Laurie Metcalf

Laurie Metcalf
Metcalf in February 2008
Born	Lauren Elizabeth Metcalf June 16, 1955 (1955-06-16) Carbondale, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1978–present
Spouse	Jeff Perry (m.1983-1992; 1 child) Matt Roth (m.1993-present(filed for divorce); 2 children)
Children	2 daughters and one son

Lauren Elizabeth "Laurie" Metcalf (June 16, 1955) is an American actress. She is widely known for her performance as Jackie Harris on the ABC sitcom Roseanne, Carolyn Bigsby on Desperate Housewives, Mary Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, 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.

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. Her great-aunt was the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Zoe Akins. Metcalf is an alumna of Illinois State University, class of 1976.

Career

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 feature player on Dick Ebersol's first produced episode of Saturday Night Live following the firing of Jean Doumanian and her cast (save for Eddie Murphy, Joe Piscopo, Denny Dillon, and Gail Matthius). Metcalf appeared in that one episode on a Weekend Update segment about taking a bullet for the President of the United States. Because of the sketch show's severe decline in quality at the time and the 1981 Writers' Guild of America strike, the show was put on hiatus for retooling. Metcalf was never asked back to be a cast member.

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, and another in Hollywood in May 2011.

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 .

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.

Personal life

Metcalf married Steppenwolf co-founding member Jeff Perry. They had a daughter, Zoe in 1984, and later divorced.

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. Both Metcalf and Roth appeared in the same episode of Desperate Housewives. Their daughter Mae was born in 2005 via surrogate.

In September 2011, Matt filed papers citing irreconcilable differences. According to legal documents, the date of separation is November 26, 2008.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	Wedding, AA 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	Appointments of Dennis Jennings, TheThe 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	Dangerous Woman, AA Dangerous Woman	Anita Bell
1994	Secret Life of Houses, TheThe 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
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	Execution of Raymond Graham, TheThe Execution of Raymond Graham	Carol Graham	Television film
1986	Equalizer, TheThe 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	Eddie Files, TheThe 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	Long Island Incident, TheThe 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	Norm Show, TheThe 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	Virgin of Akron, Ohio, TheThe Virgin of Akron, Ohio	Lydia	Pilot episode
2007	Raines	Alice Brody	Episode: "Reconstructing Alice"
2007–11	Big Bang Theory, TheThe Big Bang Theory	Mary Cooper	Episodes: "The Luminous Fish Effect", "The Electric Can Opener Fluctuation", "The Zazzy Substitution", and "The Rhinitis Revelation"
2008–09	Easy Money	Bobette Buffkin	8 episodes
2009	Farm, TheThe Farm	Warden Margaret Elder	Unsold pilot

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

External links

• Laurie Metcalf at the Internet Movie Database
• Laurie Metcalf at the Internet Broadway Database
• Laurie Metcalf at the Internet Off-Broadway Database