Kate McKinnon Biography

Kate McKinnon Berthold (born January 6, 1984), commonly known as Kate McKinnon, is an American actress, voice actress, and comedian. She is best known for her sketch comedy work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and The Big Gay Sketch Show.

Early life

McKinnon was born and raised in Sea Cliff, New York. She is the daughter of Laura Campbell, a parent educator, and Michael Thomas Berthold, an architect. As a child, McKinnon played the piano, cello, and guitar. She graduated from North Shore High School in 2002 and from Columbia University in 2006, where she co-founded a comedy group, Tea Party, which focused on musical improv comedy.

Career

In 2007, McKinnon joined the original cast of the Logo Network's Big Gay Sketch Show, where she was a cast member on the series for all three seasons. Among her best-known characters was Fitzwilliam, a British boy whose only wish is to have a vagina.

McKinnon is known for her strong character work and celebrity impressions. Since 2008, she has performed live sketch comedy regularly at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City. She has also worked as a voiceover actress, and has voiced characters for series such as The Venture Brothers, Robotomy, and Ugly Americans. In 2009 McKinnon won a Logo NewNowNext Award for Best Rising Comic. She was nominated for an ECNY Emerging Comic Award in 2010.

Saturday Night Live

McKinnon debuted as a featured player on Saturday Night Live on April 7, 2012. She is SNL first openly lesbian cast member, as well as the series' third known gay cast member (after Terry Sweeney and Danitra Vance, the latter of whom's sexual orientation was not made public until after her death).

In 2013, McKinnon was nominated for an EWwy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Comedy, which was won by Cobie Smulders (coincidentally, the wife of fellow SNL cast member Taran Killam). McKinnon won the 2014 American Comedy Award for Best Supporting Actress, TV for her work on SNL. In 2014 she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, as well as for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics along with four of her colleagues for the song "Home for the Holiday (Twin Bed)".

Characters

• Olya Povlatsky, a Russian woman who appears on Weekend Update and voices her opinions on current events, comparing them to the outrageous struggles she faces in her village.
• Sheila Sauvage, a heavily intoxicated woman at a bar who meets and hooks up with a heavily intoxicated man, played by the host, at closing time.
• Jodi Cork, one of the hosts of Women in the Workplace
• Barbara, a lesbian volunteer at a Cat Shelter called Whiskers R We

Celebrity impressions

• Angela Merkel
• Jane Lynch
• Edie Falco (as Carmela Soprano from The Sopranos)
• Ann Romney
• Billie Jean King
• Barbara Walters
• Ellen DeGeneres
• Penelope Cruz
• Tabatha Coffey
• Theresa Caputo (from Long Island Medium)
• Barbara Corcoran
• Martha Stewart
• Jodie Foster
• Tilda Swinton
• Lorde
• Shakira
• Robyn
• Justin Bieber
• Angela Lansbury
• Jemima Kirke (as Jessa Johansson from Girls)
• Kathleen Sebelius
• Keith Urban
• Diana Nyad

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Mr. Ross	Debby	Short film
2011	Elizabeth Taylor's Video Will	Elizabeth Taylor	Short film
2011	Pudding Face	Amy	Short film
2012	My Best Day	Heather
2012	Hannah Has a Ho-Phase	Nicky
2014	Life Partners	Trace
2014	Intramural	Vicky
2015	Giant Sloth	Nina	Short film
2015	Masterminds		Post-production
2015	Sisters		Filming
2016	Angry Birds	(voice)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Mayne Street	Olga Svenson	Episode: "Parking Tickets"
2010	We Have to Stop Now	Angela	Episode: "Celesbianism"
2006-2010	The Big Gay Sketch Show	Various	23 episodes
2010	Vag Magazine	Bethany	6 episodes
2010-2011	Robotomy	Various voices	5 episodes
2010-2013	The Venture Bros.	Various voices	4 episodes
2011	The Back Room	Susan Boyle	Episode: "Todd Barry"
2012	Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday	Voter, Ann Romney, Woman	2 episodes
2012-present	Saturday Night Live	Herself, Various	Main cast
2013	Toy Story of Terror	PEZ Cat (voice)	TV special
2013	Hudson Valley Ballers	Just Jamie	2 episodes
2014	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Effie Villalopolus	Episode: "Nick Offerman Wears a Green Flannel Shirt & Brown Boots"
2014	The Awesomes	Lola "The Agravator" Gold (voice)	Recurring role

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2012	Ashland Independent Film Festival Award	Special Jury Mention for Acting Ensemble: Feature	My Best Day
2014	American Comedy Award	Comedy Supporting Actress - TV	Saturday Night Live
2014	Dorian Award	Wilde Wit of the Year
2014	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Saturday Night Live
2014	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics	Saturday Night Live for "Home For The Holiday (Twin Bed)"