Joan Mary Cusack (born October 11, 1962) is an American film, stage and television actress. A well-respected comedic character actor,[1] she has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles in the movies Working Girl and In & Out and is a three-time winner of the American Comedy Award as "Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture." Cusack was a cast member of the sketch comedy TV show Saturday Night Live in 1985-86. She is the sister of actor John Cusack.
Personal life[]
Joan Cusack was born in New York City to an Irish American Catholic family. She was raised in Evanston, Illinois.[2] Her mother, Nancy (née Carolan), is a former mathematics teacher and political activist.[3] Her father, Richard Cusack, as well as her siblings Ann, Bill, John and Susie, have also been actors.
Cusack is an alumna of the University of Wisconsin - Madison. She is married to Chicago attorney Dick Burke, with whom she has two sons, Dylan John and Miles. She also owns a home in Three Oaks Township, Michigan.
Career[]
Cusack has twice been nominated for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her work in Working Girl and In & Out. She appeared with her brother John in the movies Sixteen Candles, Grandview, U.S.A., Class, High Fidelity, Grosse Pointe Blank, Say Anything..., Cradle Will Rock, Martian Child, and most recently, War, Inc. She also starred in the short-lived ABC sitcom What About Joan? in 2001–02. For many years, Cusack was also the commercial spokeswoman for U.S. Cellular.
Cusack was a cast member on the NBC sketch show, Saturday Night Live, from 1985 to 1986. Her recurring characters on Saturday Night Live included, "Salena," a socially inept girl who tries to ask out her boyfriend, "Biff" (played by Jon Lovitz), who is also socially inept. In addition, she did celebrity impersonations of Brooke Shields, Jane Fonda and Queen Elizabeth II.
She has been nominated four times for the American Comedy Award, in the category of "Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture" and has won three times, for Runaway Bride, (1999), In & Out (1997) and Working Girl (1988). She has also won the New York Film Critics Circle Award and the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for "Best Supporting Actress" for In & Out.
In 2003, both Joan and her brother John signed the "Not in My Name" resolution (along with people such as Noam Chomsky and Susan Sarandon) opposing the invasion of Iraq.
Cusack currently narrates the public TV animated series Peep and the Big Wide World. She also recently signed on to guest-star on Law & Order: SVU.[4]
Filmography[]
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Cutting Loose | Minor role | |
| My Bodyguard | Shelley | ||
| 1983 | Class | Julia | |
| 1984 | Sixteen Candles | Geek Girl #1 | |
| Grandview, U.S.A. | Mary Maine | ||
| 1987 | The Allnighter | Gina | |
| Broadcast News | Blair Litton | ||
| 1988 | Stars and Bars | Irene Stein | |
| Married to the Mob | Rose | ||
| Working Girl | Cyn | American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role | |
| 1989 | Say Anything... | Constance Dobler | |
| 1990 | Men Don't Leave | Jody | |
| My Blue Heaven | Hannah Stubs | ||
| 1991 | The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez | Cathy | |
| 1992 | Hero | Evelyn Laplante | |
| Toys | Alzatia Zevo | ||
| 1993 | Addams Family Values | Debbie Jelinsky | Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 1994 | Corrina, Corrina | Jonesy | |
| 1995 | Nine Months | Gail Dwyer | Nominated — American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture |
| Two Much | Gloria | ||
| 1996 | Mr. Wrong | Inga Gunther | |
| 1997 | Grosse Pointe Blank | Marcella | Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actress Also for In & Out Nominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| A Smile Like Yours | Nancy Tellen | ||
| In & Out | Emily Montgomery | American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actress Also for Grosse Pointe Blank New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical Society of Texas Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated — Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actress - Comedy Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture | |
| 1999 | Arlington Road | Cheryl Lang | Nominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actress Also for Runaway Bride Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| Cradle Will Rock | Hazel Huffman | ||
| Runaway Bride | Peggy Flemming | American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress - Comedy/Romance Nominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actress Also for Arlington Road | |
| Toy Story 2 | Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl (voice) | Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Feature Production Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Film - Choice Hissy Fit | |
| 2000 | High Fidelity | Liz | |
| Where the Heart Is | Ruth Meyers | ||
| 2002 | It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie | Rachel Bitterman | |
| 2003 | School of Rock | Rosalie Mullins | |
| Looney Tunes: Back in Action | Mother | ||
| 2004 | Raising Helen | Jenny Portman | |
| The Last Shot | Fanny Nash | ||
| Peep and the Big Wide World | Narrator (Voice) | Animated TV Series Nominated — Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program | |
| 2005 | Ice Princess | Joan Carlyle | |
| Chicken Little | Abby Mallard (voice) | ||
| 2006 | Friends with Money | Franny | |
| 2007 | Martian Child | Liz | |
| 2008 | War, Inc. | Marsha Dillon | |
| Kit Kittredge: An American Girl | Miss Lucinda Bond | ||
| 2009 | Confessions of a Shopaholic | Jane Bloomwood | |
| My Sister's Keeper | Judge De Salvo | ||
| Acceptance | Nina | ||
| 2010 | Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil | Verushka the Witch (voice) | |
| Toy Story 3 | Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl (voice) |
Television[]
- Saturday Night Live (1985–1986; various)
- Peep and the Big Wide World (Narrator)
- What About Joan? (21 episodes, 2001–2002)[5]
- Criminal Minds
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Episode "Locum")
References[]
- ↑ Joan Cusack Biography. Tribute.ca
- ↑ "Interview with Joan Cusack by Allan Johnson". Retrieved November 15, 2008.
- ↑ "Cusack, Richard J.". Chicago Tribune. 2003-06-03. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
- ↑ "Exclusive: Joan Cusack Signs on to Law & Order: SVU". TVGuide.com.
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0278255/
External links[]
- Template:Title without disambig at the Internet Movie Database
- Joan Cusack at the Internet Broadway Database
- Joan Cusack at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Sac Ticket: Joan Cusack
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