Missi Pyle Biography

Andrea Kay "Missi" Pyle (born November 16, 1972) is an American actress and singer. She has appeared in several films, including the Academy Award winning film The Artist, Galaxy Quest, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Big Fish, 50 First Dates, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. She has also appeared in various television roles, on shows such as Mad About You, Friends, Heroes, Two and a Half Men, Frasier, My Name Is Earl, and 2 Broke Girls . She is also half of Smith & Pyle, a desert country-rock band, with actress Shawnee Smith.

Early life

Pyle, the daughter of Linda and Frank Pyle, was born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. She has two older sisters, Debbie and Julie, two older brothers, Sam and Paul, one younger half-brother, Gordon, and a half-sister, Meredith. Pyle attended the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and graduated in 1995. For her achievements, Pyle was honored by the Poplar Pike Playhouse at her alma mater Germantown High School in Germantown, Tennessee.

Career

Pyle has guest starred on many television shows, including Heroes, Mad About You, Boston Legal, Frasier, The Sarah Silverman Program, and 2 Broke Girls. She started her film career with a minor role in As Good as It Gets, starring Helen Hunt and Jack Nicholson. After her breakout role in Galaxy Quest, she had supporting roles in Bringing Down the House (for which she and Queen Latifah were nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Fight), Josie and the Pussycats, Home Alone 4, Exposed, Big Fish, Along Came Polly, Soul Plane, Stormbreaker, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She was also the female lead in BachelorMan. Barely recognizable, she appears in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. She also had a brief appearance in 50 First Dates.

Pyle plays Jake's Elementary School teacher Ms. Pasternak on Two and a Half Men. The role was recast in 2009 for unknown reasons, but Pyle returned to the series in the same role for 2010.

In 2008, Missi starred in the Broadway play Boeing-Boeing opposite Christine Baranski, Mark Rylance, Greg Germann, Paige Davis and Rebecca Gayheart. The play closed in January 2009.

Pyle was scheduled to ring the closing bell for the trading day at the New York Stock Exchange on September 29, 2008 to promote Boeing-Boeing, but backed out minutes before the close of trading in order to not associate herself with ending a calamitous day of financial turmoil which resulted in the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 778 points, the largest point loss ever in a session in the wake of the global financial crisis of September"October 2008. She watched from the floor as an NYSE staffer pushed the button and gaveled the end of trading instead.

She is currently part of a country music group with actress Shawnee Smith called Smith & Pyle. The two actresses met while filming an ABC comedy pilot titled Traveling in Packs. The band started after Smith invited Pyle to join her in attending the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. While stuck in traffic, Pyle talked about her dream to be a rock star and Smith agreed to form a band with her. Their first album, "It's OK to Be Happy", was released digitally through iTunes and Amazon.com in July 2008. The debut album was recorded in Joshua Tree, California at Rancho de la Luna and was produced by Chris Goss. The two actresses have also become business partners and formed their own record label called Urban Prairie Records, which "It's OK to be Happy" was released under. According to an interview Smith did with pretty-scary.net in August 2008, a Smith & Pyle television or webisode series might be in the works. Smith also mentioned the idea of a series on Fangoria radio with Dee Snider. Currently there are 3 videos posted on YouTube that show the making of the record. They also have a 10-minute "making of" video on Vimeo called Smith & Pyle: Desert Sessions.

Personal life

Pyle married Casey Anderson, a grizzly bear specialist for National Geographic, on September 12, 2008. The wedding was country-western themed and took place in Montana. Wedding guests included bandmate Shawnee Smith and comedian Steve Agee. Anderson's pet grizzly bear, Brutus, served as his best man in the ceremony. Pyle and Anderson appeared in "Grizzly Dogs", the October 22, 2010 episode of Dog Whisperer, in which they sought the help of Cesar Milan to rehabilitate their dog.

