Melissa McCarthy

Melissa McCarthy
McCarthy in 2012
Born	(1970-08-26) August 26, 1970 Plainfield, Illinois, United States
Occupation	Actress, comedian, writer, producer
Years active	1997–present
Spouse(s)	Ben Falcone (m. 2005)
Children	2
Relatives	Jenny McCarthy (cousin) Joanne McCarthy (cousin)

Melissa Ann McCarthy (born August 26, 1970)^[1] is an American actress, comedian, writer, fashion designer, and producer. McCarthy first gained recognition for her role as Sookie St. James on the television series Gilmore Girls (2000–2007). On the ABC sitcom Samantha Who? (2007–2009), she portrayed Dena. McCarthy was then cast as Molly Flynn on the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly, a role that earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series,^[2] as well as two award nominations during subsequent seasons. McCarthy has also been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her work as host on Saturday Night Live three years consecutively.

McCarthy achieved major success and fame for her breakthrough film role as Megan Price in the 2011 comedy hit Bridesmaids, which garnered her numerous award nominations including an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, a BAFTA nomination and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.^[3] In 2013, she co-starred in the comedy films Identity Thief and The Heat. She has also appeared in the films The Nines, The Back-up Plan, Life as We Know It, This Is 40 and The Hangover Part III. In 2014, McCarthy starred in the comedy Tammy and the comedy-drama film St. Vincent.^[4] In 2015, she headlined the action comedy Spy, for which she received Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical nomination. In 2016, McCarthy is set to star in comedy films The Boss and Ghostbusters.

McCarthy is the founder of the production company On the Day Productions with her husband Ben Falcone. In 2015, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and released women's plus size clothing collection, Melissa McCarthy Seven7. Also in 2015, Forbes named McCarthy the third highest-paid actress in the world that year.^[5][6]

Early life

McCarthy was born in Plainfield, Illinois,^[7] the daughter of Sandra and Michael McCarthy.^[8][9] She is the cousin of actress and model Jenny McCarthy.^[10] McCarthy was raised on a farm in a "big Irish Catholic family".^[11][12] Some of her ancestors were from County Cork.^[13] She graduated from St. Francis Academy (now Joliet Catholic Academy) in Joliet, Illinois.^[14] Her career started with stand-up comedy.^[15] McCarthy is an alumna of The Groundlings, an improvisational and sketch comedy troupe based in Los Angeles, California.^[16]

Career

1997–2010: Early work

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, Disney's The Kid, Charlie's Angels, The Third Wheel and The Life of David Gale. She also did voice work in three episodes of Kim Possible, where she played DNAmy.^[17]

In 2000, McCarthy was cast as Sookie St. James, the control freak and scatterbrain/klutzy best friend of Lorelai Gilmore on the The WB television series Gilmore Girls. The series ended after seven seasons, in 2007. In 2007, she starred opposite Ryan Reynolds in the science fantasy psychological thriller The Nines, written and directed by John August. She later starred in the independent comedies The Captain, Just Add Water, and Pretty Ugly People.^[18] From 2007 to 2009, McCarthy starred as Dena on the ABC sitcom Samantha Who? She also guest starred in Rita Rocks in 2009, and on Private Practice in 2010.^[19] In 2010, McCarthy played supporting roles in films The Back-Up Plan and Life as We Know It.^[20]

2011–2012: Mike and Molly, Bridesmaids, breakthrough and success

McCarthy at the 2012 Oscars

In early 2010, McCarthy was cast in the leading role as Molly Flynn on the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly.^[21] In 2011, McCarthy had a breakout performance in the comedy movie Bridesmaids alongside Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper. McCarthy received an Academy Award nomination for her performance. In fall 2011, after achieving fame from Bridesmaids, she received her first Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role on Mike & Molly.^[22][23]

In June 2011, she hosted the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards.^[24] McCarthy later had supporting roles in This Is 40 (2012), the semi-sequel to Judd Apatow's film Knocked Up,^[25] and The Hangover Part III (2013). She was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in June 2012 along with 175 other individuals.^[26]

McCarthy hosted Saturday Night Live on October 1, 2011, on April 6, 2013, a third time on February 1, 2014, and most recently on February 13, 2016. ^[27] She was nominated three times for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her appearances on the television show from 2012-2014.^[23]

