Kristen Angela Johnston (born September 20, 1967) is an American actress. Best known for her work on television sitcoms, she twice won the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre-, or even gender-, specific. Begi ...

for her role as

Sally Solomon Sally Solomon (played by Kristen Johnston) is a fictional character from the television sitcom ''3rd Rock from the Sun''. Role as female Prior to arriving on Earth, the Solomons had some sort of contest or a bet to determine who would be male or ...

in '' 3rd Rock from the Sun''. She starred as divorce attorney Holly Franklin on ''

The Exes ''The Exes'' is an American sitcom starring Donald Faison, Wayne Knight, Kristen Johnston, David Alan Basche, and Kelly Stables. It debuted on TV Land on November 30, 2011, airing on Wednesday nights at 10:30 p.m. The series was created by ...

'', and as recovering addict Tammy Diffendorf on '' Mom''. She has also appeared in such films as '' Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' (1999), ''

The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas ''The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas'' (also known as ''The Flintstones 2'' or ''The Flintstones 2: Viva Rock Vegas'' in a working title) is a 2000 American romantic comedy film directed by Brian Levant, written by Jim Cash, Harry Elfont, Debor ...

'' (2000), ''

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

'' (2002), '' Music and Lyrics'' (2007), and ''

Bride Wars ''Bride Wars'' is a 2009 American romantic comedy film directed by Gary Winick and written by Greg DePaul, June Diane Raphael, and Casey Wilson. The film stars Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway with Kristen Johnston, Bryan Greenberg and Candice Berg ...

'' (2009).

Education

Johnston earned a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

degree in drama at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Career

Johnston made her professional stage debut with New York's

Atlantic Theater Company Atlantic Theater Company is an Off-Broadway non-profit theater, whose mission is to produce great plays "simply and truthfully utilizing an artistic ensemble." The company was founded in 1985 by David Mamet, William H. Macy, and 30 of their act ...

, founded by playwright

David Mamet David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and '' Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first gained cri ...

, where she appeared in many productions including ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has b ...

'' and ''

Stage Door ''Stage Door'' is a 1937 RKO film directed by Gregory La Cava. Adapted from the play of the same name, it tells the story of several would-be actresses who live together in a boarding house at 158 West 58th Street in New York City. The film ...

''. She performed with the Naked Angels Theater Company in ''The Stand-In'' and ''Hot Keys'', and with New York Stage and Film in ''Kim's Sister'' with

David Strathairn David Russell Strathairn (; born January 26, 1949) is an American actor. Known for his leading roles on stage and screen, he has often portrayed historical figures such as Edward R. Murrow, J. Robert Oppenheimer, William H. Seward, and John Do ...

and Jane Adams. For her performance in ''The Lights'' at

Lincoln Center Theater The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a Broadway theater in the Lincoln Center complex at 150 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Operated by the nonprofit Lincoln Center Theater (LCT), the Beaumont is the only Broad ...

, she was nominated for a

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

for Best Supporting Actress. A

Carsey-Werner The Carsey-Werner Company (previously known as Carsey-Werner Productions and Carsey-Werner-Mandabach Productions, before that, Carsey Productions and also known as Carsey-Werner Television) is an independent production company founded in 1981 by ...

casting agent who saw her in ''The Lights'' recommended her for the role of Sally Solomon on the TV series ''3rd Rock from the Sun.'' After numerous auditions in 1996, she won the part and starred on the show from 1996 to 2001, winning two

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Kristen Johnston Speaks with the Media - 2014 Voice Awards

She made her feature film debut in ''The Debt'', winner of Best Short at the 1993

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. In 1995, she played Kate in the film ''Backfire!'' She played Esmeralda, a sea hag in ''Thrill Ride'', a family friendly film released in 2016. Her other television credits include guest-starring roles on '' Chicago Hope'', ''

Hearts Afire ''Hearts Afire'' is an American television sitcom created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, starring John Ritter and Markie Post that aired on CBS from September 14, 1992, to February 1, 1995. The series' title is taken from a line in the Earth, ...

