Crista Flanagan (born February 24, 1976) is an American actress and comedian, best known for her work as a cast member on the Fox

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 ...

series ''

MADtv ''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series originally inspired by ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' magazine. In its initial run, it aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from 1995 to 2009. After a one-off reuni ...

'' from 2005 to 2009, various roles in films made by

Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer Jason Friedberg (born October 13, 1971) and Aaron Seltzer (born January 12, 1974) are American and Canadian filmmakers. They have primarily worked on parody films, which they began writing and directing during the mid-2000s. Friedberg and Seltze ...

, and her recurring role as Lois Sadler on the AMC series ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its f ...

''.

Early life

Flanagan was born in

Mount Vernon, Illinois Mount Vernon is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 14,600 at the 2020 census. Mount Vernon is the principal city of the Mount Vernon Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all ...

, the daughter of Bonnie Jerdon and David Flanagan. She received a bachelor of science in theatre from the

University of Evansville The University of Evansville (UE) is a private university in Evansville, Indiana. It was founded in 1854 as Moores Hill College. The university operates a satellite center, Harlaxton College, in Grantham, England. UE offers more than 80 differ ...

and a master of fine arts from the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and p ...

, where she sharpened her theatrical skills in plays including '' Fool for Love'', ''The Time of Our Life'', ''

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' is a three-act play written by Tennessee Williams. An adaptation of his 1952 short story "Three Players of a Summer Game", the play was written by him between 1953 and 1955. One of Williams's more famous works and his p ...

'', ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premi ...

'', and ''

Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tell ...

''. Her extensive background in theater led to the development of Flanagan's one-person show titled ''But wait…I have Impressions!''

Career

''MADtv''

Flanagan officially joined the cast of ''MADtv'' in 2005 as a featured performer, for the 10th season, then became a repertory cast member at the beginning of the following season. Her frequent impersonations were of Alex Hooser,

Ellen Pompeo Ellen Kathleen Pompeo (; born November 10, 1969) is an American actress. She is best known for her role on ''Grey's Anatomy'' as the titular Dr. Meredith Grey. One of the world's highest-paid actors since 2017, she has made multiple appearances ...

Heidi Klum Heidi Klum (; born 1 June 1973) is a German-American model, television host, producer, and businesswoman. She appeared on the cover of the '' Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' in 1998 and was the first German model to become a Victoria's Secr ...

Patricia Arquette Patricia Tiffany Arquette (born April 8, 1968) is an American actress. She made her feature film debut as Kristen Parker in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' (1987). Her other notable films include '' True Romance'' (1993), '' Ed ...

(as

Allison DuBois Allison DuBois (born January 24, 1972) is an American author and purported medium. DuBois has claimed to have used her psychic abilities to assist U.S. law enforcement officials in solving crimes, forming the basis of the TV series ''Medium''. H ...

from ''

Medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation * Medium bomber, a class of war plane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium ...

''),

Natalie Maines Natalie Louise Maines (born October 14, 1974) is an American singer. She is the lead vocalist for the all-female country band The Chicks. In 1995, after leaving Berklee College of Music, Maines was recruited by the Dixie Chicks to replace their ...

of the Dixie Chicks, and

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...

(as herself and as

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 t ...

from the Disney Channel show of the same name). Crista had a long-standing gag with fellow cast member

Bobby Lee Robert Lee Jr. (born September 17, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and podcaster. From 2001 to 2009, Lee was a cast member on '' MADtv'', and he co-starred in the ABC single-camera sitcom series ''Splitting Up Together'' alongsi ...

, where their behind-the-scenes characters had a love/hate relationship. This relationship can be seen in the "Secret Santa" skit, where Bobby proposes to Crista, to which she replies, "I cannot marry someone I have a restraining order against." This can also be seen in the "Celebrity Triathlon" skit, where Crista slams the door after Bobby asks for her help, and she makes reference to not helping him dig up a dead body, but reluctantly agrees to help him train.

Characters

Impressions

* Alex Hooser *

America Ferrera America Georgina Ferrera (; born April 18, 1984) is an American actress. Born in Los Angeles to Honduran parents, Ferrera developed an interest in acting at a young age, performing in several stage productions at her school. She made her featu ...

Angela Cartwright Angela Margaret Cartwright (born September 9, 1952) is a British actress primarily known for her roles in movies and television. On television, she played Linda Williams, the stepdaughter of Danny Williams (played by Danny Thomas) in the long- ...

