Katie Finneran
Encyclopedia
Katie Finneran is an American actress of film
, stage
, and television
noted for her Tony Award
-winning performances in the Broadway play Noises Off
in 2002, and the musical Promises, Promises
in 2010.
where she attended the acclaimed New World School of the Arts
for high school. Finneran is of Irish
descent and was raised Roman Catholic. For college, Finneran attended Carnegie Mellon University
in Pittsburgh for one year before moving to New York City
at age 19 to study acting with Uta Hagen
. Outside of acting, Finneran has had many "day jobs" to augment her income, including a ringside girl at a boxing ring, waitress, and perfume spray girl at Bloomingdale's
. In a ceremony presided over by actor and Buddhist priest in training Peter Coyote
, Finneran married actor Daren Goldstein on August 22nd 2010, and on February 3, 2011, gave birth to a son, Ty Michael Goldstein.
's Night of the Living Dead
. Her film credits include You've Got Mail
, Chicken Little
, Liberty Heights
, Bewitched, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
, and Death to Smoochy
.
television series Wonderfalls
. She was also featured as a part of the cast on the Fox show The Inside
, in the short-lived CBS
sitcom Bram and Alice, and in many guest roles in shows like Frasier
, Sex and the City
and Oz
. In 2007 Finneran was featured in the new series Drive
. She plays the sister of the main character, Alex Tully, played by Nathan Fillion
.
In the DVD for the full series of Wonderfalls
, Finneran said that when asked if she felt nervous about playing lesbian
immigration attorney Sharon Tyler on Wonderfalls
she replied, "I'd rather have people think that I'm a lesbian than a lawyer."
She also stars in the upcoming Fox comedy, I Hate My Teenage Daughter
.
's Proposals, Sally Bowles in the Broadway revival of Cabaret
, and call girl Cora in The Iceman Cometh
, opposite Kevin Spacey
. She also has appeared in My Favorite Year
with Tim Curry
and John Guare
's Bosoms and Neglect
and Smell of the Kill, with Kristen Johnson
.
She won the Tony Award
and the Drama Desk Award
for Best Featured Actress in a Play in 2002 for her role as Brooke Ashton in the revival of Noises Off
.
In the summer of 2006, Finneran appeared in the New York stage production Pig Farm.
She appeared in the first Broadway
revival of the musical Promises, Promises
, opposite Kristin Chenoweth
and Sean Hayes
. The show opened March 27, 2010 and Finneran left the show on October 10, 2010 due to her pregnancy. She won the 2010 Tony Award
for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, stage
Stage (theatre)
In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...
, and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
noted for her Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
-winning performances in the Broadway play Noises Off
Noises Off
Noises Off is a 1982 play by English playwright Michael Frayn. The idea for it was born in 1970, when Frayn was standing in the wings watching a performance of Chinamen, a farce that he had written for Lynn Redgrave...
in 2002, and the musical Promises, Promises
Promises, Promises
Promises, Promises is a musical based on the 1960 film The Apartment. The music is by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, and book by Neil Simon. Musical numbers for the original Broadway production were choreographed by Michael Bennett; Robert Moore directed and David Merrick produced...
in 2010.
Personal life
She was raised in Miami, FloridaMiami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
where she attended the acclaimed New World School of the Arts
New World School of the Arts
New World School of the Arts is a public magnet high school and college in Downtown Miami, Florida with dual-enrollment programs in visual arts, dance, theatre, musical theatre, instrumental music, and vocal music. Both the college and the high school are accredited by the Southern Association of...
for high school. Finneran is of Irish
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
descent and was raised Roman Catholic. For college, Finneran attended Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
in Pittsburgh for one year before moving to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at age 19 to study acting with Uta Hagen
Uta Hagen
Uta Thyra Hagen was a German-born American actress and drama teacher. She originated the role of Martha in the 1963 Broadway premiere of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee...
. Outside of acting, Finneran has had many "day jobs" to augment her income, including a ringside girl at a boxing ring, waitress, and perfume spray girl at Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's is an American department store owned by Macy's, Inc. .Bloomingdale's started in 1861 when brothers Joseph and Lyman G. Bloomingdale started selling hoop-skirts in their Ladies Notions' Shop on Manhattan's Lower East Side...
