Lisa Arch ( Kushell; born November 23, 1971) is an American actress and comedian, known for her recurring role on ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired televisio ...

'' as Cassie with wife of Larry's cousin, Andy, her roles in the 1997–98 season of the FOX Network comedy show, '' Mad TV'', as cohost of TBS's ''

Dinner and a Movie ''Dinner and a Movie'' is an American cooking and entertainment television program aired on TBS from 1995 to 2011. Each episode included a movie and the preparation of a creative dinner to go with its theme, generally via a pun. For example, ...

'' from 2002 to 2005, and as the recurring character of Samantha Samuels on

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

's '' Cory in the House''. Arch has also been in movies, such as 2001's '' Legally Blonde''.

Personal life

Born Lisa Kushell in Los Angeles, California, she began acting on stage at 15 years old in the

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

troupe Upstage Comedy. Arch has often stated that her parents were extremely supportive of her and they allowed her to hone her skills in their "unfurnished living room" until she graduated from high school. She earned her

SAG SAG, SAg, or sag may refer to: Land formations * Sag (geology), or ''trough'', a depressed, persistent, low area * Sag pond, a body of water collected in the lowest parts of a depression People * Ivan Sag (1949–2013), American linguist ...

card with one line as a waitress on '' Dream On''. After her first appearance, she began appearing on such shows as ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

'', '' The X-Files'', and '' For Your Love''. She has an older brother, Bob Kushell, who is a TV writer/producer and Internet talk show host. Her brother worked with her husband in 2009, Russell Arch, as the Co-Creator and Executive Producer of ''ANYTIME WITH BOB KUSHELL'', an internet talkshow for Sony Interactive's Crackle.com. On September 18, 2007, she gave birth to a son, Garrett Mitchell Arch.

Career

''Curb Your Enthusiasm''

Arch was cast on ''

'' in 2009 as "Cassie", the wife of Larry's "Cousin Andy" played by Richard Kind. She appeared in the Season 7 episode entitled "The Black Swan" and played a new mom who had a side-business where she made colorful, ornate cowboy hats. She also appeared in Season 10 episodes #2 & #3 entitled "Side Sitting" and "Artificial Fruit". In "Fruit" she has a featured role where she asks Larry to draw a doodle for charity, but later on blames him for not putting in enough effort on his artwork.

''Mad TV''

Arch joined the cast of '' Mad TV'' in 1997, as a repertory performer, for the third season. She would be promoted to repertory status mid-season. She is remembered for playing characters like social outcast Susan Whitfield and sassy country gal Wanda Terry-Ann Lainier Parker from the Parker Sisters sketches. Arch also flexed her comedy muscles with her celebrity impressions, of public figures like Paula Jones. She also lampooned

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

stars like

Farrah Fawcett Farrah Leni Fawcett (born Ferrah Leni Fawcett; February 2, 1947 – June 25, 2009) was an American actress. A four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she playe ...

, Demi Moore, Alyson Hannigan,

Lori Loughlin Lori Anne Loughlin (; born July 28, 1964) is an American actress. From 1988 to 1995, she played Rebecca Donaldson Katsopolis on the ABC sitcom ''Full House'', and reprised the role for its Netflix sequel '' Fuller House'' (2016–2018). Loughlin ...

and Hope Summers. She has also impersonated singers like

Melanie C Melanie Jayne Chisholm (12 January 1974 - 25 December 2022), better known as Melanie C or Mel C, is an English singer-songwriter and media personality. She is best known as one of the five members of the Spice Girls, during which time she was ni ...

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with tw ...

and

Fiona Apple Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. She has released five albums from 1996 to 2020, which have all reached the top 20 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Apple has received numerous awards an ...

. After one season on the show, Arch left ''Mad TV'' at the conclusion of season three to pursue other career opportunities.

Other television projects

Since Leaving ''Mad TV'', Arch has done many guest appearances and voice overs. She has appeared in such commercials as "

Mervyn's Mervyn's was an American middle-scale department store chain based in Hayward, California, and founded by Mervin G. Morris (1920–2021). It carried national brands of clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics, ...

" and " Southern Comfort." She has featured on the Comedy Central show '' Crank Yankers'' as the voice of "Cammie", an airheaded,

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

party-girl in her early twenties. She also played the role of Samantha Samuels on the

show '' Cory in the House''. She has also had a part in the children's TV program ''

Hannah Montana ''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus), a ...

'' as a photographer. Arch can be seen on a regular basis at Los Angeles'

ACME Comedy Theater The ACME Comedy Theatre is an American sketch comedy and improvisational theater located near Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, on La Brea near Wilshire's "Miracle Mile".Bronstad, Amanda (2002)Laughing matter: M.D. Sweeney has turned a bug fo ...

and recently hosted a special episode of '' Reel Comedy'' about the movie, ''

Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typic ...

''. She also has made numerous guest appearances on television shows, including '' Reno 911!'', ''

'', and '' The X-Files''. Also she was in ''

Austin & Ally ''Austin & Ally'' is an American comedy television series created by Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert that aired on Disney Channel from December 2, 2011 to January 10, 2016. The series stars Ross Lynch, Laura Marano, Raini Rodriguez, and Calum W ...

'' as Damonica Dixon.

''Dinner and a Movie''

In 2001, Arch's career got a boost when she replaced Annabelle Gurwitch as the hostess of the TBS cooking and entertainment show, ''

''. For two and a half years, she appeared, alongside host Paul Gilmartin and

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

Claud Mann, in each episode introducing movies and cracking jokes during the preparation of a creative dinner to go with some theme of the movie.

Filmography

Film

Television

Voice acting and video game

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arch, Lisa 1971 births Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Los Angeles American child actresses American film actresses American television actresses American stage actresses American women comedians People from Woodland Hills, Los Angeles American sketch comedians Comedians from California 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians