Megan Mullally

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 age six.

She is of English, Irish and Scandinavian ancestry.

She studied ballet from age 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 in Oklahoma City, Mullally attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she studied English literature and art history.

After her sophomore year, she began acting in theater in downtown Chicago.

By junior year, she was performing in eight shows per week.

She later dropped out of Northwestern to pursue acting.

One of Mullally's earliest acting spots was on a McDonald's commercial that also featured John Goodman.

Megan Mullally (born November 12, 1958) is an American actress, singer, and comedian.

She made her series debut in 1986 in The Ellen Burstyn Show.

She subsequently guest-starred on sitcoms such as Seinfeld, Frasier, Wings, Herman's Head, Ned and Stacey, Mad About You, Caroline in the City, 3rd Rock from the Sun and Just Shoot Me!.

In 1989, Mullally tested for the role of Elaine Benes on Seinfeld.

The role was eventually given to Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

She is best known for playing Karen Walker in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace (1998–2006, 2017–2020), for which she received eight Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, winning twice, in 2000 and 2006.

In 1998, Mullally landed the role of Karen Walker, Grace Adler's abrasive, pill-popping assistant, in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace.

She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in both 2000 and 2006, and was nominated in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and again for the revival in 2018.

She was nominated each year from 2000 until 2003 for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film.

She also received nominations for numerous other accolades for her portrayal, including seven consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series, winning three times, in 2001, 2002, and 2003, as well as receiving four Golden Globe Award nominations.

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.

In 2005, Mullally saw comedian and actor Bill Hader performing with his Second City class in Los Angeles, and shortly thereafter brought Hader to the attention of Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels.

Also in 2005, Mullally was awarded the Women in Film Lucy Award in recognition of her "innovation in creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television".

From 2006 to 2007, Mullally hosted the talk show The Megan Mullally Show.

Since then, she has been a series regular on several television series, such as In the Motherhood, Party Down, Childrens Hospital, and Breaking In.

She has also appeared in guest spots and recurring roles on other comedy series including, Happy Endings, Bob's Burgers, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, Up All Night, Boston Legal, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Party Down, and The Great North.

Following Will & Grace, Mullally hosted her own talk show, The Megan Mullally Show from 2006 to 2007.

She has hosted Saturday Night Live, guest-hosted the Late Show with David Letterman, hosted the 2006 TV Land Awards, and been a featured performer twice on the Tony Awards.

She has been featured in advertisements for M&M's, Old Navy, CheapTickets.com, and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!

Mullally guest-starred as an adoption case worker for Liz Lemon in the third-season premiere of the NBC sitcom 30 Rock and returned to play the same character two additional times during the show's run.

Other appearances include Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, Campus Ladies, director/actor David Wain's "Wainy Days", an episode of HBO's Funny or Die, and the Funny or Die web video "That's What She Said".

Mullally has guest-starred seven times as Tammy Swanson on the NBC series Parks and Recreation, in the episodes "Ron and Tammy", "Ron & Tammy: Part Two", "Li'l Sebastian", "Ron and Tammys", "The Trial of Leslie Knope", "Ron and Diane", "Ron and Jammy", and "A Parks and Recreation Special".

Mullally plays the role of the second ex-wife of the character Ron Swanson, who is played by her real-life husband, Nick Offerman.

Offerman also had two different roles on Mullally's show Will & Grace, playing a plumber and chef.

Also in 2009, Mullally starred in the ABC sitcom In the Motherhood.

Based on the original web series, the television adaptation focuses on three mothers.

She played Rosemary opposite Cheryl Hines and Jessica St. Clair.

The series was poorly received and was canceled by ABC due to low ratings after airing five out of seven episodes produced.

In addition to television, Mullally has also ventured into film, with appearances in Smashed (2012), The Kings of Summer (2013), and Why Him? (2016).

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."