Mary McDonnell, a two-time
Oscar(r),-nominated actress, is best known for her portrayals on screen in both
modern and historical roles. She also has a lengthy history of acting roles on
stage and screen. Mary Eileen McDonnell is a Pennsylvania-born actress. She was
the child of Eileen (Mundy), an Irish-American computer consultant, as well as
John McDonnell. Born in Ithaca, New York, she graduated from the State
University of New York (SUNY) at Fredonia. After that, she went to the drama
school and was accepted to the Long Wharf Theatre Company in East Coast. In the
following two decades she scored her first major film role, in Kevin Costner's
Dances with Wolves (1990) where she played "Stands with a Fist" as a
white woman raised by the Sioux Indians. The role was so well-loved that she
was awarded her first Academy Award nomination. McDonnell's film credits
include Lawrence Kasdan's Grand Canyon (1991) & Mumford (1999),
opposite veteran actors like Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier and Ben Kingsley; Roland
Emmerich’s Independence Day (1996) (starring Will Smith); the popular art house
cult hit Donnie Darko (192001); and Margin Call (2011). This earned her the
Robert Altman Awards at the 2012 Independent Spirit Awards. On the smaller
screen, McDonnell starred in four seasons of the Syfy Network's award-winning
series Battlestar Galactica (2004) in her critically acclaimed performance as
President Laura Roslin. She earned an Emmy nomination for her regular guest
appearance on the tv show ER (1994). TNT's hit drama series Major Crimes (2012)
features McDonnell as Captain Sharon Raydor. This is the sequel to The Closer
(2005) in which McDonnell developed the role. She was nominated for the
Primetime Emmy(r). The character she played as a paraplegic star of soap opera
in John Sayles' critically acclaimed film Passion Fish (1992) earned her a Best
Actress Academy Award (r) nomination as well as an Academy Award nomination.
Golden Globe nod.
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