2013–present: Continued success

In 2013, McCarthy co-starred in the crime comedy Identity Thief with Jason Bateman.^[28][29] Identity Thief opened at #1 at the box office, and grossed $174 million worldwide^[30] despite negative reviews. In his negative review of the film, film critic Rex Reed controversially made several references to McCarthy's weight, referring to her as "obese" and using several pejorative terms to refer to her body type.^[31][32] Reed's comments immediately attracted wide criticism from various film critics and the industry at large. Film critic Richard Roeper said, "This just smacks of mean-spirited name-calling in lieu of genuine criticism."^[33] In a column for The Huffington Post, Candy Spelling likened Reed's review to bullying.^[34]

Later in 2013, she co-starred with Sandra Bullock in the buddy cop comedy The Heat. The film was released in the United States and Canada on June 28, 2013 to both critical and commercial success.^[35] With McCarthy being called "box office gold, The Heat grossed $229 million worldwide.^[36]

McCarthy with Ben Falcone in 2007

McCarthy co-wrote the script for the movie Tammy, which was released on July 2, 2014. McCarthy starred in the movie, about a woman who loses her job and her car, and then learns that her husband has been unfaithful. To get away, McCarthy's character is forced to rely on her alcoholic grandmother for transportation (played by Susan Sarandon) as they embark on a journey of self-discovery.^[37]

McCarthy has also produced a CBS pilot, which starred her husband, Ben Falcone.^[38]

McCarthy played the female lead, opposite Bill Murray, in the 2014 comedy-drama film St. Vincent, directed and written by Theodore Melfi.^[39] In addition, McCarthy was the lead in frequent collaborator Paul Feig's spy comedy Spy (2015),^[40][41] a role that earned McCarthy her first Golden Globe Award nomination.

McCarthy is the founder of the production company On the Day with her husband Ben Falcone.^[4] Tammy was first project of her company. The film cost $20 million, a quite low budget, and McCarthy, who can command close to $10 million a role—took a smaller upfront salary in exchange for a larger-than-normal cut of the film's proceeds, according to people familiar with the deal.^[42] McCarthy also announced that in March 2015 she will film The Boss, a comedy film based on a character McCarthy first created in the Los Angeles Groundlings, about "a self-help inspiration speaker (a la Suze Orman or Oprah) who goes to jail for insider trading, and struggles to reinvent herself as America’s new sweetheart when she's released".^[4] She also announced The Memory of Running, based on the Ron McLarty novel about a war veteran on a cross-country bike pilgrimage, Cousin Irv based on the book by Bruce Eric Kaplan, and Just Do It. In Just Do It, McCarthy is set to star as a "wife who tries to repair her marriage with her husband through 100 days of continuous sex".^[4]

On November 19, 2014, announced that McCarthy will star as fairy heroine Tinker Bell in the untitled comedy-adventure directing by Shawn Levy.^[43] She is also set to produce the film.^[44]

On January 9, 2015 it was announced that McCarthy will star in Paul Feig's Ghostbusters' reboot.^[45][46] On January 27, 2015, it was announced that McCarthy had officially signed for the lead role in the all-female reboot of Ghostbusters directed by Paul Feig,^[47] where she will portray Abby, an author and scientist.^[48]

In May 2015, McCarthy received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[49][50][51] In August 2015, Forbes ranked her as the third highest-paid actress of 2015, with earnings of $23 million.^[52]

Personal life

McCarthy married her longtime boyfriend, Ben Falcone, an actor and alumnus of The Groundlings, on October 8, 2005.^[53][54] The couple have two daughters, Vivian (born May 5, 2007) and Georgette "Georgie" (born March 2010). McCarthy's pregnancy with Vivian was written into the last season of Gilmore Girls.^[55] Their daughter Vivian is playing the younger version of her mom's character in the movie The Boss.

Falcone often makes cameo appearances in movies and television shows starring McCarthy, such as "Gilmore Girls-Season 3, Episode 20", Bridesmaids, The Heat, Tammy, Identity Thief and Spy.

Fashion line

McCarthy, who studied textiles at Southern Illinois University, originally was interested in a career in fashion before she pursued a career in acting. When she first moved to New York City, it was to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology. One of her closest friends is shoe designer Brian Atwood. McCarthy also spent time working as the costumer for a dance company.^[10]

Following her success in 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.^[56] McCarthy has stated she "...wants to put an end to body shaming plus-size women."

Her fashion line, Seven7, debuted in August 2015 on the Home Shopping Network, with plans for her designs to be sold in major retailers in the following months.^{[57][58][59][60][61][62][63]}

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Melissa McCarthy.

• Official website
• Melissa McCarthy at the Internet Movie Database
• Melissa McCarthy at AllMovie
• Melissa McCarthy at Emmys.com