. In a ceremony presided over by actor and Buddhist priest in training Peter Coyote
Peter Coyote
Peter Coyote is an American actor, author, director, screenwriter and narrator of films, theatre, television and audio books. His voice work includes narrating the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics and Apple's iPad campaign. He has also served as on-camera co-host of the 2000 Oscar...
, Finneran married actor Daren Goldstein on August 22nd 2010, and on February 3, 2011, gave birth to a son, Ty Michael Goldstein.
Film
Finneran's biggest film role was a leading role in the remake of George A. RomeroGeorge A. Romero
George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...
's Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 American independent black-and-white zombie film and cult film directed by George A. Romero, starring Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea and Karl Hardman. It premiered on October 1, 1968, and was completed on a USD$114,000 budget. After decades of cinematic re-releases, it...
. Her film credits include You've Got Mail
You've Got Mail
You've Got Mail is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Nora Ephron, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. It was written by Nora and Delia Ephron based on the play Parfumerie by Miklós László. The film is about two letter-writing lovers who are completely unaware that their sweetheart is in...
, Chicken Little
Chicken Little (2005 film)
Chicken Little is a 2005 computer-animated science fiction family comedy film loosely based on the fable The Sky Is Falling. It was the 46th animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation...
, Liberty Heights
Liberty Heights
Liberty Heights is a 1999 comedy-drama film by writer-director Barry Levinson. It is a semi-autobiographical account of his childhood growing up in Baltimore in the 1950s. It marked the last appearance of Ralph Tabakin, who appeared in cameo roles in every Levinson movie since his first, Diner , a...
, Bewitched, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous is a 2005 comedy film directed by John Pasquin, starring Sandra Bullock and Regina King. It is a sequel to the 2000 film Miss Congeniality....
, and Death to Smoochy
Death to Smoochy
Death to Smoochy is a 2002 American dark comedy film directed by and starring Danny DeVito and starring Robin Williams, Edward Norton, Catherine Keener, and Jon Stewart.-Plot:...
.
Television
Finneran is perhaps best known for her role of Sharon Tyler on the critically acclaimed, short-lived FoxFox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
television series Wonderfalls
Wonderfalls
Wonderfalls is a comedy-drama television series that was broadcast on the Fox television network in 2004.The show centres on Jaye Tyler , a recent Brown University graduate with a philosophy degree, who holds a dead-end job as a sales clerk at a Niagara Falls gift shop...
. She was also featured as a part of the cast on the Fox show The Inside
The Inside
The Inside is an American crime drama television series created by Tim Minear and Howard Gordon and produced by Imagine Television. The Inside follows the work of the FBI's Los Angeles Violent Crimes Unit , a division dedicated to investigating particularly dangerous crimes. The Inside initially...
, in the short-lived CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
sitcom Bram and Alice, and in many guest roles in shows like Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
, Sex and the City
Sex and the City
Sex and the City is an American television comedy-drama series created by Darren Star and produced by HBO. Broadcast from 1998 until 2004, the original run of the show had a total of ninety-four episodes...
and Oz
Oz (TV series)
Oz is an American television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series' 56 episodes . It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons...
. In 2007 Finneran was featured in the new series Drive
Drive (TV series)
Drive is a short-lived American action drama television series created by Tim Minear and Ben Queen, produced by Minear, Queen, and Greg Yaitanes, and starring Nathan Fillion, four episodes of which aired on the Fox network in April 2007...
. She plays the sister of the main character, Alex Tully, played by Nathan Fillion
Nathan Fillion
Nathan Fillion is a Canadian actor, currently starring as Richard Castle on the ABC series Castle. He is also known for his portrayal of the lead role of Captain Malcolm Reynolds in the television series Firefly and its feature film continuation, Serenity.He has acted in traditionally distributed...
.