Pyle "married" actress and bandmate Shawnee Smith in a faux ceremony at the All Love is Equal Launch Party in West Hollywood on November 18, 2009. The two actresses pretended to get married in support of repealing Prop 8 in California. Actor Hal Sparks dressed as a priest and performed the ceremony with them using rainbow-colored hula hoops as rings.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	As Good as It Gets	Cafe 24 Waitress
1998	Number One	Laurel
1999	Trick	Actress with Flowers
1999	Galaxy Quest	Laliari
2000	But Enough About Me...	Catherine Grey
2001	Neurotic Tendencies		Television film
2001	Josie and the Pussycats	Alexandra Cabot
2001	Let It Snow	Ily
2002	Home Alone 4	Vera	Television film; first film to appear as a villain
2003	Bringing Down the House	Ashley
2003	BachelorMan	Heather
2003	Big Fish	Mildred
2003	Exposed	Amy
2004	50 First Dates	Noreen
2004	Soul Plane	Barbara
2004	Along Came Polly	Roxanne
2004	DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story	Fran Stalinovskovichdavidovitchsky
2004	Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy	Zoo Keeper	Uncredited
2005	Blue Skies	Claire	Television film
2005	Charlie and the Chocolate Factory	Mrs. Beauregarde
2005	'	Cop
2006	Haskett's Chance	Melicent Bauers	Television film
2006	Just My Luck	Peggy Brayden
2006	Stormbreaker	Nadia Vole
2006	Mojave Phone Booth	Sarah
2007	Live!	Plummy
2007	Entry Level	Liz
2007	Feast of Love	Agatha Smith
2008	Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay	Raylene
2008	Meet Market	Ericka
2008	Giants of Radio	Dr. Amelia Moran	Television film
2008	Visioneers	Sara
2008	American Crude	Gigi
2008	Soccer Mom	Wendy Handler/Coach Lorenzo
2008	Pretty Ugly People	Lucy
2008	Point View Terrace	Mary	Television film
2009	'	Mary Margaret	Television film
2009	Still Waiting...	Rocky Rhoades/Exotic Dancer
2009	Spring Breakdown	Charlene
2009	Taking Chances	Faith Fishback
2010	Barry Munday	Lida Griggs
2010	Miss Nobody	Charmine
2010	Lawless	Melonie Cavanaugh
2011	My Uncle Rafael	Blair Schumacher
2011	The Artist	Constance	Nominated "? Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
2011	A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song	Gail van Ravensway
2013	Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters	Gray Sister

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Mad About You	Beautiful Woman
1999	'	Stacey
1999	Friends	Hillary	Episode: "The One with Ross's Teeth"
2000	Battery Park	Suzanne
2001	Ally McBeal	Marcia Hooper
2001	Roswell	Windy Sommers
2001	'	Stacy Waxman
2001	'		Various appearances
2002	Philly	Charise DuPree
2003	Frasier	Shannon Palmer
2004, 2010, 2011	Two and a Half Men	Dolores Pasternak	3 episodes
2005	My Name Is Earl	Shelly Stoker
2006	Boston Legal	Renee Winger	3 episodes
2007	'	Scarlett Lacey	3 episodes
2007	Heroes	Hope	2 episodes
2007	'	Amanda Pontell	4 episodes
2007	Traveling in Packs	Mary	Unsold pilot
2008	American Dad!	Voice
2008	In Plain Sight	Treena Morris
2008	Pushing Daisies	Betty Bee
2009	Numb3rs	Janet Galvin
2010	Grey's Anatomy	Dr. Baylow
2010	Funny in Farsi	Debbie Appleby
2010	Rizzoli & Isles	Bartender
2010	The Mentalist	Karen Cross	2 episodes
2010	$h*! My Dad Says	Katie Palmer
2011	Up All Night	Kaye
2012	Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23	Angie Beckencort	Episode: "Whatever It Takes..."
2013	2 Broke Girls	Charity Channing	Episode: "And Not-So-Sweet Charity"
2013	Warehouse 13	Rebecca Carson	Episode: "The Big Snag"

Broadway

• Boeing-Boeing (2008"2009) .... Gretchen

She most recently played the role of Sister Joan in the Off-Broadway production of 'bare: The Musical' which closed February 3rd, 2013

Discography

Albums

• It's OK To Be Happy, Smith & Pyle (2008)

Singles

• "One Night Stand," Smith & Pyle (2010)
• "Rafael" Smith & Pyle (2010)