Molly Shannon
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Molly Claire Shannon (born September 16, 1964 in Shaker Heights, Ohio) is an American actress and writer.
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[edit] Early life
Shannon is the eldest of three daughters of the late James F. and Mary Margaret Shannon. In 1969, she survived a car crash killing her mother, one-year-old sister Katherine, and cousin Fran Shulte. She later graduated from Hawken School in Gates Mills, Ohio. After high school, Shannon attended the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in New York City. She graduated with a BFA in Drama in 1987.
[edit] Career
Before Saturday Night Live, she had a struggling career in films. She landed a supporting role as Meg in the present day sequences in the horror film remake of The Phantom of the Opera with Robert Englund and Jill Schoelen.
Shannon's major break came in February 1995 when she was hired as a featured player on Saturday Night Live to replace the departing Janeane Garofalo. She played various recurring characters on the show, including 50-year old dancer Sally O'Mally (who constantly proclaimed her age), quirky joyologist Helen Madden, and NPR radio co-host of Delicious Dish (opposite Ana Gasteyer). She was especially known for playing the character of Catholic school girl Mary Katherine Gallagher. She also did impressions of Monica Lewinsky (alongside frequent host John Goodman's Linda Tripp), Elizabeth Taylor, Courtney Love and Björk.
On a noteworthy Seinfeld episode called "The Summer of George", she played Sam, the co-worker who drove Elaine Benes crazy because she didn't swing her arms while walking. She also 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.
[edit] Television and film
Shannon left SNL in 2001 (surpassing Victoria Jackson as the show's longest-serving female cast member). In 1999, she reprised her Mary Katherine Gallagher character for the movie Superstar, and had a supporting role in Never Been Kissed. In 2004, she starred in a Fox network television series Cracking Up with actor Jason Schwartzman. It lasted only nine episodes before cancellation. She guest starred in an episode of Scrubs that same year.
Her recent films include Shallow Hal, The Santa Clause 2, Serendipity and Marie-Antoinette, where she plays Louis XVI's aunt, Princess Sophie. She also appears in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and had a small role in Scary Movie 4.
[edit] Personal life
Shannon married artist Fritz Chesnut on May 29, 2004. They have two children: daughter Stella (b. 2003) and son Nolan (b. 2005).
