Melanie Kay Hutsell (born August 2, 1968) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Hutsell is best known for her work as a cast member on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

sketch comedy series ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'' from 1991 to 1994.

Life and career

Melanie Hutsell began her career performing

improv comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...

at the

Annoyance Theater The Annoyance Theatre, or Annoyance Productions, is a theatre and associated ensemble based in Chicago, Illinois, that deals mainly in absurd and outrageous humor. Many people who have performed with the ensemble have gone on to become successf ...

in Chicago and starred in its production of '' The Real Live Brady Bunch'' in 1990. The comedic stage show consisted of eight actual episodes of the TV show ''

The Brady Bunch ''The Brady Bunch'' is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family with six children. The show aired for five seasons and, afte ...

'', with Hutsell cast as

Jan Brady File:The Brady Bunch.jpg, 300px, Characters of ''The Brady Bunch'' (Mouse over to identify) rect 0 0 105 79 Marcia Brady rect 108 0 211 79 Carol Brady rect 216 0 320 79 Greg Brady rect 0 82 105 159 Jan Brady rect 108 82 211 1 ...

. The company toured to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, where Hutsell was hired as a cast member for the 17th season of ''

''. Hutsell was a performer on ''

,'' from 1991 to 1993 as featured player, then from 1993 to 1994 as main cast member. While on the show, she reprised her stage portrayal of

for a series of ''

Weekend Update ''Weekend Update'' is a ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch and satirical news program that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest-running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typic ...

'' and other sketch appearances, making it one of Hutsell's biggest characters while on the show. Other recurring characters included sorority pledge Di in a series of sketches about the sorority girls of

Delta Delta Delta Delta Delta Delta (), also known as Tri Delta, is an international women's fraternity founded on November 27, 1888 at Boston University by Sarah Ida Shaw, Eleanor Dorcas Pond, Isabel Morgan Breed, and Florence Isabelle Stewart. Tri Delta part ...

, which she starred in alongside fellow castmates Siobhan Fallon and

Beth Cahill Beth Cahill (born September 15, 1963) is an American television actress who is best known for having been a featured cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' during the 1991–92 season. Life and career She began her career doing improv comedy at ...

. Her notable celebrity impressions on ''SNL'' included

Tori Spelling Victoria Davey Spelling (born May 16, 1973) is an American actress and author. Her first major role was Donna Martin on ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', beginning in 1990. She has appeared in made for television films, including '' A Friend to Die F ...

Charo María Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza, professionally known by her stage name Charo, is a Spanish-American actress, singer, comedian, and flamenco guitarist. Charo began playing guitar at the age of nine and trained under the famed A ...

Monica Seles Monica Seles (; hu, Széles Mónika, ; sr, Моника Селеш, Monika Seleš; born December 2, 1973) is a retired professional tennis player who represented Yugoslavia and the United States. A former world No. 1, she won nine Grand Sla ...

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music artist, as well as an actress and author. She is considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Ly ...

, and

Tonya Harding Tonya Maxene Price (née Harding; born November 12, 1970) is an American former figure skater, retired boxer and a reality television personality. Born in Portland, Oregon, Harding was raised primarily by her mother, who enrolled her in ice sk ...

. Hutsell left ''SNL'' after three seasons in 1994. After co-starring in the film ''

Can't Stop Dancing ''Can't Stop Dancing'' is a 1999 feature-length film written and directed by Steven Falick and Ben Zook and starring Ben Zook. The film showed at the 1999 Palm Springs International Film Festival. Plot Randy Rubio, a leader of a small-time danc ...

'' in 1999, Hutsell temporarily left show business to raise her children. She returned from retirement in 2008, appearing in ''He's Such a Girl'', a 2008 comedy also starring Ed Begley Jr. In May 2009, she appeared as a guest on ''Best Dishes'' with

Paula Deen Paula Ann Hiers Deen (born January 19, 1947) is an American chef, cookbook author, and TV personality. Deen resides in Savannah, Georgia, where she owns and operates The Lady & Sons restaurant and Paula Deen's Creek House with her sons, Jamie ...

on the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ( ...

, where she appeared in character as

's impersonator. She stated that she was making a comeback, focusing on writing. She played the role of Carol in the 2011 comedy hit ''

Bridesmaids Bridesmaids are members of the bride's party in a Western traditional wedding ceremony. A bridesmaid is typically a young woman and often a close friend or relative. She attends to the bride on the day of a wedding or marriage ceremony. Traditi ...

''. In 2015, Hutsell attended the 40th anniversary special of ''Saturday Night Live''. From 2015 to 2017, she appeared with recurring roles as Kristen Rhydholm-Rhydholm in the

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 fi ...

series ''

Lady Dynamite ''Lady Dynamite'' is an American comedy series starring Maria Bamford, and is loosely based on her life. It was created by Pam Brady and Mitch Hurwitz, on Netflix. The twelve-episode first season was released in its entirety on May 20, 2016. The ...

'', and as Jocelyn in the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

series ''

Transparent Transparency, transparence or transparent most often refer to: * Transparency (optics), the physical property of allowing the transmission of light through a material They may also refer to: Literal uses * Transparency (photography), a still, ...

''. She most recently wrote and starred in the comedic drama ''Mother's Little Helpers'', which premiered at SXSW film festival in 2019.

References

External links

* 1968 births Living people People from Maryville, Tennessee 20th-century American actresses American film actresses Screenwriters from Tennessee American impressionists (entertainers) American musical theatre actresses American women comedians American women screenwriters Actresses from Tennessee 21st-century American actresses American sketch comedians 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians {{US-screen-actor-1960s-stub