Laurie Metcalf Biography

Lauren Elizabeth "Laurie" Metcalf (born June 16, 1955) is an American actress. She is perhaps most widely known for her performance as Jackie Harris on the ABC sitcom Roseanne and has also had series television roles as Carolyn Bigsby on Desperate Housewives and Mary Cooper on The Big Bang Theory. Her motion picture roles include the voice of Mrs. Davis in the Toy Story film series and the character Debbie Loomis/Debbie Salt in Scream 2, as well as roles in such critically acclaimed films as Making Mr. Right, JFK, and Mistress. Metcalf frequently works in Chicago theater, where she is well known for her performance in the 1983 revival of Lanford Wilson's play Balm in Gilead. She has also appeared in commercials for Plan USA, a humanitarian organization which helps children in need around the world.

She is a three-time Emmy Award winner, and has been nominated four other times, as well as having been nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, two Tony Awards, a Satellite Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Metcalf has won both a Theatre World Award and an Obie Award for her work on the stage, and recently starred as Mary Tyrone in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night, with David Suchet, Kyle Soller and Trevor White. This production was performed at London's Apollo Theatre until August 18, 2012. She is currently appearing as Juliana Smithton in Sharr White's The Other Place on Broadway, a role she originated off-Broadway in 2011.

Early life

Metcalf was born in Carbondale, Illinois, the eldest of three children, and was raised in Edwardsville, Illinois. Her father, James, was the budget director at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville at the time of his death in 1984, and her mother, Libby, was a librarian. Her great-aunt was the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Zoë 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 Headly, Joan Allen, Terry Kinney, and Jeff Perry, the latter two of whom, along with Perry's high school classmate Gary Sinise, went on to establish Chicago's famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Metcalf began her professional career at Steppenwolf, of which she was a charter 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 and a 1984-1985 Theatre World Award (for best debut in a Broadway or Off-Broadway performance). Metcalf was showered with praise for her performance as "Darlene", and was specifically singled out for her tour de force twenty-minute Act Two monologue.

Thereafter, Metcalf relocated to Manhattan and began to work in both film and theater, including such productions as David Mamet's November.

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.

In 2012, Metcalf joined British actor David Suchet in a British stage production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night.

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, Beer League, Mistress, A Dangerous Woman, Uncle Buck, 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, Stop Loss, and Hop.

Metcalf has often appeared against type in both film and television; in JFK, she played a dramatic role 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 a single episode of Saturday Night Live – the final episode of the show's tumultuous 1980-1981 season. In 1981, she appeared as a feature player on the first Dick Ebersol-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). She appeared in 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.

Metcalf is perhaps best known for her role as "Jackie", the police-officer sister of 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 the airing of two episodes. Metcalf has made guest appearances on Absolutely Fabulous, Malcolm in the Middle, My Boys, Dharma & Greg, Frasier, Without a Trace, 3rd Rock from the Sun, and Monk; she was nominated for the Emmy Award as Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series for both of the latter two listed roles.

She took a recurring role on Desperate Housewives – for which she received an Emmy (also in the category Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series) and a Satellite Award nomination – and also appeared alongside her ex-husband Jeff Perry in an episode of Grey's Anatomy. In fall 2008, Metcalf starred in the CW dramedy Easy Money, as the matriarch of a family of loan sharks. The series was canceled after three episodes.

Personal life

Metcalf married Steppenwolf Theatre Company co-founding member Jeff Perry in 1983. They had a daughter, Zoe in 1984, and later divorced, in 1992.

Metcalf later began a relationship 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 worked together on occasion, as in the 1994 feature film thriller Blink and the 1998 drama Chicago Cab; they also appeared together in an episode of Desperate Housewives. Their daughter Mae was born in 2005 via surrogate.

In September 2011, Roth filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. They separated on November 26, 2008.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	'	Maid	Uncredited Role
1985	Desperately Seeking Susan	Leslie Glass
1987	Making Mr. Right	Sandy
1988	Candy Mountain	Alice
1988	Stars and Bars	Melissa
1988	'	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	'	Anita Bell
1994	'	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 Loomis/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

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Saturday Night Live	Weekend Update Reporter	Episode 119
1985	'	Carol Graham	Television film
1986	'	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	'	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	'	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"2001	'	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	'	Lydia	Pilot episode
2007	Raines	Alice Brody	Episode: "Reconstructing Alice"
2007"11	'	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	'	Warden Margaret Elder	Unsold pilot
2012-	'	Dr. Richland

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 Award

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

Ovation Award

• 2011 Lead Actress in a Play as Virginia in the Sacred Fools Theater Company production of "Voice Lessons"

Tony Award

Nominations

• 2008 Best Featured Actress In A Play for: November
• 2013 Best Leading Actress In A Play for: The Other Place