In the DVD for the full series of Wonderfalls
Wonderfalls
Wonderfalls is a comedy-drama television series that was broadcast on the Fox television network in 2004.The show centres on Jaye Tyler , a recent Brown University graduate with a philosophy degree, who holds a dead-end job as a sales clerk at a Niagara Falls gift shop...
, Finneran said that when asked if she felt nervous about playing lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
immigration attorney Sharon Tyler on Wonderfalls
Wonderfalls
Wonderfalls is a comedy-drama television series that was broadcast on the Fox television network in 2004.The show centres on Jaye Tyler , a recent Brown University graduate with a philosophy degree, who holds a dead-end job as a sales clerk at a Niagara Falls gift shop...
she replied, "I'd rather have people think that I'm a lesbian than a lawyer."
She also stars in the upcoming Fox comedy, I Hate My Teenage Daughter
I Hate My Teenage Daughter
I Hate My Teenage Daughter is an American sitcom premiered on Fox on Wednesday, November 30, 2011, where it airs in the 9:30 pm /8:30 pm timeslot after The X Factor....
.
Theatre
Finneran has an extensive roster of theater roles. She has often been cast as a seductress in comedic and dramatic roles, including a pin-up girl in Neil SimonNeil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
's Proposals, Sally Bowles in the Broadway revival of Cabaret
Cabaret (musical)
Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....
, and call girl Cora in The Iceman Cometh
The Iceman Cometh
The Iceman Cometh is a play written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill in 1939. First published in 1940 the play premiered on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on 9 October 1946, directed by Eddie Dowling where it ran for 136 performances to close on 15 March 1947.-Characters:* Night Hawk-...
, opposite Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...
. She also has appeared in My Favorite Year
My Favorite Year (musical)
My Favorite Year is a musical with a book by Joseph Dougherty, music by Stephen Flaherty, and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. It is based on the film of the same name.-Production history:...
with Tim Curry
Tim Curry
Timothy James "Tim" Curry is a British actor, singer, composer and voice actor, known for his work in a diverse range of theatre, film and television productions. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California....
and John Guare
John Guare
John Guare is an American playwright. He is best known as the author of The House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation, and Landscape of the Body...
's Bosoms and Neglect
Bosoms and Neglect
Bosoms and Neglect is a play by American playwright John Guare, first staged in 1979 at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.-Productions:...
and Smell of the Kill, with Kristen Johnson
Kristen Johnson
Kristen Lynn Johnson is a beauty queen who has represented Kentucky at both Miss USA and Miss Teen USA.-Miss Kentucky USA:Before Johnson returned to the USA pageant stage, she competed and won the title Miss Model of Kentucky....
.
She won the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
and the Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Best Featured Actress in a Play in 2002 for her role as Brooke Ashton in the revival of Noises Off
Noises Off
Noises Off is a 1982 play by English playwright Michael Frayn. The idea for it was born in 1970, when Frayn was standing in the wings watching a performance of Chinamen, a farce that he had written for Lynn Redgrave...
.
In the summer of 2006, Finneran appeared in the New York stage production Pig Farm.
She appeared in the first Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
revival of the musical Promises, Promises
Promises, Promises
Promises, Promises is a musical based on the 1960 film The Apartment. The music is by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, and book by Neil Simon. Musical numbers for the original Broadway production were choreographed by Michael Bennett; Robert Moore directed and David Merrick produced...
, opposite Kristin Chenoweth
Kristin Chenoweth
Kristin Chenoweth is an American singer and actress, with credits in musical theatre, film and television. She is best known on Broadway for her performance as Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown , for which she won a Tony Award, and for originating the role of Glinda in the musical...
and Sean Hayes
Sean Hayes (actor)
Sean Patrick Hayes is an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Jack McFarland in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace, for which he won an Emmy Award, four SAG Awards, one American Comedy Award, and six Golden Globes nominations.He also portrayed comedian Jerry Lewis in the...
. The show opened March 27, 2010 and Finneran left the show on October 10, 2010 due to her pregnancy. She won the 2010 Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
External links
- Interview with PlayboyPlayboyPlayboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
- "Promises, Promises: Katie Finneran leaves 10 Oct", New York Theatre Guide, August 24, 2010