Megan Mullally Biography

Megan Mullally (born November 12, 1958) is an American actress and singer.

After working in theatre in Chicago, Mullally moved to Los Angeles in 1985 and began to appear in supporting roles in film and television productions. She made her Broadway debut in Grease in 1994 and she has since appeared in several Broadway musicals. From 1998 until 2006, she played Karen Walker on the TV sitcom Will & Grace, arguably her best-known role to date. From 2006 until early 2007, Mullally hosted the short lived talk show The Megan Mullally Show. She has since appeared in guest-starring roles in television programs such as Parks and Recreation, Happy Endings, 30 Rock, Up All Night, Boston Legal, and a GLAAD Award-winning episode of The New Adventures of Old Christine. In 2010, Mullally starred as Lydia in the second season of Party Down. She also co-stars as Chief on Adult Swim's Childrens Hospital, and has recurred as Tammy Swanson on NBC's Parks and Recreation (playing her real-life husband, Nick Offerman's, ex-wife), Dana Hartz on ABC's Happy Endings, and Aunt Gayle on the FOX animated comedy Bob's Burgers.

She received seven consecutive Emmy Award nominations for "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series" for her role on Will & Grace, winning twice in 2000 and 2006. She has also received four Screen Actors Guild Awards for her performance, and was nominated for four Golden Globe awards.

Early life

Mullally was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Martha (née Palmer) and Carter Mullally, Jr., an actor who was a contract player with Paramount Pictures in the 1950s. Mullally moved to her father's native Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at the age of six. She studied ballet from the age of six and performed at the Oklahoma City Ballet during high school, also studying at the School of American Ballet in New York City.

Following her graduation from Casady School, she attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she studied English Literature and Art History, and subsequently became active in Chicago theatre.

Career

Television

Mullally moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1985. Two weeks later, she was signed by the William Morris Agency. One of her first acting spots was on a McDonald's commercial that also featured John Goodman. She made her series debut in 1986 in The Ellen Burstyn Show. She subsequently guest starred on sitcoms such as Seinfeld, Frasier, Wings, Ned and Stacey, Mad About You, Caroline in the City and Just Shoot Me!. She played a central character in a season-five episode of Murder, She Wrote, "Coal Miner's Slaughter", recalling in 2012, "I hadn't gotten a job for so long, and I was in a complete panic because I didn't know how I was going to pay my rent. So I get a call one day from my agent that I'd gotten offered a guest role, and it paid $5,000. I literally fell down onto my knees and testified and wept. I played some former protégée of Jessica Fletcher. It's one of my favorite things I've ever shot."

In 1990, Mullally tested for the co-starring role of Elaine Benes on Seinfeld. Mullally in 1998 landed the role of Karen Walker, Grace Adler's sarcastic, pill-popping assistant, in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace. She won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in both 2000 and 2006, and was nominated in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005. She won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series three times, in 2002, 2003 and 2004, and with cast members Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, and Sean Hayes, she shared the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2001. She is the first of only two actresses to win a SAG Award three years in a row. She was nominated each year from 2000 until 2003, for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film.

In 2005, Mullally saw comedian and actor Bill Hader performing with his Second City class in Los Angeles, and shortly thereafter brought Hader to the attention of Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels. Also in 2005, Mullally was awarded the Women in Film [[Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards#THE LUCY AWARD|Lucy Award]] "in recognition of her innovation in creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television".

Following Will & Grace, Mullally hosted her own talk show, The Megan Mullally Show from 2006-2007. She has hosted Saturday Night Live, guest-hosted the Late Show with David Letterman, hosted the 2006 TV Land Awards, and been a featured performer twice on the Tony Awards. She has been featured in advertisements for M&M's, Old Navy, and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.

Mullally guest-starred on the Season Three premiere of NBC's hit show 30 Rock. Other appearances include Kathy Griffin: My Life on The D-List, Campus Ladies, director/actor David Wain's "Wainy Days," an episode of HBO's Funny or Die, and the Funny or Die web video "That's What She Said".

Mullally has guest-starred five times as Tammy Swanson on the NBC series Parks and Recreation, in the episodes "Ron and Tammy" "Ron & Tammy: Part Two", "Li'l Sebastian", "Ron and Tammys" and "The Trial of Leslie Knope". Mullally plays the role of the second ex-wife of the character Ron Swanson, played by her real-life husband, Nick Offerman.

She co-starred in 2010 as Lydia on the Starz ensemble series Party Down. Mullally currently co-stars as "Chief" on the Adult Swim series Childrens Hospital. In 2011, Mullally began a recurring role as Dana Hartz, the mother of Penny (Casey Wilson), on the ABC sitcom Happy Endings. The following months, Fox announced Mullally would join the series Breaking In when the show returned for a second season on March 6, 2012.

