Image via WikipediaLauren Elizabeth "Laurie" Metcalf (born June 16, 1955) is an American actress. She is widely known for her performance as Jackie Harris on the ABC sitcom Roseanne, the voice of Mrs. Davis in the Toy Story film series and as Debbie Salt in Scream 2. She is presently working in Chicago theater, where she is well-known for her performance in the 1983 revival of Balm in Gilead. She is also a part of Plan USA, a humanitarian organization which helps children in need around the world.
She is a three-time Emmy award winner, as well as being nominated for two Golden Globe awards, a Tony Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Career
2.1 Stage
2.2 Television and film
3 Personal life
4 Filmography
5 Awards and nominations
6 References
7 External links
[edit]Early life
Metcalf was born in Carbondale, Illinois, the eldest of three children, and was raised in Edwardsville, Illinois. Her father was the budget director at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and her mother, Libby, was a librarian.[1][2] Her great-aunt was the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Zoe Akins.[3] Metcalf is an alumna of Illinois State University, class of 1976.[4]
[edit]Career
[edit]Stage
Metcalf attended Illinois State University and obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Theater in 1977. While at ISU, she met fellow theater students, among them John Malkovich, Glenne Headley, Joan Allen, and Gary Sinise - who went on to establish Chicago's famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Metcalf began her professional career at Steppenwolf. It was in Steppenwolf that Metcalf got the nickname "crazy pants." In 1981, she was brought on as a performer on Saturday Night Live for their cast, but appeared in only one episode before the season abruptly ended due to a writer's strike; she was not asked back in the fall. In 1983, Metcalf went to New York to appear in a Steppenwolf production of Balm in Gilead, for which she received the 1984 Obie Award for Best Actress. Metcalf was showered with praise for her performance as, "Darlene," specifically for her tour de force twenty minute Act Two monologue. She relocated to Manhattan and began to work in both film and theater, most recently in David Mamet's November.
“
There's a moment when Laurie Metcalf – who plays this poor young thing that comes to the big city and hangs out at this greasy spoon diner where the play is set – is talking about her once boyfriend who is an albino; I think it's a monologue of about five, six, seven minutes. Just to sit there and watch and hear Laurie unspool that story, it just brought tears coming down your eyes–oh, boy, it was something.
”
— Chicago critic Richard Christiansen on Balm in Gilead
Through the end of June 2009, Metcalf starred with French Stewart in Justin Tanner's play, Voice Lessons, in Hollywood before beginning rehearsals to play Kate Jerome in the Broadway revival of Neil Simon's semi-autobiographical plays Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound directed by David Cromer. The former production's run, however, lasted but one week while the latter was canceled prior to opening. Voice Lessons, however, with its original cast intact, went on to two more runs - one Off-Broadway in May 2010,[5] and another in Hollywood in May 2011.[6]
In September 2010, Metcalf returned to Steppenwolf and starred in Lisa D'Amour's play, Detroit. In the Spring of 2011, she began work on an off-Broadway play, The Other Place by Sharr White .[7]
[edit]Television and film
Metcalf has performed in roles that range from very large to very small in many films, including Desperately Seeking Susan, Making Mr. Right, Miles from Home, Internal Affairs, Stars and Bars, Uncle Buck, Beer League, A Dangerous Woman, Pacific Heights, Blink, The Secret Life of Houses, Treasure Planet, Toy Story, Runaway Bride, Bulworth, Meet the Robinsons, Georgia Rule, Fun with Dick and Jane, Leaving Las Vegas, Scream 2, and Stop Loss. In JFK, she played a dramatic role against type, as one of Jim Garrison's chief investigators. She appeared as the murderous mother of "Billy Loomis" in the horror film Scream 2 and portrayed real-life Carolyn McCarthy in the television movie The Long Island Incident.
Metcalf has appeared in several television series, including being a cast member for only one episode of Saturday Night Live on the final episode of the show's tumultuous 1980-1981 season, but she is best-known as "Jackie", sister to the title character in the hit series Roseanne. Her performance garnered her three consecutive Emmy Awards. Roseanne ran from 1988 to 1997, and Laurie appeared as Jackie over the show's entire run.
She subsequently appeared with Norm Macdonald on The Norm Show (or Norm), which ran for three seasons, and was also a regular character on the 2003 Nathan Lane series Charlie Lawrence, which was cancelled after only two episodes aired. She made guest appearances on Absolutely Fabulous, Malcolm in the Middle, Monk, My Boys, Dharma & Greg, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Frasier and Without a Trace
She took a recurring role on Desperate Housewives–for which she received an Emmy and a Satellite Award nomination–and alongside her ex-husband Jeff Perry in an episode of Grey's Anatomy. In fall 2008, Metcalf starred in the 2008 CW dramedy Easy Money as the matriarch of a family of loan sharks. The series was canceled after only three episodes. She has also had a recurring guest star role as Sheldon Cooper's mother Mary on The Big Bang Theory, alongside former Roseanne cast-mates Johnny Galecki and Sara Gilbert.
[edit]Personal life
Metcalf married Steppenwolf co-founding member Jeff Perry. They had a daughter, Zoe in 1984, and later divorced.[8]
Metcalf later fell in love with Matt Roth, the Roseanne co-star who played her abusive boyfriend, Fisher. By November 1993 they had a son, Will, and eventually married. They also work together on occasion, as in the 1994 feature film thriller Blink and the 1998 drama Chicago Cab.[9] Both Metcalf and Roth appeared in the same episode of Desperate Housewives. Their daughter Mae was born in 2005 via surrogate.
