Joan Cusack
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| Joan Cusack | |
| Birth name | Joan Cusack |
| Born | October 11, 1962 (age 44) New York City, New York, United States |
| Notable roles | Working Girl (1988) In and Out (1997) |
Joan Cusack (born October 11, 1962) is an Academy Award-nominated American actress and comedian.
Cusack was born in New York City to Irish American Catholic parents Nancy and Richard Cusack, an actor and director; her brother is actor John Cusack, and her sister is actress Ann Cusack. She grew up in Evanston, Illinois, where she studied drama at the Piven Theatre Workshop [1]. She attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In Madison she performed with the Ark Improv Theater Group with a number of other actors who went on to success, like Holly Wortell. She had her first major film role in 1980's My Bodyguard, at the age of 18.
Cusack was a cast member of Saturday Night Live for one season in 1985. Her other television work includes a short-lived ABC sitcom, What About Joan? (2001), and It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002). She received two nominations for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, one for her role as Melanie Griffith's blue-collar best friend in Working Girl (1988), and another for playing the jilted bride of a man who realizes that he is gay in In & Out (1997).
To date, she and her brother John have appeared in eight movies together: Class (1983), Grandview, U.S.A. (1984), Sixteen Candles (1984), Broadcast News (1987), Say Anything (1989), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Cradle Will Rock (1999), and High Fidelity (2000). She will next appear with him in War, Inc., which also stars Hilary Duff and Marisa Tomei due for release in 2007.
Cusack married lawyer Richard Burke in 1993, and they have two sons, Dylan and Miles. She has been the speaker for many of the U.S. Cellular commercials. She is currently appearing on a weekly travel and food show, Local Flavor with Joan Cusack, on cable television's The Travel Channel. She resides with her family in Chicago.
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[edit] Media references
- On the Family Guy episode "Blind Ambition," when Peter is trying to become famous, Cleveland suggests he jump off the roof of a building and land on Joan Cusack. When he falls off the roof of the Drunken Clam, he crushes Joan Cusack (who was shown with orange hair instead of red) and kills her, then stuffs her in a mailbox.
[edit] Recurring characters on Saturday Night Live
- Salena, a socially inept girl who tries to ask out her boyfriend, Biff (played by Jon Lovitz), who's also socially inept.
[edit] Celebrity impersonations
[edit] Filmography
- Cutting Loose (1980)
- My Bodyguard (1980)
- Class (1983)
- Sixteen Candles (1984)
- Grandview, U.S.A. (1984)
- The Allnighter (1987)
- Broadcast News (1987)
- Stars and Bars (1988)
- Married to the Mob (1988)
- Working Girl (1988)
- Say Anything... (1989)
- Men Don't Leave (1990)
- My Blue Heaven (1990)
- The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez (1991) (also writer)
- Hero (1992)
- Toys (1992)
- Addams Family Values (1993)
- Corrina, Corrina (1994)
- Nine Months (1995)
- Two Much (1995)
- Mr. Wong (1996)
- Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
- A Smile Like Yours (1997)
- In & Out (1997)
- Arlington Road (1999)
- Cradle Will Rock (1999)
- Runaway Bride (1999)
- Toy Story 2 (1999) (voice)
- High Fidelity (2000)
- Where the Heart Is (2000)
- It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2000)
- What About Joan? (2001) (TV show)
- School of Rock (2003)
- Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)
- Raising Helen (2004)
- The Last Shot (2004)
- Ice Princess (2005)
- Chicken Little (2005) (voice)
- Friends with Money (2006)
- The Last Guy on Earth (2006) (currently in pre-production)
- Local Flavor with Joan Cusack (2006) (TV show)
- War, Inc. (2007) (filming)
- Toy Story 3 (TBC)
