
Melissa McCarthy
Department: Acting
Biography
Melissa Ann McCarthy (born August 26, 1970) is an American actress, screenwriter, and producer. She has received numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards and nominations for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. McCarthy was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016, and she has been featured multiple times in annual rankings of the highest-paid actresses in the world. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her #22 in its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century. McCarthy began appearing on television and in film in the late 1990s. She first gained recognition for her role as Sookie St. James on the television series Gilmore Girls (2000–2007). She played Dena on the ABC sitcom Samantha Who? (2007–2009) before starring as Molly Flynn on the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly (2010–2016), for which she received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2011. McCarthy's appearances as a host on Saturday Night Live (2011–2017) led to a win for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2017. McCarthy gained critical acclaim for her performance in the comedy film Bridesmaids (2011), receiving a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She went on to star in several commercially successful comedies, including Identity Thief (2013), The Heat(2013), Tammy (2014), St. Vincent (2014), Spy (2015), and The Boss (2016). In 2018, McCarthy received critical acclaim for portraying writer Lee Israel in the biographical film Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018), earning a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She has since starred in the drama miniseries Nine Perfect Strangers (2021) and played Ursula in the musical fantasy film The Little Mermaid (2023). McCarthy and her husband, Ben Falcone, are the founders of the production company On the Day Productions, under which they have collaborated on several comedy films, including Life of the Party (2018), Super Intelligence (2020), and Thunder Force (2021). In 2015, she launched her clothing line for plus-sized women named Melissa McCarthy Seven7. She received a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Description above from the Wikipedia Melissa McCarthy, article licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For

Charlie's Angels
2000

A Night at the Academy Museum
2021

The Life of David Gale
2003

Pretty Ugly People
2008

Drowning Mona
2000

Go
1999

Pumpkin
2002

The Nines
2007

Kelly Clarkson Presents: When Christmas Comes Around
2021

The Back-Up Plan
2010

Adele One Night Only
2021

The Third Wheel
2002

Just Add Water
2008

Life As We Know It
2010

Bridesmaids
2011

This Is 40
2012

The Hangover Part III
2013

Identity Thief
2013

The Heat
2013

God
1998

Tammy
2014

Spy
2015

St. Vincent
2014

Genie
2023

Unfrosted
2024

Thor: Love and Thunder
2022

The Boss
2016

Ghostbusters
2016

Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Thor: Love and Thunder
2022

Kim Possible Movie: So the Drama
2005

Untitled Stanley Cup Project
—

Cook-Off!
2017

Margie Claus
2027

Must See TV: An All Star Tribute to James Burrows
2016

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
2003

White Oleander
2002

Life of the Party
2018

Can You Ever Forgive Me?
2018

Central Intelligence
2016

The Kid
2000

The Happytime Murders
2018

The Kitchen
2019

Love, Gilda
2018

Superintelligence
2020

The Starling
2021

Thunder Force
2021

The Little Mermaid
2023

Chicken Party
2003

Love and Distrust
2010

FOX Presents the iHeart Living Room Concert for America
2020

Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music
2025

Miss Nelson Is Missing
—

Auto Motives
2000

Kim Possible
2002

Samantha Who?
2007

Private Practice
2007

Finding Your Roots
2012

Gilmore Girls
2000

D.C.
2000

The Jenny McCarthy Show
1997

Mike & Molly
2010

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015

The Daily Show
1996

Kids' Choice Awards
1987

Hot Ones
2015

Curb Your Enthusiasm
2000

Saturday Night Live
1975

Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014

The Late Late Show with James Corden
2015

Chelsea
2016

The Penguins of Madagascar
2008

Ellen's Greatest Night of Giveaways
2019

Late Show with David Letterman
1993

Show Me the Movie!
2018

Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003

The Kelly Clarkson Show
2019

The Great Giveback with Melissa McCarthy and Jenna Perusich
2022

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014

The Reichen Show
2005

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
2009

The Late Late Show with James Corden
2015

The Simpsons
1989

RuPaul's Drag Race
2009

Entertainment Tonight
1981

Saturday Night Live
1975

The Graham Norton Show
2007

The Oscars
1953

The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2003

Little Big Shots
2016

Celebrity IOU
2020

Nine Perfect Strangers
2021

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life
2016

God's Favorite Idiot
2022

Conan
2010

Unspeakable: The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey
—

Only Murders in the Building
2021

Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
2014

Golden Globe Awards
1944

People's Choice Awards
1975

MTV Movie & TV Awards
1992

The Oscars
1953

Late Show with David Letterman
1993