Nancy Ellen Walls Carell (born July 19, 1966) is an American actress, comedian, and writer best known for her work on ''

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. Michaels currently serves a ...

'', ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...

'' and ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series of ...

''. In 2016, she co-created the TBS comedy series ''

Angie Tribeca ''Angie Tribeca'' is an American comedy television series created by Steve and Nancy Carell, which aired on TBS. The series, a parody of the police procedural genre, stars Rashida Jones as police detective Angie Tribeca. It also stars Hayes MacAr ...

'' with her husband,

Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He played Michael Scott (The Office), Michael Scott in ''The Office (American TV series), The Office'' (2005–2011; 2013), NBC’s adaptation of the The Office (B ...

Early life and education

Nancy was born and raised in

Cohasset, Massachusetts Cohasset is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 8,381. History Cohasset was inhabited for thousands of years by Native Americans prior to European colonization, from whom English c ...

. She graduated from

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

in 1988. As a college student, she was a member of the improvisational troupe "My Mother's Fleabag."

Career

Nancy got her start in comedy at

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre op ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and, like many of the troupe's alumni, went on to join the cast of ''

'' (1995–96), where she was best known for her impression of

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...

Bobbie Battista Barbara Ann "Bobbie" Battista (July 23, 1952 – March 3, 2020) was an American journalist and a prominent newscaster on CNN. During her 20-year career with the cable news company, Battista anchored numerous programs on CNN, CNN Headline News, a ...

. She later held a correspondent position on the satirical

TV news News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or televi ...

program ''

''. She voiced the character of Helen Goode on the Mike Judge-created animated series ''

The Goode Family ''The Goode Family'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Goode Family'') is a short-lived American adult animated television sitcom that originally aired on ABC from May 27 to August 7, 2009. The series was created by Mike Judge, the creator of MTV's '' ...

'' on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, where she was credited for the first time as Nancy Carell instead of Nancy Walls. Carell occasionally guest-starred on ''

'', which starred her husband,

, until 2011, as Carol Stills, a

real estate agent A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...

and former girlfriend of her husband's character, Michael Scott. She also had a brief appearance in the movie ''

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 ...

''. Nancy and her husband, Steve, created the TBS comedy series ''

'' starring

Rashida Jones Rashida Leah Jones (; born February 25, 1976) is an American actress. Jones appeared as Louisa Fenn on the Fox drama series ''Boston Public'' (2000–2002), as Karen Filippelli on the NBC comedy series ''The Office'' (2006–2009; 2011), and as ...

. The series premiered on January 17, 2016.

Personal life

Nancy is married to actor and comedian

, whom she met when she was a student in an

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

class he was teaching at Second City. They have two children, Elisabeth and John.

Filmography

* ''

'' as Herself/Various (1995–1996) (20 episodes) * ''

'' as Correspondent (1999–2002) (90 episodes) * ''

Anger Management Anger management is a psycho-therapeutic program for anger prevention and control. It has been described as deploying anger successfully.Schwarts, Gil. July 2006. Anger Management', July 2006 The Office Politic. Men's Health magazine. Emmaus, PA: ...

'' as Flight Attendant (2003) * ''

The 40-Year-Old Virgin ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by Judd Apatow, who produced the film with Clayton Townsend and Shauna Robertson. It features Steve Carell as the titular 40-year-old virgin Andy, an employee at an el ...

'' as Health Clinic Counselor (2005) * ''

'' as Carol Stills (2005–2006, 2010, 2013) (7 episodes) * ''

'' as Helen Goode (2009) (13 episodes) * ''

'' as Helen's tennis partner (2011) * ''

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World ''Seeking a Friend for the End of the World'' is a 2012 American apocalyptic romantic comedy-drama film, written and directed by Lorene Scafaria, in her feature directorial debut. The film stars Steve Carell and Keira Knightley as a pair of st ...

'' as Linda Petersen (2012) * ''

'' (2017) as Katie Perry (2 episodes)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carell, Nancy 1966 births Living people People from Cohasset, Massachusetts Actresses from Massachusetts American film actresses American television actresses Television producers from Massachusetts American women television producers American television writers Boston College alumni American women comedians 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses American sketch comedians Comedians from Massachusetts Screenwriters from Massachusetts 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians American women television writers