Theater

Mullally made her Broadway debut as Marty in the 1994 revival of Grease, and subsequently appeared as Rosemary in the hit 1995 revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying opposite Matthew Broderick. In 2007, Mullally starred as Elizabeth in Mel Brooks' original Broadway musical, Young Frankenstein. She can be heard on the cast albums of all three productions.

In 1996, she starred in You Never Know at the Pasadena Playhouse. Mullally appeared in 2000 as Pamela in the multiple award-winning production of Chuck Mee's The Berlin Circle, for which she won both the LA Weekly Theatre Award and the Backstage West Garland Award. Mullally starred as Beverly in the acclaimed production of Adam Bock's The Receptionist at the Odyssey Theatre (notably, the longest sold-out run of a show in that theatre's history), for which she was awarded the 2010 Backstage West Garland Award for Best Performance by an Actress.

Mullally is also a Chicago theater veteran and member of Los Angeles theatre company The Evidence Room.

Music

Mullally is a member of the band Supreme Music Program. SMP has released three albums to date, The Sweetheart Break-In, Big as a Berry and Free Again!.

Mullally and Stephanie Hunt formed the band Nancy and Beth in 2012. They went on tour in March 2013, along with Megan's husband Nick Offerman.

Film

Mullally has appeared in Marc Forster's Sundance competition entry Everything Put Together, Anywhere But Here with Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman, About Last Night with Demi Moore and Rob Lowe, Speaking of Sex with James Spader, and Stealing Harvard with Tom Green and Jason Lee. Mullally played a singing teacher in the 2009 film remake of Fame, and can be heard on the soundtrack recording. Additionally, Mullally sang the song "Long John Blues" (performed on-screen by Kristen Bell) in 2010's Burlesque. She recently played the role of a mother in the 2013 indie film The Kings of Summer.

Personal life

Mullally's first marriage, in the mid-1990s, was to talent agent Michael Katcher.

In 2000, Mullally met actor Nick Offerman while doing a play together in Los Angeles. The two married in 2003. Offerman guest-starred on Will & Grace during its fourth season; in return, Mullally has guest-starred on Parks and Recreation, on which Offerman plays a lead role. Mullally plays Tammy, the conniving ex-wife of Offerman's character Ron Swanson, appearing in six episodes so far.

In 1999, Mullally commented in an interview in The Advocate magazine, "I consider myself bisexual, and my philosophy is, everyone innately is." In March, 2013, while on the talk show Kathy, she appeared with her husband and fellow guest Michelle Trachtenberg, and when Kathy opened a poll of who is heterosexual, Megan raised her hand. Subsequent, post-Advocate interviews with websites AfterEllen in 2006 and Queerty in 2009 again supported the stance that Megan is heterosexual. In a 2010 interview with The Advocate she clarified the confusion regarding her comment in 1999, stating: "I know the gay community wants me to be bisexual, but unfortunately I'm not as bisexual as people have wanted me to be. I am married to a man, we've been together 10 years, and I've never had sex with a woman. But I do still think everybody has an ability to love that isn't limited by gender."

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Risky Business	Call Girl
1985	Once Bitten	Suzette
1986	Last Resort	Jessica Lollar
1986	About Last Night...	Pat
1991	Queens Logic	Dolores
1999	Anywhere But Here	Woman Buying Car
1999	Best Man in Grass Creek	Co-Worker
2000	Everything Put Together	Barbie
2001	Monkeybone	Kimmy Miley
2001	Speaking of Sex	Jennifer Klink
2002	Stealing Harvard	Patty Plummer
2004	Teacher's Pet	Adele (voice)
2005	Rebound	Principal Walsh
2007	Bee Movie	Trudy (voice)
2009	Fame	Ms. Fran Rowan
2010	Burlesque	Voice Only	Voice for "Long John Blues"
2012 2012	Gay Dude Smashed	Matt's Mom Principal Barnes	Post-Production
2013	The Kings of Summer	Mrs. Keenan	Sundance Film Festival premiere January 19, 2013
2013	G.B.F.	Mrs. Van Camp	premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in April 2013 and Frameline Film Festival in June 2013