Aaron Carter Aaron Charles Carter (December 7, 1987November 5, 2022) was an American singer and rapper. He came to fame as a teen pop singer in the late 1990s, establishing himself as a star among preteen and teenage audiences during the first years of th ...

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 ...

Elliot Page Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page; born February 21, 1987) is a Canadian actor. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award nomination, two BAFTA Awards and Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and a Satellite Award. Page publi ...

(then Ellen Page) (as Juno MacGuff) *

(as

Meredith Grey Meredith Grey, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a fictional and titular character from the medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy'', which airs on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States. The character was created by series pro ...

) *

Emilie de Ravin Emilie de Ravin (; born 27 December 1981) is an Australian actress. She starred as Tess Harding on '' Roswell'' (2000–2002), Claire Littleton on the ABC drama ''Lost'' (2004–2008, 2010), and as Belle on the ABC drama '' Once Upon a Tim ...

(as

Claire Littleton Claire Littleton is a fictional character played by Emilie de Ravin on the ABC drama television series ''Lost'', which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the South Pacific. Claire is introduced in the pilot episode as a pre ...

) *

Gilbert Gottfried Gilbert Jeremy Gottfried (February 28, 1955 – April 12, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian and actor, known for his exaggerated shrill voice, strong New York accent, and his edgy, often controversial, sense of humor. His numerous r ...

Hayden Panettiere Hayden Lesley Panettiere (; born August 21, 1989) is an American actress, model, and singer. She is best known for her lead roles as Claire Bennet on the NBC superhero series '' Heroes'' and Juliette Barnes in the ABC/ CMT musical drama serie ...

(as Claire Bennet) *

Judy Reyes Judy Reyes (born November 5, 1967) is an American actress, model and producer, best known for her roles as Carla Espinosa on the NBC/ABC medical comedy series '' Scrubs'' (2001–2009), and as Zoila Diaz in the Lifetime comedy-drama ''Devious Mai ...

Kate Moss Katherine Ann Moss (born 16 January 1974) is a British model. Arriving at the end of the "supermodel era", Moss rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. Her collaborations with Calvin Klein brought her to fas ...

Khloé Kardashian Khloé Alexandra Kardashian (; born June 27, 1984) is an American media personality and socialite. Since 2007, she has starred with her family in the reality television series '' Keeping Up with the Kardashians''. Its success has led to the c ...

Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Dee Lohan ( ; born July 2, 1986) is an American actress and singer. Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Lohan was signed to Ford Models at the age of three. Having appeared as a regular on the television soap opera '' An ...

* Lynne Spears *

Lo Bosworth Lauren Ogilvie "Lo" Bosworth (born September 29, 1986) is an American former reality television personality, founder and CEO of Love Wellness, and author. Bosworth rose to prominence as a cast member of '' Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County'' an ...

* Mary Murphy *

Meredith Vieira Meredith Louise Vieira (born December 30, 1953) is an American broadcast journalist and television personality. She is best known as the original moderator of the daytime talk show '' The View'' (1997–2006), the original host of the syndicated ...

Michelle Ryan Michelle Claire Ryan (born 22 April 1984) is an English actress. She played Zoe Slater on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (2000–2005). In 2007, she starred in the short-lived American television series ''Bionic Woman''. She appeared as the ...

Natalie Horler Natalie Christine Horler (born 23 September 1981) is a German-English singer and television presenter, best known for being the lead singer of the Eurodance group Cascada. Early life and family Natalie Horler was born in Bonn, West Germany, ...

in a loose parody of

Cascada Cascada (, Spanish for "Waterfall", stylized as CASCADA, CASC''A''DA and cascada) is a German dance music act founded in 2004 by singer Natalie Horler and DJs/producers DJ Manian and DJ Yanou. They are best known for their hit singles " Every ...

's " Everytime We Touch" *

(of the

Dixie Chicks The Chicks (previously known as Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. Since 1995, the band has consisted of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) an ...

) *

Scarlett Johansson Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has featured multiple times on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 list. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 ...

Rachel McAdams Rachel Anne McAdams (born November 17, 1978) is a Canadian actress. After graduating from a theatre degree program at York University in 2001, she worked in Canadian television and film productions, such as the drama film ''Perfect Pie'' (200 ...

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of '' The Twilight Zone''. ...

(as Opie from ''

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American sitcom, situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in colo ...

'') *

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...

Toni Basil Antonia Christina Basilotta (born September 22, 1943), better known by her stage name Toni Basil, is an American singer, choreographer, dancer, actress, and director. Her song "Mickey" topped the charts in the US, Canada and Australia and hit th ...

