Kate Destiny Flannery (born June 10, 1964) is an American actress. Following her early theatre work, Flannery had her screen breakthrough playing

Meredith Palmer ''The Office'' is an American television series based on the British television comedy of the same name. The format of the series is a parody of the fly on the wall documentary technique that intersperses traditional situation comedy segments w ...

on the NBC series ''

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 ser ...

'', which won her two

Screen Actors Guild Awards Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1952 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...

. She went on to star as Principal Saperstein on the

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series ...

series ''All Night'', compete on the 28th season of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the form ...

'', and voice Carol on the animated series ''

OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes ''OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes'' is an American animated television series created by Ian Jones-Quartey for Cartoon Network. The show is based on Jones-Quartey's pilot ''Lakewood Plaza Turbo'', which was released as part of Cartoon Network's 2013 Su ...

''.

Early life

Flannery was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, daughter of parents Joan and Tom Flannery, and was raised in the suburb of

Ardmore, Pennsylvania Ardmore is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) spanning the border between Delaware and Montgomery counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The population was 12,455 at the 2010 census and had risen to 13,566 in ...

. She studied for two years at

Shenandoah Conservatory Shenandoah University is a private university in Winchester, Virginia. It has an enrollment of approximately 4,000 students across more than 200 areas of study in six schools: College of Arts & Sciences (including the Division of Education and Le ...

in Virginia and then transferred to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She has five sisters and a brother, and is three minutes younger than her twin sister, who is a social worker.

Career

A former member of

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 o ...

's National Touring Company, Flannery is an original member of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

's Annoyance Theater, where she appeared in over 15 shows including ''The Miss Vagina Pageant'' and ''The Real Live

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, after ...

''. ''The Lampshades'', her cult comedy lounge act with veteran improviser Scot Robinson, has been running in

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) * Hollywoo ...

and in comedy festivals all over the country since 2001 and was seen at the

U.S. Comedy Arts Festival The Comedy Festival, formerly known as the US Comedy Arts Festival, was a comedy festival that ran from 1995 to 2008. The festival included stand-up comedy performances, appearances by the casts of television shows, and has a film component call ...

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,004 at the 2020 United States Census. Aspen is in a remote area of the Rocky Moun ...

. ''The Lampshades'' was ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' magazine's "LA Pick" for 2006, and was declared "Best Saturday Comedy Show of the Year" by ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose par ...

''. Flannery appeared as the alcoholic, divorced, single mother

on the television comedy ''

''. Before ''The Office'', she made appearances on '' The Bernie Mac Show'', ''

Boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, althou ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', and ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, California, as part of ABC's ...

''. ''The Office'' earned her and the rest of its cast acclaim, along with several accolades, such as winning two

for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, with an additional five nominations for the same award. In 2008, Flannery was a talent scout on ''

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large grou ...

'' with her ''Office'' costar

Brian Baumgartner Brian Baumgartner (born November 29, 1972) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Kevin Malone, a character in the NBC sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2013). Early life and career Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Baumgartner attended Holy In ...

, and she appeared with the cast of ''The Office'' on ''

Celebrity Family Feud ''Celebrity Family Feud'' is a broadcast network spin-off of the syndicated American game show '' Family Feud''. Like the primetime ''All-Star Specials'' aired during the late 1970s and early 1980s by the show's then-network home ABC, the episod ...

''.

In 2010, she played Harper's mom on the Disney Channel's ''Wizards of Waverly Place'' as Elaine Finkle. Flannery also appeared as a judge in a 2009 episode of ''

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, w ...

''. Flannery has been touring with Jane Lynch as her sidekick on stage since 2013 in her show ''See Jane Sing'' with Tim Davis and the

Tony Guerrero Tony Guerrero (born September 20, 1966) is a musician, songwriter, and producer. His career as a jazz trumpeter has spanned more than thirty years beginning with the release of his first CD, ''Tiara'', in 1988. To date, he has released nine solo ...

Quintet, playing the Kennedy Center, Joe's Pub, the Borgata and 30 cities. Flannery was in the long running New York hit,

Nora Ephron Nora Ephron ( ; May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for her romantic comedy films and was nominated three times for the Writers Guild of America Award and the Academy Award for ...

's ''Love, Loss, and What I Wore''. She also played Neely O'Hara in the 1996

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

hit ''Valley of the Dolls '', an adaptation of the 1967 film at the

Circle in the Square Theatre The Circle in the Square Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 50th Street, in the basement of Paramount Plaza, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is one of two Broadway theaters that use a thrust stage that extends ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. Also in Los Angeles, she played the teen prostitute and Blair's sister in ''The Phacts of Life'' at the Renberg Theatre and in the

Lily Tomlin Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin (born September 1, 1939) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She started her career as a stand-up comedian as well as performing off-Broadway during the 1960s. Her breakout role was on the varie ...

/Jane Wagner production of ''Three Feet Under'' at The Evidence Room. Jane Lynch's Christmas album ''A Swingin' Little Christmas'' features Kate Flannery, and reached #8 on the ''Billboard'' top 100 charts. She also appeared on ''

The Jay Leno Show ''The Jay Leno Show'' is a talk show created and hosted by Jay Leno. Premiering on NBC on September 14, 2009, the program aired on weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ET/ PT through February 9, 2010. The program was modeled upon the format of a late ...

'' portraying Wendy in a skit at the time of the burger chain's 40th anniversary. She was a contestant on 19 episodes of '' Celebrity Name Game'', two episodes of ''

Hollywood Game Night ''Hollywood Game Night'' is an American television game show that aired on NBC from July 11, 2013, to July 5, 2020. The series, which is hosted by Jane Lynch, follows two contestants who take part in a casual game night with three celebrities ea ...

'' with Jane Lynch. Flannery also appeared on '' Don't Forget the Lyrics'' and hosted '' Standup in Stilettos'' for two seasons on the

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corporat ...

network. She is the former musical director of the Los Angeles Drama Club, teaching

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

to children and young adults. In 2016, she recurred on ABC's '' American Housewife'' as Crossing Guard Sandy, played a janitor in an episode of ''

Brooklyn Nine-Nine ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' is an American police procedural comedy television series that aired on Fox, and later on NBC. The show aired from September 17, 2013, to September 16, 2021, for a total of eight seasons and 153 episodes. Created by Da ...

'', appeared on FOX's ''

New Girl ''New Girl'' is an American television sitcom created by Elizabeth Meriwether and produced by 20th Television for Fox that originally aired from September 20, 2011, to May 15, 2018. The series revolves around a kooky teacher, Jessica Day ( Zoo ...

'' and MTV's '' Mary + Jane'', and in 2017, recurred on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

's '' Steven Universe'' as Barbara "Barb" Miller. Flannery was a member of the band Mono Puff under the stage name "Lady Puff". She toured with the band and sang on their second album, ''It's Fun to Steal''. In 2019, Flannery was announced as one of the celebrities to compete on season 28 of ''

''. She was partnered with first-time professional Pasha Pashkov and was eliminated fifth. She joined the show's live tour in 2020, but it was cut short due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Filmography

Film

Television

''Dancing with the Stars'' performances

¹ Score given by guest judge Leah Remini.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
''The Lampshades''
Flannery's comedy lounge act {{DEFAULTSORT:Flannery, Kate 1964 births Living people American film actresses American television actresses American people of Irish descent Actresses from Philadelphia American women comedians University of the Arts (Philadelphia) alumni 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses American twins 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians