Lisa Ann Walter
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Lisa Ann Walter (born August 3, 1963) is an American actress, comedian and television producer, best known for her roles as Chessy in the romantic comedy film '' The Parent Trap'' and Melissa Schemmenti on the
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 ...
mockumentary sitcom ''
Abbott Elementary ''Abbott Elementary'' is an American mockumentary sitcom television series created by Quinta Brunson for ABC. It stars Brunson as a second-grade teacher at Abbott Elementary, a fictional predominantly Black school in Philadelphia. The ensemble ...
''. She was formerly the creator and executive producer of
Oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...
network reality weight-loss competition series, '' Dance Your Ass Off''. Her other reality television work includes her stint as a judge 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 ...
's reality television series '' The Next Best Thing: Who Is the Greatest Celebrity Impersonator?'', and as winning a celebrity edition of the game show ''
The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...
''. She also created and starred in the short-lived 1996–1997 sitcom, ''
Life's Work ''Life's Work'' is an American sitcom series that aired from September 1996 to June 1997 on ABC; the show stars Lisa Ann Walter as Lisa Ann Minardi Hunter, an assistant district attorney in Baltimore. Lisa Ann always wanted to practice law since ...
'', and appeared in ''
Bruce Almighty ''Bruce Almighty'' is a 2003 American fantasy comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and written by Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe and Steve Oedekerk. The film stars Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan, a down-on-his-luck television reporter who complains to God ...
'', ''
Shall We Dance Shall We Dance may refer to: Films * ''Shall We Dance'' (1937 film), a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical * ''Shall We Dance?'' (1996 film), a Japanese film about ballroom dancing * ''Shall We Dance?'' (2004 film), an American remake of the ...
'', and ''
War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by '' Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appearance in hardcover was i ...
''.


Early life

Walter was born on August 3, 1963, in
Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 censu ...
. She and her older sister, Laura, are the children of a
geophysicist Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' som ...
British father who was born in France of Alsatian descent and a substitute-teacher mother who was born in
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
. The family lived in different places following their father's work, and their childhood homes included Germany and the suburbs of
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She graduated with a theater degree from
Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...
in Washington, D.C., in 1983.


Career

After five years of standup comedy, Walter was cast to star in her own
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Network comedy series, ''My Wildest Dreams'', followed by an
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 ...
sitcom, ''
Life's Work ''Life's Work'' is an American sitcom series that aired from September 1996 to June 1997 on ABC; the show stars Lisa Ann Walter as Lisa Ann Minardi Hunter, an assistant district attorney in Baltimore. Lisa Ann always wanted to practice law since ...
'', which she both created and starred in. Walter also co-starred in the
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series ''
Breaking News Breaking news, interchangeably termed late-breaking news and also known as a special report or special coverage or news flash, is a current issue that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming or current news in orde ...
'' and in the
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sitcom ''
Emeril Emeril John Lagassé III ( ; born October 15, 1959) is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, cookbook author, and National Best Recipe award winner for his "Turkey and Hot Sausage Chili" recipe in 2003. He is a regio ...
''. In addition to ''
Bruce Almighty ''Bruce Almighty'' is a 2003 American fantasy comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and written by Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe and Steve Oedekerk. The film stars Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan, a down-on-his-luck television reporter who complains to God ...
'' (2003) and ''
Shall We Dance Shall We Dance may refer to: Films * ''Shall We Dance'' (1937 film), a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical * ''Shall We Dance?'' (1996 film), a Japanese film about ballroom dancing * ''Shall We Dance?'' (2004 film), an American remake of the ...
'' (2004), Walter co-starred in the Disney film '' The Parent Trap'' (1998); in the remake of the original classic, she appeared as Chessy, the nanny to
Dennis Quaid Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the late 1970s, some of his notable credits include ''Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The ...
's character's daughter, who was played by a young
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 ...
. Prior to that, she played
Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...
's tarty sidekick Claudine in ''
Eddie Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle * Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...
'' (1996). In early 2007, Walter had a supporting role as Mabel the bartender in the
MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...
soap opera ''
Watch Over Me ''Watch Over Me'' is an American television series that debuted on December 6, 2006 on MyNetworkTV. Twentieth Television produced 66 episodes to air weekdays. The limited-run serial is an adaptation of Argentine series '' Resistiré''. Dayana ...
''. Later that May she served as a judge on the ABC reality TV show ''
The Next Best Thing ''The Next Best Thing'' is a 2000 American comedy-drama film directed by John Schlesinger (his final feature film before his death in 2003) about two best friends who have a child together and a custody battle years after. Starring Madonna, Ruper ...
'', which searched for the best celebrity impersonators in America. In early 2008, Walter was in the comedy film ''
Drillbit Taylor ''Drillbit Taylor'' is a 2008 American coming-of-age comedy film directed by Steven Brill, produced by Judd Apatow, Susan Arnold and Donna Arkoff Roth with screenplay by Kristofor Brown and Seth Rogen based on an original story by John Hughes ( ...
'', and also starred on the VH1 reality series ''
Celebracadabra ''Celebracadabra'' is an American reality television series on VH1 that premiered on April 27, 2008. The series involves celebrities attempting to learn and perform magic. Magician/actor Jonathan Levit serves as the host. On Thursday, June 12, ...
'', in which celebrities competed to see who was the best magician among them. She made it to the final three but was eliminated in the sixth episode. She has developed a series for the
Oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...
network called '' Dance Your Ass Off''. On December 19, 2011, she appeared on ''
Rizzoli & Isles ''Rizzoli & Isles'' is an American crime drama television series starring Angie Harmon as Jane Rizzoli and Sasha Alexander as Maura Isles. Based on the series of ''Rizzoli & Isles'' novels by Tess Gerritsen, the plot follows Boston Homicide polic ...
'' as a ballet coach, J.J. It was far from her usual role, as she played a very serious character in a drama. Her comic memoir, ''The Best Thing About My Ass Is That It's Behind Me'', was published in May 2011. Beginning in May 2011, Walter hosted ''The Fabulous Lisa Ann Walter Show'', a talk show on the
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' ...
radio station
KFI KFI (640 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. It began operations in 1922 and became one of the first high-powered, clear-channel station, clear-channel List of ...
. The program aired for three hours each Saturday and Sunday. In August 2014, Walter quit in order to focus on her acting career. Since 2021, Walter appears in the ABC comedy ''
Abbott Elementary ''Abbott Elementary'' is an American mockumentary sitcom television series created by Quinta Brunson for ABC. It stars Brunson as a second-grade teacher at Abbott Elementary, a fictional predominantly Black school in Philadelphia. The ensemble ...
'' as second grade teacher Melissa Schemmenti. On October 20, 2022, Walter received the Virtuoso Award at the
San Diego International Film Festival The San Diego International Film Festival (SDIFF) is an independent film festival in San Diego, California produced by the non-profit San Diego Film Foundation. The main event has traditionally been held annually in the autumn at venues in the ...
.


Filmography


Film


Television


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walter, Lisa Ann 1963 births Actresses from Maryland Actresses from Pittsburgh American television actresses American people of German descent American people of Italian descent Living people People from Silver Spring, Maryland Catholic University of America alumni American film actresses American women comedians 21st-century American women 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses