Karen O'Leary is a New Zealand schoolteacher, comedian and actress. She played Officer O'Leary in ''

Wellington Paranormal ''Wellington Paranormal'' is a New Zealand mockumentary comedy horror television series which first aired on 11 July 2018 on TVNZ 2. The series is a spin-off of the 2014 film '' What We Do in the Shadows'' and first television series in the fran ...

'', which ran for four seasons from 2018-2022.

Biography

O'Leary grew up in Miramar, Wellington and attended Wellington High School and Victoria University. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in education and is an early childhood teacher in Wellington. She got involved in acting when casting director Tina Cleary, the parent of one of the children at the centre, encouraged her to audition for a part in the 2014 film ''

What We Do in the Shadows ''What We Do in the Shadows'' is a 2014 New Zealand mockumentary horror comedy film written and directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi and the first installment in the ''What We Do in the Shadows'' franchise. The film also stars Clem ...

''. O'Leary played Officer O'Leary in the film and continues the same role in the spin-off television series ''Wellington Paranormal''. In 2018, O'Leary appeared in the comedy film ''

The Breaker Upperers ''The Breaker Upperers'' is a New Zealand romantic-comedy film written, directed by, and starring Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek. It was executive produced by Taika Waititi. The film is about two women cynical about love, who run an agency ...

''. In 2020, O'Leary presented educational activities on Home Learning TV, a dedicated New Zealand television channel for children learning at home due to school closures during the national lockdown to control the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. In 2023, O'Leary appeared on the panel show ''

Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee ''Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee'' is a New Zealand television comedy panel show on Three created and presented by Guy Montgomery and co-hosted by Sanjay Patel. The show is loosely based on a spelling bee: each episode, four comedians parti ...

''. She appeared in series 4 of '' Taskmaster NZ''. Karen lives in Wellington with her son Melvyn and her partner, Eilish Wilson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OLeary, Karen Living people 21st-century New Zealand actresses New Zealand comedians 21st-century New Zealand educators Victoria University of Wellington alumni Year of birth missing (living people) New Zealand LGBT comedians New Zealand lesbian actresses Lesbian comedians 21st-century New Zealand women educators