Megan Mullally

Megan Mullally (born November 12, 1958) is an American actress and singer. After working in theatre in Chicago, Mullally moved to Los Angeles in 1985 and began to appear in supporting roles in film and television productions. She made her Broadway debut in Grease in 1994 and she has since appeared in several Broadway musicals. From 1998 until 2006, she played Karen Walker on the TV sitcom Will & Grace, arguably her best-known role to date. From 2006 until early 2007, Mullally hosted the short lived talk show The Megan Mullally Show. She has since appeared in guest-starring roles in television programs such as Parks and Recreation, Happy Endings, 30 Rock, Up All Night, Boston Legal, and a GLAAD Award-winning episode of The New Adventures of Old Christine. In 2010, Mullally starred as Lydia in the second season of Party Down. She also co-stars as Chief on Adult Swim's Childrens Hospital, and has recurred as Tammy Swanson on NBC's Parks and Recreation (playing her real-life husband, Nick Offerman's, ex-wife), Dana Hartz on ABC's Happy Endings, and Aunt Gayle on the FOX animated comedy Bob's Burgers. She received seven consecutive Emmy Award nominations for "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series" for her role on Will & Grace, winning twice in 2000 and 2006. She has also received four Screen Actors Guild Awards for her performance, and was nominated for four Golden Globe awards. Early life Mullally was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Martha (née Palmer) and Carter Mullally, Jr., an actor who was a contract player with Paramount Pictures in the 1950s. Mullally moved to her father's native Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at the age of six. She studied ballet from the age of six and performed at the Oklahoma City Ballet during high school, also studying at the School of American Ballet in New York City. Following her graduation from Casady School, she attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she studied English Literature and Art History, and subsequently became active in Chicago theatre. Career Mullally moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1985. Two weeks later, she was signed by the William Morris Agency. One of her first acting spots was on a McDonald's commercial that also featured John Goodman. She made her series debut in 1986 in The Ellen Burstyn Show. She subsequently guest starred on sitcoms such as Seinfeld, Frasier,Wings, Ned and Stacey, Mad About You, Caroline in the City and Just Shoot Me!. She played a central character in a season-five episode of Murder, She Wrote, "Coal Miner's Slaughter", recalling in 2012, "I hadn't gotten a job for so long, and I was in a complete panic because I didn't know how I was going to pay my rent. So I get a call one day from my agent that I'd gotten offered a guest role, and it paid $5,000. I literally fell down onto my knees and testified and wept. I played some former protégée of Jessica Fletcher. It's one of my favorite things I've ever shot." In 1990, Mullally tested for the co-starring role of Elaine Benes on Seinfeld. Mullally in 1998 landed the role of Karen Walker, Grace Adler's sarcastic, pill-popping assistant, in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace. She won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in both 2000 and 2006, and was nominated in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005. She won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series three times, in 2002, 2003 and 2004, and with cast members Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, and Sean Hayes, she shared the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2001. She is the first of only two actresses to win a SAG Award three years in a row. She was nominated each year from 2000 until 2003, for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film. Personal life Mullally's first marriage, in the mid-1990s, was to talent agent Michael Katcher. In 2000, Mullally met actor Nick Offerman while doing a play together in Los Angeles. The two married in 2003. Offerman guest-starred on Will & Grace during its fourth season; in return, Mullally has guest-starred on Parks and Recreation, on which Offerman plays a lead role. Mullally plays Tammy, the conniving ex-wife of Offerman's character Ron Swanson, appearing in eight episodes.