Heather Ann McDonald (born June 14, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian, actress and author. Born and educated in Southern California, she is known for her appearances on the E! series ''

Chelsea Lately ''Chelsea Lately'' is an American late night comedy talk show created by Brody Stevens and hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler which was broadcast on E! The show debuted on July 16, 2007, and was produced by Handler's production company, Borde ...

''. She was one of the eight writers on the show and often participated in sketches and segments. McDonald also wrote and appeared in the show's spin-off, '' After Lately''. She is the host of the pop culture podcast “Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald.” Her first book, a 2010 memoir of her college years, made the Bestseller List of the ''

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.''

Early life

McDonald was born in 1970 in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ...

, to real estate agent parents. She is of three quarters Irish and one quarter French-Canadian descent. She and her brothers and sisters were raised Catholic and attended private Catholic schools. After high school, McDonald attended the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $ ...

(USC), where she was a member of the

Gamma Phi Beta Gamma Phi Beta (, also known as GPhi or Gamma Phi) is an international college sorority. It was founded in Syracuse University in 1874, and was the first of the Greek organizations to call itself a sorority. The main archive URL iThe Baird's Ma ...

sorority. After graduating from USC, McDonald began to take theatre classes at

The Groundlings The Groundlings is an American improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school based in Los Angeles. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin, whose improvisational theater techniques ...

. During her time there, McDonald performed improvisational shows and sketch comedy at the Groundlings Theatre. At the same time, McDonald became a licensed realtor like her parents.

Career

In the late 1990s, McDonald began writing with Keenan Ivory Wayans. In 2001 and 2002, she was a writer and performer for MTV's ''Lyricist Lounge'.'' She made an appearance on

Frasier ''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons. It premiered on September 16, 1993, and ended on May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee (as Gru ...

as one of Frasier's many blind dates. McDonald first gained popularity through her stand-up comedy shows in Los Angeles. She also began writing and performing for the Wayans Brothers in several of their films. She was a writer and roundtable regular on ''

'' since its premiere in 2007. In June 2010, McDonald published her first book, a memoir entitled ''You'll Never Blue Ball in This Town Again: One Woman's Painfully Funny Quest to Give It Up'', which made ''The New York Times'' Best-Seller List. The memoir covers her college and sorority experience while attending the University of Southern California. McDonald published a second memoir in 2013, entitled ''My Inappropriate Life (Some Stories Not Suitable for Nuns, Children, or Mature Adults)''. McDonald's standup special entitled ''Heather McDonald: I Don't Mean To Brag'' was recorded in 2014 and released on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

in September 2015. She also has a podcast called "Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald," which began airing in June 2015. McDonald has a repertoire of women characters of whom she does impressions in her standup routines. On February 5, 2022, McDonald collapsed on stage during a live performance in

Tempe, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Vale of Tempe , image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg , imagesize = 260px , image_caption = Tempe skyline as se ...

. She was taken to a hospital and treated for a fractured skull.

Personal life

McDonald is married to Peter Dobias, with whom she has three children. They reside in Los Angeles. McDonald attended college at the University of Southern California where she was a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority. While in college, she performed in local stage plays, including the critically acclaimed "Legend of Horseface".

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

Official website
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Heather McDonald
at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Heather Living people 1970 births 21st-century American actresses American film actresses American impressionists (entertainers) American television actresses American people of Irish descent American people of French-Canadian descent American women comedians University of Southern California alumni 21st-century American comedians