Melissa McCarthy

A fearless comic performer with a gift for jaw-dropping physical humor, Melissa McCarthy was a force of nature in such hit features as Bridesmaids (2010) and The Heat (2013), as well as a nuanced dramatic talent in Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2019). Born Melissa Ann McCarthy in Plainfield, Illinois, she relocated to New York City at the age of 20 to try her hand at the city's comedy scene. After gaining experience as a stand-up, McCarthy headed west to Los Angeles, where she joined the acclaimed improvisational troupe the Groundlings. She also performed in New York City as a drag queen under the moniker Miss Y, including at the Wigstock festival. McCarthy made her first television appearance in an episode of the NBC comedy series Jenny, opposite her cousin Jenny McCarthy. She made her feature film debut in a minor role in the 1999 comedy Go, and later had roles in the movies Drowning Mona (2000, Disney's The Kid (2000), Charlie's Angels (2000), The Third Wheel (2002) and The Life of David Gale (2003). She also worked in three episodes of Kim Possible, voicing DNAmy. In 2000, McCarthy was cast as Sookie St. James, the upbeat and klutzy best friend of Lorelai Gilmore, on The WB television series Gilmore Girls. Throughout the series, Sookie is Lorelai's business partner and cheerleader. Her gift for physical comedy and ebullient presence made her a go-to for sidekicks on subsequent series like Samantha Who? (ABC, 2007-09) and features like The Back-Up Plan (2010) with Jennifer Lopez. While starring in the romantic sitcom Mike & Molly (CBS, 2010-16), McCarthy finally broke away from the "best friend" persona with an unfettered turn as a filter-free member of Maya Rudolph's wedding party in Bridesmaids. In addition to the film's unexpected runaway success, McCarthy also enjoyed an Oscar nomination for her performance, as well as an Emmy win for Mike & Molly. McCarthy later had supporting roles in This Is 40 (2012), the spinoff to Judd Apatow's film Knocked Up and The Hangover Part III (2013). Now firmly established as a comedy star, McCarthy settled into a string of hit feature comedies that hinged on her talent for slow-building eruptions of chaos, including Identity Thief (2012) with Jason Bateman, The Heat (2013), with Sandra Bullock, Spy (2015) and The Boss (2016), which she co-wrote and produced with her husband, actor/director Ben Falcone. McCarthy also played the female lead, opposite Bill Murray, in the 2014 cult comedy film St. Vincent, directed and written by Theodore Melfi. She was also a popular guest on Saturday Night Live hosting five times between 2011 and 2017 and earning an Emmy win in the latter year for, among other moments, an uproarious turn as White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. In 2016 she recorded the song "Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)" with Barbra Streisand which appears on Streisand's album Encore. Her other TV work includes guest roles in Curb Your Enthusiasm and Private Practice. She also returned for the Netflix reunion series Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (2016) and hosted Little Big Shots (2020). She reteamed with Bridesmaids star/co-writer Kristen Wiig for Paul Feig's remake of Ghostbusters (2016), and logged time in three largely overlooked comedies Tammy (2014), Life of the Party (2018), which she co-wrote with Falcone, and The Happytime Murders (2018), a raunchy comedy featuring puppets before seguing into dramatic material for Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2019). McCarthy's turn as author turned celebrity forger Lee Israel earned not only critical praise but an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. The success of the film was followed by another flurry of activity, including more dramatic work in the crime drama The Kitchen (2019) and several comic collaborations with Falcone, including 2020's Superintelligence. She was in the Hulu series Nine Perfect Strangers alongside Nicole Kidman. her more recent films include The Starling (2021) from St. Vincent director Theodore Melfi, a cameo in Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) and the live action remake of The Little Mermaid. Following her films, she teamed up with Sunrise Brands to manufacture her first clothing collection, Melissa McCarthy Seven7, for plus-size women. The line will include clothes up to size 28. McCarthy states that "People don't stop at size 12. I feel like there's a big thing missing where you can't dress to your mood above a certain number. Malls segregate "plus-size" clothes stores and hide these stores away from other sections of the mall." Her fashion line, Seven7, debuted in August 2015 on the Home Shopping Network, with plans for her designs to be sold in major retailers.