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	'	Sharon	Television film
1985	First Steps	Cathy	Television film
1986	Tall Tales & Legends	Posy	Episode: "Pecos Bill"
1986	American Playhouse	Lilah	Episode: "Under the Biltmore Clock"
1986"87	'	Molly Brewer Ross	Main cast; 13 episodes
1988	Murder, She Wrote	Molly Connors	Episode: "Coal Miner's Slaughter"
1989	Almost Grown	Bride	Episode: "The Hat That Fell from Space"
1989	China Beach	Cindy	Episode: "The World: Part 2"
1990	Wings	Cindy	Episode: "There Once Was a Girl from Nantucket"
1990	Rainbow Drive	Ava Zieff	Television
1991	Timeless Tales from Hallmark	Voice	Episode: "The Steadfast Tin Soldier"
1991	Dear John	Molly	Episode: "Molly and Me"
1991	My Life and Times	Susan	Main cast; 6 episodes
1991, 1993	Herman's Head	Yvonne	Episodes: "Fatal Distraction", "I Wanna Go Home"
1992	Fish Police	Pearl (voice)	Main cast; 6 episodes
1992	Rachel Gunn, R.N.	Becky Jo	Main cast; 13 episodes
1993	I Yabba-Dabba Do!	Pebbles Flintstone (voice)	Television film
1993	Seinfeld	Betsy	Episode: "The Implant"
1993	Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby	Additional Voices	Television film
1994	Batman: The Animated Series	Cindy (voice)	Episode: "House and Garden"
1994	Couples	Beth	Television film
1997	Ned and Stacey	Wendy	Episode: "Where My Third Nepal Is Sheriff"
1997	Frasier	Beth Armstrong	Episode: "Four for the Seesaw"
1997	Mad About You	Jane	Episode: "Guardianhood"
1997	'	Vanessa	Episode: "He Ain't Famous, He's My Brother"
1997	Caroline in the City	Vanessa	Episode: "Caroline and the Decanter"
1997	Extreme Ghostbusters	Additional voices	Episode: "The true face of a monster"
1998	Just Shoot Me!	Stephanie Griffin-Cooper	Episode: "Amblushed"
1998	Winchell	June Winchell	Television film
1998"2006	Will & Grace	Karen Walker	Main cast; 194 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series (2000, 2006) Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series (2002"04) Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2001) Nominated "? Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film (2000"03) Nominated "? Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series (2001"05)
2000	3rd Rock from the Sun	Renata Albright	Episode: "Les Liaisons Dickgereuses"
2002	King of the Hill	Teresa	Episode: "Beer and Loathing"
2002	'	Melanie Gold	Television film
2006	Peep and the Big Wide World	Pink Quack (voice)	Episode: "Quack Quack/One Duck Two Many"
2006	How I Met Your Mother	Barney's Mother (voice)	Episode: "Single Stamina" (Uncredited)
2006	Campus Ladies	Ms. Powell	Episode: "The Dare"
2006"07	'	Herself	Host; Talk show
2007	Boston Legal	Renata Hill	Episode: "The Bride Wore Blood"
2008	Bad Mother's Handbook	Nan	Television film
2008, 2013	30 Rock	Bev	Episode: "Do-Over", "Game Over", "Florida"
2008	'	Margaret	Episode: "Unidentified Funk"
2008, 2010"present	Childrens Hospital	Chief	Main cast: Web series - 10 episodes; TV series - Season 1 to present
2009	In the Motherhood	Rosemary	Main cast; 7 episodes
2009"12	Parks and Recreation	Tammy Swanson	Episodes: "Ron and Tammy", "Ron & Tammy: Part Two", "Li'l Sebastian", "Ron & Tammys", "The Trial of Leslie Knope", "Ron and Diane"
2010	Party Down	Lydia Dunfree	Main cast; 10 episodes
2011"13	Bob's Burgers	Gayle Various Voices	Episodes: "Art Crawl", "Dr. Yap", "Food Truckin'", "Bob Fires the Kids", "Topsy"
2011"13	Happy Endings	Dana Hartz	Episodes: "Yesandwich", "Meat the Parrots", "Deuce Babylove 2: Electric Babydeuce"
2012	Up All Night	Shayna Mund	Episodes: "Rivals", "Hey Jealousy"
2012	Breaking In	Veronica Mann	Main cast; 13 episodes
2012"present	Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja	Marlene Driscoll	voice secondary character
2013	Out There	Rose Stevens	voice secondary character
2013	Axe Cop	Joannie Isabelle M. Queen of England Book Cop's Mother Anita (Flute Cop's Wife)	voice Additional female characters
2013-present	Sofia the First	Miss Nettle	voice secondary character

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Title	Work	Result
1987	Young Artist Award	Best Young Actress in a TV Series	The Ellen Burstyn Show
1999	Television Critics Association Award	Outstanding Individual Achievement in Comedy	Will & Grace
2000	American Comedy Award	Best Supporting Female Performer in a TV Series
	Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
	Television Critics Association Award	Outstanding Individual Achievement in Comedy
	Viewers for Quality Television Award	Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
2001	American Comedy Award	Best Supporting Female Performer in a TV Series
	Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
	Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series, Mini Series or television film
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
		Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
	TV Guide Award	Supporting Actress of the Year in a Comedy Series
2002	Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
	Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series, Mini Series or television film
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
		Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
	Teen Choice Award	Choice TV Comedy Actress
2003	Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
	Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series, Mini Series or television film
	Satellite Award	Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
		Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
2004	Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
	Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series, Mini Series or television film
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
		Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
2005	Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
	People's Choice Award	Best Female TV Star
		Best Comedic Female Star
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
		Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
2006	Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
2007	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series