Lisa Ann Walter
Encyclopedia
Lisa Ann Walter is an American
actress, comedienne, writer
and film producer
. She has appeared in such films as the 1998 version of The Parent Trap
, Bruce Almighty
, Shall We Dance, and War of the Worlds
as Cheryl. Walter also created and starred in the short-lived 1996-1997 sitcom
, Life's Work
. She was a judge on ABC
's reality
television series The Next Best Thing: Who Is the Greatest Celebrity Impersonator?. She also won for her charity in a celebrity edition of The Weakest Link.
, near Washington, D.C.
, where she remembers "always liking to show off" as a child. She was a high-achieving student and always the class clown. Walter's father worked at NASA
and indulged his own love of performing after-hours in local community theater. Her mother was a teacher, later working at the local courthouse. Her parents, both native New Yorkers, divorced when Walter was in elementary school. She attended Montgomery Blair High School
, Silver Spring, Maryland, finally studying drama at the Catholic University of America under the tutelage of the renowned Father Gilbert Hartke. She began appearing in various regional and dinner theater productions, and met her future spouse, Sam Baum, while performing in "A Streetcar Named Desire". They married before moving to New York
, where both began various "day jobs" while raising their baby, shoehorning in frequent auditions and roles various off-Broadway venues. Walter performed at amateur night contests at some of the noted comedy clubs, and soon had audiences roaring with her dead-on perspectives on kids, domestic life and social issues.
sitcom, Life's Work
, which she both created and starred in. Walter also co-starred in the critically acclaimed Bravo series Breaking News and in the NBC
sitcom
Emeril.
On the feature side, in addition to Bruce Almighty
(2003) and Shall We Dance (2004), Walter received rave reviews co-starring in the hit Disney film The Parent Trap
(1998). In the remake of the original classic, she appeared as the nanny to Dennis Quaid
's daughter, who was played by a young Lindsay Lohan
. Prior to that, Walter played Whoopi Goldberg
's tarty sidekick Claudine in Eddie
(1996).
In early 2007, Walter had a supporting role as Mabel the bartender in the MyNetworkTV
soap opera
Watch Over Me
. That summer, she served as a judge on the ABC reality TV show The Next Best Thing
, which searched for the best celebrity impersonators in America.
In the Spring of 2008, Walter was seen in the comedy film Drillbit Taylor
, and also starred on the VH1
reality series Celebracadabra
, in which celebrities competed to see who was the best magician among them. She made it to the final three but was eliminated in the sixth episode. She has developed a series for the Oxygen network called Dance Your Ass Off
. Her comic memoir, "The Best Thing About My Ass Is That It's Behind Me" is being published in May, 2011.
On May 18, 2011 Los Angeles talk radio station KFI
announced that Walter would be assuming the 4pm-7pm slot on Saturdays and Sundays. She now hosts the weekly "Fabulous Lisa Ann Walter Show" and has developed quite a following.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress, comedienne, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
. She has appeared in such films as the 1998 version of The Parent Trap
The Parent Trap (1998 film)
The Parent Trap is a remake of the 1961 family film of the same name. It was directed and co-written by Nancy Meyers, and produced and co-written by Charles Shyer. It stars Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson as a couple who divorce soon after marrying, and Lindsay Lohan in a dual role as their...
, Bruce Almighty
Bruce Almighty
Bruce Almighty is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and written by Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe and Steve Oedekerk. It stars Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan, a down-on-his-luck TV reporter who complains to God that He isn't doing His job correctly, and is then offered the chance to try...
, Shall We Dance, and War of the Worlds
War of the Worlds (2005 film)
War of the Worlds is a 2005 American science fiction film adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel of the same name, directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Josh Friedman and David Koepp. It is one of three film adaptations of War of the Worlds released that year, alongside The Asylum's version and...
as Cheryl. Walter also created and starred in the short-lived 1996-1997 sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
, Life's Work
Life's Work
Life's Work was a situation comedy that aired from September 1996 to June 1997 on the American Broadcasting Company channel; the show starred Lisa Ann Walter as Lisa Ann Minardi Hunter, the assistant district attorney....
. She was a judge on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's reality
Reality
In philosophy, reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined. In a wider definition, reality includes everything that is and has been, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible...
television series The Next Best Thing: Who Is the Greatest Celebrity Impersonator?. She also won for her charity in a celebrity edition of The Weakest Link.
Early life
Walter was born and raised in suburban Silver Spring, MarylandSilver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...
, near Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, where she remembers "always liking to show off" as a child. She was a high-achieving student and always the class clown. Walter's father worked at NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
and indulged his own love of performing after-hours in local community theater. Her mother was a teacher, later working at the local courthouse. Her parents, both native New Yorkers, divorced when Walter was in elementary school. She attended Montgomery Blair High School
Montgomery Blair High School
Montgomery Blair High School is a public high school located in unincorporated Silver Spring in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States...
, Silver Spring, Maryland, finally studying drama at the Catholic University of America under the tutelage of the renowned Father Gilbert Hartke. She began appearing in various regional and dinner theater productions, and met her future spouse, Sam Baum, while performing in "A Streetcar Named Desire". They married before moving to New York
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...
