Rachael Elaine Harris (born January 12, 1968) is an American actress and comedian. She is known for her numerous acting roles, such as starring as Dr. Linda Martin in ''

Lucifer Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passa ...

'', her role in the ''

Diary of a Wimpy Kid ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' is an American children’s book series and media franchise created by author and cartoonist Jeff Kinney. The series follows Greg Heffley, a middle-schooler who illustrates his daily life in a diary (although he const ...

'' film series, and as a guest star on numerous TV shows.

Career

Stage

Harris performed with the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

improvisational 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 ...

troupe

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 techniqu ...

and taught for a time with The Groundlings school. Off-Broadway, she performed in ''

Love, Loss, and What I Wore ''Love, Loss, and What I Wore'' is a play written by Nora and Delia Ephron based on the 1995 book of the same name by Ilene Beckerman. It is organized as a series of monologues and uses a rotating cast of five principal women. The subject matter ...

''.

Television

She debuted on television on '' SeaQuest DSV'' in 1993. After an appearance on '' Star Trek: Voyager'' in 1997, Harris went on to a recurring role in

The WB The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on terrestrial television, broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture be ...

's '' Sister, Sister''. Other television credits include a stint as a correspondent for '' The Daily Show's'' 2002–2003 season, as well as guest roles on ''

The Sarah Silverman Program ''The Sarah Silverman Program'' is an American television sitcom, which ran from February 1, 2007, to April 15, 2010, on Comedy Central starring comedian and actress Sarah Silverman, who created the series with Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab. ''The Sa ...

'', ''

Reno 911! ''Reno 911!'' is an American comedy television series airing on Comedy Central. It is a mockumentary-style parody of law enforcement documentary shows, specifically '' Cops'', with comic actors playing the police officers. Thomas Lennon, Ro ...

'', ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White Hous ...

'', '' The Good Guys'', '' Friends'', ''

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 o ...

'', '' Curb Your Enthusiasm'', ''

Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

'', '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', and '' Desperate Housewives'' in November 2008. Harris played the supporting role of Kevyn Shecket, Kirstie Alley's personal makeup artist, on the Showtime series ''

Fat Actress ''Fat Actress'' is an American comedy television series starring Kirstie Alley. In the United States, it aired on Showtime from March 7 to April 18, 2005. The series was created and written by Alley and Brenda Hampton. Premise Alley gave a gl ...

'' in 2005–2009. She also appeared in '' Suits'' as Sheila Sazs, Louis Litt's on-and-off again love interest, and played Cooper in the ABC sitcom ''

Notes from the Underbelly ''Notes from the Underbelly'' is an American sitcom that was aired on ABC from 2007 to 2008, originally debuting as a mid-season replacement. The series is based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Risa Green, and was produced by Eric and Kim T ...

''. Harris hosted ''Smoking Gun TV'' in 2004, and has made multiple appearances on such VH1 documentaries as '' I Love the '80s'', '' I Love the '90s'', and ''

Best Week Ever ''Best Week Ever'' is an American comedy series created and executive produced by Fred Graver. The series originally aired from January 23, 2004, to June 12, 2009, on VH1.Harris, Scott"VH1 Cancels 'Best Week Ever'". ''Inside TV''. January 13, 2 ...

''. On ABC's ''

Cougar Town ''Cougar Town'' is an American television sitcom that ran for 102 episodes over six seasons, from September 23, 2009, until March 31, 2015. The first three seasons aired on ABC, with the series moving to TBS for the remaining three seasons. AB ...

'', she played Shanna, a woman that the network describes as being the "nemesis" of Jules. Also on ABC, she made a guest appearance in the ''

Modern Family ''Modern Family'' is an American family sitcom television series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan for the American Broadcasting Company. It ran for 11 seasons, from September 23, 2009, to April 8, 2020. It follows the lives of th ...

'' episode " Caught in the Act" as Amelia, a restaurateur and mother to a playmate of Lily Pritchett. In March 2014, Harris began a new role in the very short-lived series '' Surviving Jack'' with Chris Meloni. In March 2015, Harris was cast as Linda, Lucifer's therapist in the Netflix original series ''

''. In 2018, Harris appeared alongside

Cheryl Hines Cheryl Ruth Hines (born September 21, 1965) is an American actress and director, best known for playing the role of Larry David's wife, Cheryl, on HBO's ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', for which she has been nominated for two Emmy Awards. She also s ...

on the reality series ''

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the ea ...

'' where they both sat in the blue team's chef's table in the episode "Hell Freezes Over".

Feature films

She debuted on film in the 1992 film '' Treehouse Trolls'' as the Treehouse Mom. Harris recalls the experience, "But Treehouse Trolls, that just came out of an audition in this shitty theater. Like, it wasn't even a theater. It was a room. Near Times Square. And I was like, "I hope this is a legitimate audition. I could be going in for a porn. I don't know"." Her film credits include roles in '' Best in Show'', ''

A Mighty Wind ''A Mighty Wind'' is a 2003 American mockumentary comedy film about a folk music reunion concert in which three folk bands reunite for a television performance for the first time in decades. Co-written (with Eugene Levy), directed, and composed ...

'', '' For Your Consideration'', '' Kicking & Screaming'', and ''

Daddy Day Care ''Daddy Day Care'' is a 2003 American family comedy film starring Eddie Murphy in the lead role, Jeff Garlin, Steve Zahn, Regina King, and Anjelica Huston. Written by Geoff Rodkey and directed by Steve Carr, it marks Murphy and Carr's second ...

''. In the 2009 comedy ''

The Hangover ''The Hangover'' is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips, co-produced with Daniel Goldberg, and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. It is the first installment in ''The Hangover'' trilogy. The film stars Bradley Cooper, E ...

'', she plays Melissa, the domineering, abusive girlfriend to

Ed Helms Edward Parker Helms (born January 24, 1974) is an American actor and comedian. From 2002 to 2006, he was a correspondent on Comedy Central's ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. He played paper salesman Andy Bernard in the NBC sitcom '' The Offi ...

's character Stu. She previously co-starred with Helms on ''The Daily Show''. From 2010 to 2012, she played Susan Heffley in the original ''

'' film trilogy.

Harris'

TV commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

work includes ads for Dinty Moore, Avis,

Expedia Expedia Inc. is an online travel agency owned by Expedia Group, an American online travel shopping company based in Seattle. The website and mobile app can be used to book airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, cruise ships, and vacat ...

, Quaker Oats,

T-Mobile T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic ( T-Mobile Czech Republic), Poland ( T-Mobile Polska), the United States (T-Mobil ...

, GEICO, and a Super Bowl commercial for the 2010 Census. She is the voice of turtle Karolyn Slowsky in the Comcast Slowskys television commercials.

Personal life

Harris was born in Worthington,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. She graduated from Worthington High School in 1986 and Otterbein College in 1989, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre. Harris and violinist Christian Hebel eloped on April 30, 2015 and married in

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 ...

. They have two children. Harris filed for divorce from Hebel in 2019.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Rachael 1968 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Living people Actresses from Ohio American women comedians American film actresses American television actresses Otterbein University alumni People from Worthington, Ohio Comedians from Ohio 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians