Rachael Harris Biography

Rachael Elaine Harris (born January 12, 1968) is an American actress and comedian.

Early life

Harris was born in Worthington, Ohio. She graduated from Worthington High School. She went on to graduate from Otterbein College, in 1989, majoring in theatre.

Career

Harris performed with the Los Angeles, California, improvisational comedy troupe the Groundlings, and taught for a time with the Groundlings school. She debuted on television in a 1993 episode of SeaQuest DSV.

After an appearance on Star Trek: Voyager in 1997, Harris went on to a recurring role in The WB's Sister, Sister. Other television credits include a stint as a correspondent for The Daily Show's 2002"2003 season, as well as roles on The Sarah Silverman Program, Reno 911!, The West Wing, The Good Guys, Friends, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Monk, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and in November 2008, Desperate Housewives. She also appears in "Suits" as Sheila, Louis Litt's on-and-off again love interest.

Harris played the supporting role of Kevyn Shecket, Kirstie Alley's personal makeup artist, on the Showtime series Fat Actress in 2005. She played Cooper in the ABC sitcom Notes from the Underbelly.

Her film credits include roles in Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration, Kicking & Screaming, and Daddy Day Care. In the 2009 comedy The Hangover she plays Melissa, girlfriend to Ed Helms's character Stu. She previously co-starred with Helms on The Daily Show. She played Greg's mother in the film Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010), and reprised the role in the two sequels.

Harris hosted Smoking Gun TV in 2004, and has made multiple appearances on such VH1 documentaries as I Love the '80s, I Love the '90s, and Best Week Ever.

Off-Broadway Harris has performed in Love, Loss, and What I Wore.

Harris' TV commercial work includes ads for Dinty Moore, Avis, Expedia, Quaker Oats, T-Mobile, Geico, and a Super Bowl commercial for the 2010 Census. She is the voice of turtle Karolyn Slowsky in the Comcast Slowskys television commercials.

Harris signed on to ABC's Cougar Town, TVGuide.com confirmed. She plays Shanna, a woman that the network describes as being the "nemesis" of Jules. Also on ABC, she made a guest appearance in the Modern Family episode "Caught in the Act" as a restaurateur.

Harris stars in the indie comedy/drama film Natural Selection which was well received at its 2011 South by Southwest debut, winning both jury and audience awards for best narrative feature, in addition to best screenplay, best editing, and best score/music. Harris received the breakthrough performance award for her role as Linda.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1992	Treehouse Trolls Forest of Fun and Wonder	Mama
1995	Cellblock Sisters: Banished Behind Bars	Young May
1996	The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson	Fornaio Waitress #2
1998	The Week That Girl Died	Honey
2001	The Gristle	Mrs. Alden
2002	Showtime	Teacher
	Stuart Little 2	Additional Voices
	The New Brad	Kelly
2003	A Mighty Wind	Steinbloom's Assistant
2005	Kicking & Screaming	Ann Hogan
2007	Matters of Life and Dating	Carla
	License to Wed	Janine
2009	The Hangover	Melissa
2010	Diary of a Wimpy Kid	Susan Heffley
2011	Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
	Natural Selection	Linda	Nominated - Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead
2012	Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days	Susan Heffley
	Wreck-It Ralph	Deanna	Voice
2013	Lovesick		Post-production
2013	Bad Words

Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	SeaQuest DSV	Rose	1 episode "Treasures of the Tonga Trench"
1997	Star Trek: Voyager	Martis	1 episode "Before and After"
2002	Friends	Julie	1 episode "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby"
2002-2003	The Daily Show	Herself
2005	Fat Actress	Kevyn Shecket	Main cast
	Monk	Alice Westergren	1 episode "Mr. Monk and the Secret Santa"
2006	Reno 911	Debbie Dangle	3 episodes
2007	The New Adventures Of Old Christine	Claire	1 episode "My Big Fat Sober Wedding"
	Notes from the Underbelly	Cooper	Main cast
2008	Desperate Housewives	Sandra Birch	1 episode "City on Fire"
	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Megan	1 episode "Two and a Half Deaths"
	Pushing Daisies	Georgeann Heaps	1 episode "Circus, Circus"
	Hollywood Residential	Rachael
2009	Cougar Town	Shanna
2010	My Boys	Marcia
	Childrens Hospital	Mrs. Throman	1 episode "You Know No One Can Hear You, Right?"
	The Good Guys	Cynthia Savage	1 episode "Dan on the Run"
	Party Down	Marguerite Tayler	1 episode "Not On Your Wife Opening Night" (credited as Rachel Harris)
2011	Modern Family	Amelia	1 episode "Caught in the Act"
	Archer	Rona Thorne	1 episode "Movie Star"
	$h*! My Dad Says	Soledad Cho	1 episode "Corn Star"
2012	New Girl	Tanya Lamontagne	3 episodes
	Suits	Sheila Sazs	3 episodes
	The Burn with Jeff Ross	Herself	1 episode
	Happy Endings	Suzanne	1 episode "Sabado Free-Gante"