In September of 2011, Matt filed papers citing irreconcilable differences. According to legal documents, the date of separation is November 26, 2008.
[edit]Filmography
Film
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1978
A Wedding
Maid
Uncredited Role
1985
Desperately Seeking Susan
Leslie Glass
1987
Making Mr. Right
Sandy
1988
Candy Mountain
Alice
1988
Stars and Bars
Melissa
1988
The Appointments of Dennis Jennings
Emma
Short film
1988
Miles from Home
Exotic Dancer
1989
Uncle Buck
Marcie Dahlgren-Frost
1990
Internal Affairs
Amy Wallace
1990
Pacific Heights
Stephanie MacDonald
1991
JFK
Susie Cox
1992
Mistress
Rachel Landisman
1993
A Dangerous Woman
Anita Bell
1994
The Secret Life of Houses
Ann
1994
Blink
Candice
1995
Leaving Las Vegas
Landlady
1995
Toy Story
Mrs. Davis
Voice role
1996
Dear God
Rebecca Frazen
1997
U Turn
Bus Station Clerk
1997
Chicago Cab
Female Ad Exec
1997
Scream 2
Debbie Salt/Mrs. Loomis/Ghostface
1998
Bulworth
Mimi
1999
Runaway Bride
Betty Trout
Uncredited Role
1999
Toy Story 2
Mrs. Davis
Voice role
2000
Timecode
Dava Adair
Scenes Deleted
2002
Treasure Planet
Sarah Hawkins
Voice role
2005
Fun with Dick and Jane
Phyllis
Uncredited Role
2006
Steel City
Marianne Karn
2006
Beer League
Artie's Mom
2007
Meet the Robinsons
Lucille Krunklehorn-Robinson
Voice role
2007
Georgia Rule
Paula Richards
2008
Stop-Loss
Mrs. Colson
2008
Persepolis
Mother of a young teenage boy
Voice role
2010
Toy Story 3
Mrs. Davis
Voice role
2011
Hop
Mrs. Bunny
Voice role
Title
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1981
Saturday Night Live
Weekend Update Reporter
Episode: Jr. Walker & The All-Stars
1985
The Execution of Raymond Graham
Carol Graham
Television film
1986
The Equalizer
Theresa
Episode: "No Conscience"
1988–97
Roseanne
Jackie Harris
221 episodes
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Comedy Series (1992–94)
Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series (1995)
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film (1993, 1995)
1995–96
Duckman
Voice role
Episodes: "Research and Destroy" and "Forbidden Fruit"
1997
King of the Hill
Cissy Cobb
Episode: "Peggy the Boggle Champ"
1997
The Eddie Files
Special Agent Hicks
Episode: "Decimals - The Fake Money Caper"
1997
Life with Louie
Miss Kinney
Voice role
Episode: "The Kiss Is the Thing"
1997
Dharma & Greg
Spyder
Episode: "Instant Dharma"
1998
Always Outnumbered
Halley Grimes
Television film
1998
The Long Island Incident
Carolyn McCarthy
Television film
1998
3rd Rock from the Sun
Jennifer Ravelli
Episodes: "What's Love Got to Do, Got to Do With Dick?", "I Am Dick Pentameter!" and "D3 - Judgment Day"
Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress - Comedy Series
1999
Balloon Farm
Casey Johnson
Television film
1999–01
The Norm Show
Laurie Freeman
54 episodes
2000
God, the Devil and Bob
Donna Allman
Voice role
13 episodes
2002
Two Families
Unsold pilot
2003
Phil at the Gate
Teddy Duffy
Unsold pilot
2003
Charlie Lawrence
Sarah Dolecek
7 episodes
2004
Malcolm in the Middle
Susan
Episode: "Lois's Sister"
2004
Frasier
Nanny G
Episode: "Caught in the Act"
2004
Absolutely Fabulous
Crystalline
Episode: "White Box"
2005
Without a Trace
Susan Hopkins
Episode: "A Day in the Life"
2006
Monk
Cora
Episode: "Mr. Monk Bumps His Head"
Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress - Comedy Series
2006
Grey's Anatomy
Beatrice Carver
Episode: "The Name of the Game"
2006
Desperate Housewives
Carolyn Bigsby
4 episodes
Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress - Comedy Series
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
2006
My Boys
Aunt Phyllis
Episode: "When Heroes Fall from Grace"
2007
The Virgin of Akron, Ohio
Lydia
Pilot episode
2007
Raines
Alice Brody
Episode: "Reconstructing Alice"
2007–10
The Big Bang Theory
Mary
Episodes: "The Luminous Fish Effect", "The Electric Can Opener Fluctuation" and "The Zazzy Substitution"
2008–09
Easy Money
Bobette Buffkin
8 episodes
2009
The Farm
Warden Margaret Elder
Unsold pilot
[edit]Awards and nominations
Emmy Awards
1992 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for: Roseanne
1993 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for: Roseanne
1994 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for: Roseanne
Nominations
1995 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Roseanne
1999 Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for: 3rd Rock From the Sun
2006 Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for: Monk
2007 Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for: Desperate Housewives
Golden Globe Awards
Nominations
1993 Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for: Roseanne
1995 Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for: Roseanne
Tony Awards
Nominations
2008 Best Featured Actress In A Play for: November