Tracy Hutson Tracy Hutson is an American reality television personality and one of the original style consultants on ABC TV's television series '' Extreme Makeover: Home Edition''. Hutson grew up in Dallas, Texas. Acting career Hutson has appeared in a number ...

* Vanna White *

Vivian Vance Vivian Vance (born Vivian Roberta Jones; July 26, 1909 – August 17, 1979) was an American actress and singer best known for playing Ethel Mertz on the sitcom ''I Love Lucy'' (1951–1957), for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outst ...

(as Ethel Mertz from '' I Love Lucy'') *

Whitney Port Whitney Eve Port-Rosenman (born March 4, 1985) is an American television personality, fashion designer and author. In 2006, Port came to prominence after being cast in the reality television series '' The Hills'', which chronicled the personal an ...

After ''MADtv''

After ''MADtv'', Flanagan's most notable television role was the recurring role of Lois Sadler on the drama series ''Mad Men'', on which she appeared for the first three seasons from 2007 to 2009. She has also appeared 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 televi ...

'', ''

The Practice ''The Practice'' is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC, from March 4, 1997, to May 16, 2004. It won an Emmy ...

'', and '' ER'', and had a recurring role on ''

You've Got a Friend (TV program) ''You've Got A Friend'' is a 2004 reality comedy program on MTV, produced by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg And Jeff Fisher. It was launched near the same time as their reality prank show Punk'd, and although successful in ratings, was cancel ...

''. She partnered up with the team behind

Ask a Ninja Ask A Ninja is a series of comedy videos about the image of ninja in popular culture available in podcast and vodcast form, as well as in mov and WMV file formats. The episodes were released between 2005 and 2011. In December 2007, television i ...

to create a video podcast called ''Hope is Emo''. Flanagan played the role of

Hermione Granger Hermione Jean Granger ( ) is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' series. She first appears in the novel '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (1997), as a new student on her way to Hogwarts. After Harry and ...

in the 2007 film, ''

Epic Movie ''Epic Movie'' is a 2007 American parody film written and directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer and produced by Paul Schiff. It stars Kal Penn, Adam Campbell, Jayma Mays, Jennifer Coolidge, Faune A. Chambers, Crispin Glover, Tony Cox ...

''. She later appeared as

Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which was originally broadcast on ABC. It premiered on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombi ...

/Oracle in the "sequel" ''

Meet the Spartans ''Meet the Spartans'' is a 2008 American parody film written and directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. The film is mainly a parody of the 2006 film ''300'', although it also references many other films, TV shows, people and pop cultural ...

'', and in ''

Disaster Movie A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, military/ terrorist attacks or global catastrophes such a ...

'' played Juney, a parody of '' Juno'', and Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus. She also appeared in Seltzer and Friedberg's 2010 project, ''

Vampires Suck ''Vampires Suck'' is a 2010 American parody vampire film written and directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. It stars Jenn Proske, Matt Lanter, Christopher N. Riggi, Ken Jeong, Anneliese van der Pol, and Arielle Kebbel. The film is a ...

'', as Eden Sullen. With the release of '' Best Night Ever'' in 2013, she became the most recurring actress in Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer films. She posed nude in the August 2010 issue of ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

''.Starpulse
"'Mad Men's' Crista Flanagan Gets Naked For Playboy"
, July 15, 2010 She appeared in an episode of ''

Big Time Rush ''Big Time Rush'' is an American musical sitcom television series created by Scott Fellows that originally aired on Nickelodeon from November 28, 2009, to July 25, 2013 and is currently available in Paramount+. It focuses on the Hollywood mi ...

'' as an evil producer named Kennedy. Crista plays the title character in ''Hope Is Emo'', an Internet comedy

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

that satirizes the life of a struggling

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

girl named Hope. The series was created by Crista and the Ask a Ninja' team at Beatbox Giant Productions.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * *
''Suburban Blight'' Review
(Crista Flanagan played Wilma)

Crista Flanagan's TV roles and appearances {{DEFAULTSORT:Flanagan, Crista 1976 births Actresses from Illinois American musical theatre actresses American stand-up comedians American television actresses Living people People from Mount Vernon, Illinois University of California, Irvine alumni University of Evansville alumni American women comedians 21st-century American actresses American sketch comedians Comedians from Illinois Comedians from California 21st-century American comedians American impressionists (entertainers)