, where both began various "day jobs" while raising their baby, shoehorning in frequent auditions and roles various off-Broadway venues. Walter performed at amateur night contests at some of the noted comedy clubs, and soon had audiences roaring with her dead-on perspectives on kids, domestic life and social issues.
Career
After five years of standup comedy, she was cast to star in her own Fox Network comedy series, My Wildest Dreams, followed by an ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
sitcom, Life's Work
Life's Work
Life's Work was a situation comedy that aired from September 1996 to June 1997 on the American Broadcasting Company channel; the show starred Lisa Ann Walter as Lisa Ann Minardi Hunter, the assistant district attorney....
, which she both created and starred in. Walter also co-starred in the critically acclaimed Bravo series Breaking News and in the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
Emeril.
On the feature side, in addition to Bruce Almighty
Bruce Almighty
Bruce Almighty is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and written by Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe and Steve Oedekerk. It stars Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan, a down-on-his-luck TV reporter who complains to God that He isn't doing His job correctly, and is then offered the chance to try...
(2003) and Shall We Dance (2004), Walter received rave reviews co-starring in the hit Disney film The Parent Trap
The Parent Trap (1998 film)
The Parent Trap is a remake of the 1961 family film of the same name. It was directed and co-written by Nancy Meyers, and produced and co-written by Charles Shyer. It stars Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson as a couple who divorce soon after marrying, and Lindsay Lohan in a dual role as their...
(1998). In the remake of the original classic, she appeared as the nanny to Dennis Quaid
Dennis Quaid
Dennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
's daughter, who was played by a young Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
. Prior to that, Walter played Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
's tarty sidekick Claudine in Eddie
Eddie (film)
Eddie is a 1996 comedy film starring Whoopi Goldberg and Frank Langella. It was a moderate success, grossing $31,387,164 in the US.The film was directed by Steve Rash.- Plot summary :...
(1996).
In early 2007, Walter had a supporting role as Mabel the bartender in the MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Watch Over Me
Watch Over Me
Watch Over Me is an American Television series that debuted on December 6, 2006 on the television network MyNetworkTV. Twentieth Television produced 66 episodes to air weekdays. The limited-run serial is an adaptation of Argentine series Resistiré....
. That summer, she served as a judge on the ABC reality TV show The Next Best Thing
The Next Best Thing
The Next Best Thing is a soundtrack album released by Maverick Records on February 21, 2000. It was released to accompany and promote the 2000 film, The Next Best Thing. It reached number 34 on the US Billboard 200 album chart....
, which searched for the best celebrity impersonators in America.
In the Spring of 2008, Walter was seen in the comedy film Drillbit Taylor
Drillbit Taylor
Drillbit Taylor is a 2008 comedy film starring Owen Wilson as the eponymous character and based on an original idea by John Hughes. It was directed by Steven Brill and the screenplay was written by Kristofor Brown and Seth Rogen. Paramount Pictures released the film on March 21, 2008.Drillbit...
, and also starred on the VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
reality series Celebracadabra
Celebracadabra
Celebracadabra is an American reality television series on VH1 that premiered on April 27, 2008. The series involves celebrities attempting to learn and perform magic. Magician/actor Jonathan Levit serves as the host. On Thursday June 12, 2008 C...
, in which celebrities competed to see who was the best magician among them. She made it to the final three but was eliminated in the sixth episode. She has developed a series for the Oxygen network called Dance Your Ass Off
Dance Your Ass Off
Dance Your Ass Off is a reality competition series on the Oxygen Network hosted by Marissa Jaret Winokur in the first season, then Melanie Brown in season two...
. Her comic memoir, "The Best Thing About My Ass Is That It's Behind Me" is being published in May, 2011.
On May 18, 2011 Los Angeles talk radio station KFI
KFI
KFI is an AM radio station in Los Angeles, California. It received its license to operate on March 31, 1922 and began operating on April 16, 1922 as one of the United States' first high-powered, "clear-channel" stations...
announced that Walter would be assuming the 4pm-7pm slot on Saturdays and Sundays. She now hosts the weekly "Fabulous Lisa Ann Walter Show" and has developed quite a following.
