Maggie Wheeler Biography

Margaret Emily Wheeler (ne Jakobson; born August 7, 1961) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Janice on the sitcom Friends. She was also a recurring character on Everybody Loves Raymond as Linda as well as Anita Warrell on the sitcom Ellen.

Personal life

Wheeler was born in Manhattan, the daughter of Barbara, a writer, and John Jakobson, who began his career on Wall Street as one of youngest members of the New York Stock Exchange and left an estate worth $100 million. She was raised in a secular Jewish household. She married Daniel Borden Wheeler in 1990. They have two children.

Career

In the 1980s, Wheeler (under her maiden name of Jakobson) briefly dabbled in voice acting on the animated series SilverHawks, where she provided all the female voices, specifically the villainess Melodia and the heroine Steelheart/Emily Hart, and on the Karate Kat and Mini-Monsters segments of The Comic Strip.

It was rumored that Wheeler auditioned for the role of Monica Geller, however after many interviews she stated that it was a false rumour, she was however invited to play Janice Goralnik, a recurring character who was a frequent love interest of main character Chandler Bing. She appeared at least once in each season; her 19 episodes tie her with Christina Pickles for Friends"? third most frequent guest actor, behind only Elliott Gould's 20 episodes, and James Michael Tyler's 150 episodes.

She also auditioned for the role of Debra Barone, on the American sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. Although she was the producers' choice, CBS ended up selecting Patricia Heaton. Instead, Wheeler played the recurring role of Debra's friend, Linda.

According to Kathy Griffin's autobiography, Official Book Club Selection, Wheeler was cast in the role of Vicki for the pilot episode of Suddenly Susan and was eventually replaced by Griffin.

She had a star billing in the first season of Ellen. She appeared on the hit comedy Seinfeld in the episode "The Fix-Up", as one of Elaine's friends who is set up with George. She has appeared in many other television programs, including Drake & Josh, ER, The X-Files, The War at Home, Will & Grace, Jack and Jill, How I Met Your Mother and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

In 1997, Wheeler voiced Harley Quinn's replacement in the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Joker's Millions". In 1998, she appeared in the remake of Disney's The Parent Trap, playing the younger of a mother-daughter pair of camp counselors. She also guest starred in the Disney Channel Original Series Shake It Up as Dina's Mom.

In 2005, Wheeler starred opposite David DeLuise on the NBC pilot The Sperm Donor. Wheeler provided the voice of Odile in Barbie of Swan Lake, and in 2010 she voiced Trinette in four episodes of Archer on FX.

Filmography

Film roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Soup for One	Nurse
1983	Portfolio	Assistant Choreographer
1987	Someone to Love	Attendee
1989	Mortal Sins	Marie
1989	New Year's Day	Lucy
1993	Sexual Healing	Suzanne	Short film
1998		Marva Kulp, Jr
2003	Barbie of Swan Lake	Odile	Voice role; direct-to-video film
2006	Dr. Dolittle 3	Brown Hen / Fluffy Hen	Voice role; direct-to-video film
2007	Waking Dreams	Jenny
2015	The 3 Tails: A Mermaid Adventure	Maria

Television roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	'	Various	8 episodes
1985	'		Episode: "The Day Kingsfield Missed Class"
1986	SilverHawks	Melodia / Steelheart	Voice role; main role
1990	L.A. Law	Paula Lights	Episode: "The Good Human Bar"
1991	Dream On	Bonnie Decker	Episode: "So Funny I Forgot to Laugh"
1992	Seinfeld	Cynthia	Episode: "The Fix-Up"
1992	Civil Wars	Patricia McDermott	Episode: "Mob Psychology"
1992	Doogie Howser, M.D.	Elena Spencer	Episodes: "What You See Ain't Necessarily What You Get", "The Patient in Spite of Himself"
1993	Sexual Healing	Suzanne
1994	'	Det. Sharon Lazard	Episode: "Born Again"
	Friends	Janice Litman-Goralnik (ne Hosenstein)	Recurring role, 19 episodes
1994-1996	Ellen	Anita Warrell	Main role (season 1); guest role (season 3); 13 episodes
1995	Pride & Joy	Flight Attendant	Episode: "Terror at 30,000 Feet"
1996-2004	Everybody Loves Raymond	Linda Gruenfelder	Recurring role, 11 episodes
1998	'	Fake Harley (voice)	Episode: "Joker's Millions"
1998	Love Boat: The Next Wave	Cindy	Episode: "True Course"
1999	Get Real	Jennifer	Episode: Pilot
2001	Jack & Jill	Kristen Moss	Episodes: "Crazy Like a Fox, Hungry Like the Wolf", "Bag Full of Love"
2001	It's Like, You Know...	Rachel	Episode: "Walking Tall"
2002	Will & Grace	Polly	Episode: "Dyeing Is Easy, Comedy Is Hard"
2002	Justice League	Antiope / Perfume Lady/ Firefighter / Pilot	Voice role; episode: "Fury: Parts 1 & 2"
2003	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Stand-Up Comedian	Episode: "Last Laugh"
2004	Kim Possible	Dr. Renton	Voice role; episode: "Motor Ed"
2005	Paine Management	Jeanine Bernsen	Television movie
2005	Fat Actress	Woman Diapering Baby	Episode: "Charlie's Angels or Too Pooped to Pop"
2005	Higglytown Heroes	Street Sweeper Hero	Voice role; episode: "Higgly Frog Day/Eubie's Ele-Fantastic Adventure"
2005	E-Ring	Investigator	Episode: "Escape and Evade"
2006	Drake & Josh	Mindy's 3rd Cousin Denise	Episode: "Alien Invasion"
2006	ER	Amy Kellerman	Episode: "Ames v. Kovac"
2006	Friday Night Lights	Teacher	Episode: "It's Different for Girls"
2007	'	Mindy	Episodes: "It's a Lower-Middle-Upper-Middle Class Problem", "The War of the Golds"
2007	How I Met Your Mother	Margaret	Episode: "Dowisetrepla"
2009	Without a Trace	Gail Menken	Episode: "Wanted"
2009	'	Jennifer	Unsold television pilot
	Archer	Receptionist, Trinette Magoon	Voice role; 11 episodes
2010	Glenn Martin DDS		Voice role; episode: "Jackie of All Trades"
2011	Shake It Up	Mrs. Garcia	Episodes: "Twist it Up", "In The Bag it Up"
2011	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Ilene Solotaroff	Episode: "Palestinian Chicken"
2013	Californication	Ophelia Robbins	Recurring role, 5 episodes
2014	Hot in Cleveland	Rachel (Melanie's Childhood friend)	Episode: "Murder House"
2015	I Didn't Do It	Fortune Teller	Episode: "The Bite Club"
2016	Maron	Steph	Episode: "Shrink and Kink"
2018	Shameless	Fiona's lawyer	Episodes: "A Gallagher Pedicure", "Sleepwalking"
2018	The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants	Lunch Lady (voice) / Mrs. Yewh (voice) / T.P. Mummy (voice)	Episodes: "Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Perilous Misfortune of the T.P. Mummy", "Captain Underpants and the Squishy Predicament of the Stanley Peet's Stinky Pits"