![](https://pplstatic.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media/people/thumbs/M/mary-mcdonnell.jpg)
Quick Facts
Biography
Mary Eileen McDonnell (born April 28, 1952) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She received Academy Award nominations for her roles as Stands With A Fist in Dances with Wolves and May-Alice Culhane in Passion Fish. McDonnell is well known for her performances as President Laura Roslin in Battlestar Galactica, the First Lady in Independence Day, and Rose in Donnie Darko. She currently stars as Captain Sharon Raydor on the TNT series Major Crimes.
Early life
McDonnell was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and was raised in Ithaca, New York. She is the daughter of Eileen (née Mundy; 1921–1990) and John "Jack" McDonnell (1923–1973), a computer consultant. Her siblings are Jane (1950–2005), Sally, Judith, Jackie, and John. She is of Irish descent. After graduating from the State University of New York at Fredonia, she attended drama school and joined the prestigious Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, with which she worked for over 20 years.
Career
McDonnell won an Obie Award for Best Actress in 1981 for her work in the play Still Life. On Broadway, she has performed in productions of Execution of Justice, The Heidi Chronicles, and Summer and Smoke.
After more than 21 years of theater and television work, McDonnell made her film breakthrough in 1990 as Stands With A Fist, the daughter of American settlers raised by Sioux Indians, in Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves. Portraying the adopted daughter of Graham Greene's character Kicking Bird, McDonnell, then 37, was only ten months younger than Greene and less than two years younger than Tantoo Cardinal, who played Black Shawl, her adoptive mother. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role.
McDonnell's role in Passion Fish (1992) brought her another Academy Award nomination, this time for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Her other notable films include Grand Canyon (1991), Sneakers (1992), Independence Day (1996), and Donnie Darko (2001). McDonnell also starred with Patrick Swayze in the 1988 movie, Tiger Warsaw. In 1997 she played the judge in the film 12 Angry Men. The film also featured future Battlestar Galactica castmate Edward James Olmos.
On television, McDonnell had her first regular part in 1980 on the soap opera As the World Turns. She starred in 1984 on the short-lived medical comedy E/R, alongside Elliott Gould and George Clooney. Coincidentally, she guest-starred in 2001 on the NBC medical series of the same name, ER, which also featured Clooney. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her role on the show as Eleanor Carter, the mother of Dr. John Carter played by Noah Wyle, who also had a role in Donnie Darko. She played Dr. Virginia Dixon, a surgeon with Asperger syndrome for three episodes of Grey's Anatomy in 2008 and 2009.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/Mary_McDonnell_ComiCon_%28cropped%29.jpg/220px-Mary_McDonnell_ComiCon_%28cropped%29.jpg)
In 2003, McDonnell starred in the mini-series Battlestar Galactica as Laura Roslin. The mini-series led to the subsequent weekly series, with McDonnell reprising her Laura Roslin role. The series ended in March 2009. McDonnell received worldwide recognition for her performance in the show, part of which was shown when she was invited to the United Nations for a retrospective and discussion with Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama).
McDonnell took part in a special session entitled Battlestar Galactica at the 2009 World Science Festival. The session also included Michael Hogan, as well as scientists Nick Bostrom and Kevin Warwick. In 2011, she appeared in the role of Kate Roberts, the mother of Emma Roberts's character in Scream 4.
From 2009 to 2012, McDonnell had a recurring role in The Closer as Capt. Sharon Raydor, a police captain in the Force Investigation Division, who often butts heads with Kyra Sedgwick's Golden Globe and Emmy award-winning character. McDonnell received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series in 2011 for the role.
McDonnell's character is the lead in the spin-off, Major Crimes, which debuted August 13, 2012, after The Closer wrapped up its final season in the summer of 2012.
Personal life
McDonnell is married to actor Randle Mell, and currently resides in Pacific Palisades, California. McDonnell and Mell have two children together, Michael Mell and Olivia Mell.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1984 | Garbo Talks | Lady Capulet | |
1987 | Matewan | Elma Radnor | |
1988 | Tiger Warsaw | Paula Warsaw | |
1990 | Dances with Wolves | Stands With A Fist | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture |
1991 | Grand Canyon | Claire | |
1992 | Passion Fish | May-Alice Culhane | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama |
1992 | Sneakers | Liz | |
1994 | Blue Chips | Jenny Bell | |
1996 | Independence Day | First Lady Marilyn Whitmore | |
1996 | Mariette in Ecstasy | Prioress | |
1997 | Woman Undone | Terri Hansen | |
1998 | You Can Thank Me Later | Diane | |
1999 | Mumford | Althea Brockett | |
2001 | Donnie Darko | Rose Darko | |
2003 | Nola | Margaret Langworthy | |
2004 | Crazy Like a Fox | Amy Banks | |
2011 | Scream 4 | Kate Roberts | |
2011 | Margin Call | Mary Rogers | Nominated—Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1980 | As the World Turns | Claudia Colfax | Unknown episodes |
1984–85 | E/R | Dr. Eve Sheridan | 20 episodes |
1995–96 | High Society | Dorothy "Dott" Emerson | 13 episodes |
1997 | 12 Angry Men | Judge Cynthia Nance | Television film |
1998 | Evidence of Blood | Dora Overton | Television film |
1999 | Replacing Dad | Linda Marsh | Television film |
1999 | Ryan Caulfield: Year One | Rachel Caulfield | 2 episodes |
2000 | A Father's Choice | Susan Shaw | Television film |
2000 | For All Time | Laura Brown | Television film |
2001–02 | ER | Eleanor Carter | 5 episodes Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series |
2002 | Touched by an Angel | Sister Theodore | Episode: "Minute by Minute" |
2002 | Locket, TheThe Locket | Helen Staples | Television film |
2003 | Battlestar Galactica | President Laura Roslin | 2 episodes |
2004–09 | Battlestar Galactica | President Laura Roslin | 71 episodes Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television |
2005 | Mrs. Harris | Vivian Schulte | Television film |
2008–09 | Grey's Anatomy | Dr. Virginia Dixon | 3 episodes |
2009 | Killer Hair | Rose | Television film |
2009 | Hostile Makeover | Rose Smithsonian | Television film |
2009–12 | Closer, TheThe Closer | Captain Sharon Raydor | 23 episodes Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series |
2012–present | Major Crimes | Commander Sharon Raydor | 92 episodes |
2017 | Fargo | Ruth Goldfarb | Episode: "The House of Special Purpose" |
Awards and nominations
Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1991 | Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Dances with Wolves | Nominated |
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Nominated | ||
Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture | Nominated | ||
1993 | Academy Awards | Best Actress | Passion Fish | Nominated |
Golden Globe Awards | Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama | Nominated | ||
2002 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series | ER | Nominated |
2009 | Saturn Awards | Best Actress on Television | Battlestar Galactica | Won |
2011 | Gotham Awards | Best Ensemble Cast | Margin Call | Nominated |
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards | Best Cast | Nominated | ||
Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series | The Closer | Nominated |