'', and ''

The 5 Mrs. Buchanans ''The 5 Mrs. Buchanans'' is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from September 24, 1994 to March 25, 1995. Set in the fictional town of Mercy, Indiana, the show centers on the small-town misadventures of four diverse women with one th ...

''. She narrated ''Microscopic Milton'' on the

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

. Her significant roles in commercially successful movies include '' Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' in 1999, ''

'', and '' Music and Lyrics'' in 2007. In 1998, she was a spokesmodel for the

Clairol Clairol is the American personal care-product division of company Wella, specializing in hair coloring and hair care. Clairol was founded in 1931 by Americans Joan Gelb and her husband Lawrence M. Gelb, with business partner and lifelong frien ...

company. Johnston appeared in the sixth and final season of ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City (newspaper column), newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the ...

''. In the "

Splat! SPLAT! (short for an RF Signal Propagation, Loss, And Terrain analysis tool) is a GNU GPL-licensed terrestrial radio propagation model application initially written for Linux but has since been ported for Windows and OS X. SPLAT! can use the Lon ...

" episode, her character, Lexi Featherston, an aging party girl, accidentally falls out of a window and dies (after saying, "I'm so bored I could die"), prompting

Carrie Bradshaw Caroline Marie "Carrie" Bradshaw is a fictional character from the HBO franchise ''Sex and the City'', portrayed by Sarah Jessica Parker. Candace Bushnell created Carrie as a semi-autobiographical character for her column "Sex and the City" in ...

(played by

Sarah Jessica Parker Sarah Jessica Parker (born March 25, 1965) is an American actress and television producer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including six Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 1 ...

) to reexamine her life. In 2005, Johnston was featured in six episodes of

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 ...

's '' ER''. She was cast as Patsy in a proposed American remake of the British TV series ''

Absolutely Fabulous ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (also known as ''Ab Fab'') is a British television sitcom based on the ''French and Saunders'' sketch, "Modern Mother and Daughter", created by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. The show was created and written by Saund ...

'', but it was never picked up by a network. She had a recurring role in the 2009 season of ''

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 Colombian t ...

,'' and had a single-episode appearance as a

dominatrix A dominatrix (; ) or femdom is a woman who takes the dominant role in BDSM activities. A dominatrix can be of any sexual orientation, but this does not necessarily limit the genders of her submissive partners. Dominatrices are known for inflic ...

in the second season opener of '' Bored to Death''. She starred in the

TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cl ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

'', which ran for four seasons from November 30, 2011 to September 16, 2015. In 2018, she began a recurring role on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

sitcom '' Mom'', and was upgraded to series regular for season 7 (2019–2020).

Personal life

Her father was former Wisconsin

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

state senator

Rod Johnston Rodney Kohler "Rod" Johnston (September 2, 1937March 30, 2018) was an American attorney and Republican politician. He served six years in the Wisconsin State Senate (1979–1985) after four years in the State Assembly (1975–1979), repre ...

. In her autobiography, ''Guts: The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster'' (2012), Johnston discusses an addiction to alcohol and pills that began when she was in high school. She wrote that at the height of her addiction, she drank on average two bottles of wine per evening, and that she had been sober for five years. Through her charity SLAM, NYC (Sobriety, Learning and Motivation), she mentors high school girls from New York City with addiction and self-esteem issues and has campaigned for the city to build a recovery high school. Johnston said she was diagnosed in November 2013 with lupus myelitis, which caused her to miss filming some episodes of her series ''

''. A character played by Leah Remini was introduced in season 3 to cover her absence.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Awards and nominations

Autobiography

* 2012: ''Guts: The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster'', Gallery Books,

References

External links

* *
2006 Interview with Johnston on Theatre.comKristen Johnston ''Downstage Center'' interview
American Theatre Wing, October 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Kristen 1967 births American film actresses American television actresses American voice actresses Living people Actresses from Washington, D.C. Circle in the Square Theatre School alumni Tisch School of the Arts alumni Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy Award winners 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses New York University faculty American autobiographers Writers from Washington, D.C. American stage actresses Women autobiographers People from Fox Point, Wisconsin Whitefish Bay High School alumni