Noises Off

Background:

A Tony Award-winning American stage, film, and television actress who started making her mark in the showbiz industry in the beginning of the 1990s, Katie Finneran rose to prominence with her winning, humorous turn as Brooke Ashton on a 2002 revival of “Noises Off,” for which she won a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award. Other Broadway credits include “My Favorite Year,” “Cabaret,” “The Iceman Cometh,” Neil Simon's “Proposals,” “The Heiress,” “In the Summer House” and “Two Shakespearean Actors.” She also has acted in regional theater and in several off-Broadway productions.

In addition to her remarkable stage work, Finneran also has a successful career in both feature films and television. She has appeared in such movies as her debut, “Night of the Living Dead” (1990), “You've Got Mail” (1998), “Death to Smoochy” (2002), “Bewitched” and “Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous” (both 2005), “Firehouse Dog,” “Staten Island” and “Walk the Talk” (all 2007). On the small screen, the blonde, blue-eyed beauty is probably best known as lesbian immigration attorney Sharon Tyler on the short-lived Fox series “Wonderfalls” (2004). About her role, she said, “I'd rather have people think that I'm a lesbian than a lawyer.” Finneran also starred in CBS's “Bram and Alice” (2002) and “The Inside” (2005), as well as guested in such series as “Sex and the City,” “Frasier,” “Oz,” and more recently, “Drive.”

Finneran currently lives in Los Angeles. Apart from acting, she has done a number of “day” jobs to increase her earnings, including a waitress, ringside girl at a boxing ring and perfume spray girl at Bloomingdale's.

As for her romantic life, Finneran said to Playboy, “I'm dating somebody, yes. He doesn't read Playboy, though. I'll get him to, if you want. He's a businessman I met through a friend at a dinner party. I thought, “You're cute. You can take me out.”

Chicago Native

Childhood and Family:

Kathleen Finneran, who would later be famous as Katie Finneran was born on January 22, 1971, in Chicago, Illinois. She was raised in Miami, Florida by parents Kathleen Finneran and Denise. Katie enrolled at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University, but left after only one year. She relocated at New York City at age 19 to study acting with the legendary Uta Hagen.

Wonderfalls

Career:

Katie Finneran showed an interest in the performing arts at an early age. After briefly attending a conservatory, she left college to launch a career in the entertainment industry. Her first break arrived in 1990 when she landed a lead role in the remake of George Romero's “Night of the Living Dead,” playing Judy Rose. Th horror movie Tony Todd, Patricia Tallman, Tom Towles and McKee Anderson. In order to further find more work, she then moved to New York City and has since racked up credits in theatre, film and television.

Known mostly for her stage work, Finneran found herself acting in regional theater in such productions as “Hedda Gabler” (with Kate Burton) and “The Smell of the Kill” (with Kristen Johnson) and in off-Broadway plays like “Arms and the Man,” “Bosoms and Neglect,”“Edith Stein,” “You Never Can Tell,” Encore's “Lil' Abner” and “A Fair Country.” During 1992-1993, she played the role of Tess in the Broadway play “My Favorite Year,” opposite Tim Curry. She also made a name for herself as a pin-up girl named Sammii in Neil Simon's “Proposals,” call girl Cora in “The Iceman Cometh” (1999), along side Kevin Spacey, and the ambisexual Sally Bowles in the Broadway revival of “Cabaret,” in which she replaced Lea Thompson. She also portrayed Miss Wemyss in “Two Shakespearean Actors” and Maria in “The Heiress,” among others.

Finneran returned to the big screen in 1998 when she appeared as Maureen, the Nanny on the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan romantic vehicle “You've Got Mail.” The same year, she made her TV debut as Ellen in the second episode of “Sex and the City called “Models and Mortals.” She went on to appear in an episode of the long-running soap opera “All My Children” (1999) and have a recurring role in two episodes of “Frasier” (also 1999), playing the station owner's ill-natured daughter Poppy. Still in 1999, she was featured in Barry Levinson's “Liberty Heights,” a drama/comedy film starring Adrien Brody and Ben Foster.

After playing Patricia Galson in an episode of “Oz” (2000), Finneran had an uncredited part as Woman in Crowd in the Danny DeVito-directed “Death to Smoochy” (2002), a box office flop starring Robin Williams and Edward Norton. It was also in 2002 that the engaging actress enjoyed a breakthrough moment with her show-stealing performance as Broke Ashton on the Broadway comedy “Noises Off,” by Michael Frayn. Outstandingly portraying the blind-as-a-bat actress, her performance was critically applauded, and she was awarded the 2002 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle, for Best Featured Actress in a Broadway Play. Finneran left the show in July 2002 to start her work on the CBS sitcom “Bram and Alice” (2002), playing Kate, a role created especially for her by Joe Keenan and Christopher Lloyd after they saw her in “Frasier.” The show, which also starred Alfred Molina and Traylor Howard, however, had a short life.

Two years later, Finneran revisited the small screen when she was cast in the regular role of lesbian immigration lawyer Sharon Tyler on the Fox comedy/drama series “Wonderfalls” (2004), costarring with Caroline Dhavernas. Although it earned acclaimed from critics, the show ran only for a season before being canceled. The same year, she also supported Aidan Quinn and Rachel Griffiths in the made-for-TV film “Plainsong,” which marked her TV film acting debut.

In early 2005, Finneran made her next attempt on series TV by undertaking the regular role of Special Agent Melody Sim on the crime series “The Inside,” opposite Rachel Nichols and Adam Baldwin. The show, however, also had a short life and was canceled after 13 episodes. She went on to have roles in the short “Live at Five” and the feature films “Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous,” with Sandra Bullock, and “Bewitched,” opposite Nicole Kidman (all 2005). 2006 saw the performer on the New York stage playing a role in a production of “Pig Farm.” Later that same year, she played the supporting role of Patsi in “Broken Bridges,” a drama/music film starring Toby Keith as a fading country music star named Bo Price.

In 2007, Finneran appeared as Mrs. Dickenson on the comedy film “Staten Island,” directed by Aditya Chandora. She also acted in the independent film “Walk the Talk,” with Evan Ellingson, Cary Elwes, Illeana Douglas, Katie Cassidy and Chris Pratt, and was featured in the Todd Holland-helmed action movie “Firehouse Dog” (both 2007). On television, Finneran could be seen making guest appearance in the series “Drive” (2007), as Becca Freeman.

On November 15, 2007, Finneran appeared as one of the guest performers at “Don't Quit Your Night Job,” an evening of improvisation and comedy held at the Zipper Theater. Among other guests on the show included Marc Kudisch, Sarah Saltzberg, Bob Saget, David Rossmer, John Ellison Conlee, Asmeret Ghebremichael and Alicia Witt. The performance was intended to benefit Wendy Wasserstein's Open Doors initiative.

Awards:

• Tony: Best Actress (Featured Role - Play), “Noises Off,” 2002

• Drama Desk: Best Featured Actress in a Broadway Play, “Noises Off,” 2002

• Outer Critics Circle: Best Featured Actress in a Broadway Play, “Noises Off,” 2002