens as a character named "Priscilla", a waitress at a pirate-themed kiddie restaurant in an episode of Newsradio ("The Secret of Management"), and in numerous films including Mysterious Skin, Legally Blonde 2, Sweet Home Alabama, Dude, Where's My Car?, Man on the Moon, Punch-Drunk Love, The Anniversary Party, Firewall, Little Miss Sunshine, music videos for Beck, Weezer and Sheryl Crow, as well as portraying a blind girl in the film Road Trip. She was part of a comic duo (with Karen Kilgariff) called Girls Guitar Club. In 2006, she made a cameo appearance in "Partings", the 6th season finale of Gilmore Girls, where she played a troubadour looking for her big break. (Rajskub had previously appeared on Gilmore Girls as the female lead in A Film by Kirk, a short film made by the character Kirk Gleason.) Rajskub has volunteered as an actress with the Young Storytellers Program. She has an educational background as a painter, having attended the San Francisco Art Institute.

She has been nominated twice for a Screen Actors Guild Award; once in 2005, and again in 2007 for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. She guest starred on Flight of the Conchords episode "Prime Minister" as Karen, an Art Garfunkel fanatic. Rajskub guest starred as "Gail the Snail" in an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia titled "The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention". In 2009, she also appeared in the film Julie & Julia as Sarah, one of Julie Powell's close friends. In 2010, Rajskub performed stand-up on John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show. In June 2010, Rajskub appeared in the "Lovesick" episode during the second season of the USA series Royal Pains.

From July through October 2010, she performed in her solo show, Mary Lynn Spreads Her Legs, at the Steve Allen Theater in Los Angeles. Reviewer F. Kathleen Foley of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "That cheerfully vulgar title sums up the overall tone, which is often breezily obscene." The show, written by Rajskub with help from director/developer Amit Itelman, was inspired by Rajskub's experiences with pregnancy, childbirth and early motherhood.

In January 2011, Rajskub guest starred in the episode "Our Children, Ourselves" on the second season of ABC's Modern Family. In the fall of 2011, Rajskub appeared in the short-lived sitcom How to Be a Gentleman. Also in 2011, Rajskub's webseries, DICKI, began airing on My Damn Channel. DICKI is based on a number of people that Rajskub grew up with and around in Michigan. DICKI is a forty-year-old woman who lives at home with her parents, makes crafts, and takes her art pretty seriously. DICKI has been one of My Damn Channel's most successful webseries to date. The first season concluded in November 2011, but a second season is currently in development. Rajskub performed in the June 2012 edition of Don't Tell My Mother! (Live Storytelling), a monthly showcase in which authors, screenwriters, actors and comedians share true stories they would never want their mothers to know.

Personal life

Rajskub dated David Cross, who introduced her to Mr. Show, and left the show when they broke up after the end of the second season. Afterwards, she dated music producer Jon Brion for five years until they broke up in the fall of 2002. Rajskub later dated comedian Duncan Trussell, whom she subsequently threw out after their breakup, forcing Trussell to live with fellow comedian and friend Joe Rogan.

Her son, Valentine Anthony, was born on July 24, 2008. She married her boyfriend Matthew Rolph, a personal trainer, on August 1, 2009 in an impromptu wedding in Las Vegas. She is openly bisexual.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Who's the Caboose?	Cheeseball
1998	The Thin Pink Line	Suzy Smokestack
1999	Magnolia	Janet	Voice
1999	Man on the Moon	Friday's Mary
2000	Road Trip	Blind Brenda
2000	Dude, Where's My Car?	Zelmina
2000	Sunset Strip	Eileen
2001	Storytelling	Melinda
2001	The Anniversary Party	Mary-Lynn
2002	Punch-Drunk Love	Elizabeth
2002	Sweet Home Alabama	Dorothea
2002	Run Ronnie Run	Herself
2003	Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde	Reena Giuliani
2004	Mysterious Skin	Avalyn Friesen
2004	Helter Skelter	Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme
2006	Firewall	Janet Stone
2006	Little Miss Sunshine	Pageant Assistant Pam
2007	American Fork	Peggy Orbison
2008	Sunshine Cleaning	Lynn
2009	Julie & Julia	Sarah
2012	Safety Not Guaranteed	Bridget
2013	The Kings of Summer	Captain Davis

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Mr. Show	Various characters	10 episodes
1996"1998	The Larry Sanders Show	Mary Lou Collins	18 episodes
1998	NewsRadio	Waitress	1 episode
1999"2000	Veronica's Closet	Chloe	15 episodes
2001	Just Shoot Me	Penny	1 episode
2002	The King of Queens	Priscilla Stasna	1 episode
2003"2010	24	Chloe O'Brian	125 episodes
2004	JAG	CI administrative assistant	1 episode
2005	The Sketch Show	Various characters
2007	Human Giant	Mindy	2 episodes
2009	Flight of the Conchords	Karen	1 episode
2009	It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia	Gail the Snail	1 episode
2010	Royal Pains	Blake	1 episode
2010	The Benson Interruption	Herself	1 episode
2010	Stargate Universe	Extra	1 episode
2011	Modern Family	Tracy	1 episode
2011	Raising Hope	Tanya	1 episode
2011	How to Be a Gentleman	Janet	9 episodes
2012	The L.A. Complex	Herself	1 episode
2012	Dirty Work	Roxy	3 episodes
2012	Chelsea Lately	Herself
2012	The Burn with Jeff Ross	Herself
2012	Mash Up	Herself
2013	The Mentalist	Susie Hamplin	Season 5 episode 11
2013	New Girl	Peg	Season 2 episode 24
2013	Arrested Development	Heartfire	Season 4
2014	24: Live Another Day	Chloe O'Brian	Limited Series