Personal life
Walter resides in Los Angeles with her four children, including son Jordan, daughter Delia, and twin boys Simon and Spencer. "I was taught a strong work ethic by my parents, and I'm not happy unless I'm doing two - or even three -- things at once," says Walter. "I enjoy working and raising a family, and I wouldn't want to do one without the other." While she is developing enough material for a return to standup comedy, Walter loves gourmet cooking, reading biographies, dancing and blues music.Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | My Wildest Dreams | Lisa McGinnis | 5 episodes |
| 1996 | Eddie Eddie (film) Eddie is a 1996 comedy film starring Whoopi Goldberg and Frank Langella. It was a moderate success, grossing $31,387,164 in the US.The film was directed by Steve Rash.- Plot summary :... |
Claudine | |
| 1996–1997 | Life's Work Life's Work Life's Work was a situation comedy that aired from September 1996 to June 1997 on the American Broadcasting Company channel; the show starred Lisa Ann Walter as Lisa Ann Minardi Hunter, the assistant district attorney.... |
Lisa Ann Hunter | 18 episodes |
| 1997 | Late Bloomer | Cassie Baltic | |
| 1998 | Chessy | ||
| 1998 | Love Boat: The Next Wave | Audrey Cranston | Episode: "How Long Has This Been Going On?" |
| 2000 | Get Your Stuff Get Your Stuff Get Your Stuff is a 2000 gay-themed drama/comedy film that in particular deals with the issue of gay foster parents, troubled children, and alcoholism.-Plot synopsis:... |
Principal Perry | |
| 2000 | Curb Your Enthusiasm Curb Your Enthusiasm Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American comedy television series produced and broadcast by HBO, which premiered on October 15, 2000. As of 2011, it has completed 80 episodes over eight seasons. The series was created by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, who stars as a fictionalized version of himself... |
Nurse | Episode: "Interior Decorator" |
| 2000-2001 | Emeril | Cassandra Gilman | 11 episodes |
| 2001 | Early Bird Special | Janet | |
| 2001 | Strong Medicine Strong Medicine Strong Medicine is a medical drama with a focus on feminist politics, health issues and class conflict. The television series aired on the Lifetime network from 2000 to 2006. It is distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The series was created and produced in part by comedienne and... |
Rita Harper | Episode: "Hot Flash" |
| 2002 | Breaking News | Rachel Glass | TV series |
| 2003 | Farm Sluts | Sexy Feminist Executive | Short film |
| 2003 | Bruce Almighty Bruce Almighty Bruce Almighty is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and written by Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe and Steve Oedekerk. It stars Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan, a down-on-his-luck TV reporter who complains to God that He isn't doing His job correctly, and is then offered the chance to try... |
Debbie | |
| 2004 | Las Vegas Las Vegas (TV series) Las Vegas was an American television series broadcast by NBC from September 22, 2003 to February 15, 2008. The show focuses on a team of people working at the ficticional Montecito Resort & Casino dealing with issues that arise within the working environment, ranging from valet parking and... |
Rose Gluck | Episode: "Sons and Lovers" |
| 2004 | Shall We Dance | Bobbie | |
| 2005 | War of the Worlds War of the Worlds (2005 film) War of the Worlds is a 2005 American science fiction film adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel of the same name, directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Josh Friedman and David Koepp. It is one of three film adaptations of War of the Worlds released that year, alongside The Asylum's version and... |
Cheryl | |
| 2005 | Dee Dee Rutherford | ||
| 2006 | Man vs. Monday | Joan | Short film |
| 2006 | Modern Men Modern Men Modern Men is an American situation comedy television series which premiered March 17, 2006, on The WB. The series stars Eric Lively, Josh Braaten, and Max Greenfield as three single men, and lifelong friends, who hire a life coach to help them with their love lives... |
Iris | Episode: "Kyle Dates Up" |
| 2006 | Coffee Date Coffee Date Coffee Date is a 2006 independent film written and directed by Stewart Wade and released by BrownBag Productions. Originally a short film by Wade, it was expanded into a feature and played at various film festivals.... |
Sara | |
| 2006 | Room 6 Room 6 Room 6 is a 2006 horror film starring Christine Taylor, Shane Brolly, Jerry O'Connell, and Ellie Cornell. The film was directed and co-written by Michael Hurst. Mark A. Altman also helped pen the film... |
Sgt. Burch | |
| 2006 | Nip/Tuck Nip/Tuck Nip/Tuck is an American drama series created by Ryan Murphy, which aired on FX in the United States. The series focuses on McNamara/Troy, a plastic surgery practice, and follows its founders, Sean McNamara and Christian Troy... |
Mrs. Hickock | Episode: "Reefer" |
| 2006 | Watch Over Me Watch Over Me Watch Over Me is an American Television series that debuted on December 6, 2006 on the television network MyNetworkTV. Twentieth Television produced 66 episodes to air weekdays. The limited-run serial is an adaptation of Argentine series Resistiré.... |
Mabel | 3 episodes |
| 2007 | Graduation Graduation (film) Graduation is a coming-of-age film starring Chris Lowell, Chris Marquette and Riley Smith released in May 2008. It was made in collaboration with the producers of The Virgin Suicides and Seabiscuit... |
Carol | |
| 2007 | Entry Level | Kathie | |
| 2008 | Drillbit Taylor Drillbit Taylor Drillbit Taylor is a 2008 comedy film starring Owen Wilson as the eponymous character and based on an original idea by John Hughes. It was directed by Steven Brill and the screenplay was written by Kristofor Brown and Seth Rogen. Paramount Pictures released the film on March 21, 2008.Drillbit... |
Dolores | |
| 2010 | Wreckage | Doctor Richardson | |
| 2010 | Monsters Under the Bed | Leslie Branson | Short film |
| 2010 | Killers Killers (2010 film) Killers is a 2010 American romantic comedy action film starring Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher, Tom Selleck and Catherine O'Hara. The film was released in the United States and Canada on June 4, 2010... |
Olivia Brooks | |
| 2011 | Wish Wizard | Helga | |
| 2011 | Wedding Day | Chef Cherie | Post-production |