Nicole Sullivan (born April 21, 1970) is an American actress and comedian best known for being a cast member on the sketch comedy series MADtv for six seasons (1995–2001). She also played Holly Shumpert in five seasons (2001–2005, 2007) of the CBS sitcom The King of Queens.
Sullivan was born in Manhattan[1] on April 21, 1970.[2] She took dance classes at age 7 and performed in Off Broadway and Broadway productions with the First All-Children's Theatre. Sullivan's mother Madonna (née Rauscher) Sullivan, a businesswoman, and her father Edward C. Sullivan, who represented Manhattan's 69th district in the New York State Assembly from 1977 to 2002, moved the family upstate to Middleburgh, New York, in 1982.[3] During high school, Sullivan was class treasurer throughout her junior year. She played soccer in high school, recorded statistics for the boys' basketball team and was a member of student council.
After graduating from Middleburgh in 1987,[4] she attended Northwestern University as a theatre major. She worked two jobs to pay her way through college and writing plays and sketches for the student theatre. Sullivan spent her junior year in London, studying at the British American Drama Academy and became a member of the Greenwich Shakespeare Company. Sullivan graduated from Northwestern and then moved to Los Angeles to start a television career. After appearing in commercials and sporadic guest roles on shows including Herman's Head, she was recruited to join the cast of MADtv.
Career
MADtv
Sullivan was among the original cast members on Fox's MADtv when it premiered in 1995. She created numerous characters; her most popular was the mean-spirited Vancome Lady. Sullivan's other characters included X-News reporter Amy, dimwitted Antonia, Eracists leader Debbie, News at 6's Diane Lawyer-Trabajo (pronounced "trebalyo"), racist country singer Darlene McBride, and Latina bimbo Lida. Sullivan appeared with Michael McDonald in a MADtv sketch about making an audition tape to appear on Law & Order that mocked their acting prowess; she later guest-starred in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unitseason one episode "Contact". Sullivan was featured in the November/December 2009 issue of Making Music Magazine.[5]
The King of Queens
Sullivan played the role of Holly Shumpert from 2001 to 2005. She returned in 2007 to reprise the role for the final season. In most of the show, Holly's profession is a dog walker. The Heffernans hire her to 'walk' Arthur, Carrie's father, to get him some exercise and keep him out of mischief.
Voice acting projects
Sullivan was originally cast as Turanga Leela, one of the main characters of the animated series Futurama, but the role was recast with Katey Sagal before the show began production.[6][7]
Sullivan also made an appearance in an episode of It's Me or the Dog along with her husband, their then twenty-month-old son Dashel (Dash), their three cats, and their four mixed-breed dogs: Paco (a Chihuahua mix), Jackson (a Lab mix), Donut (a Great Pyrenees mix), and Funzies (a Catahoula Leopard mix).
In November 2021, Sullivan listed her home in Hollywood Hills for 1.45 million dollars.[13]
^ abcdefghijklmnopq"Nicole Sullivan (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 29, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
^Lowry, Brian (March 9, 2007). "Raines". Variety. ISSN0042-2738. OCLC810134503. Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved June 5, 2019. A crime procedural tweaked with the slimmest of gimmicks, 'Raines' largely boils down to one's appreciation of star Jeff Goldblum, who occupies center stage in practically every scene. Relative to riskier dramas, it seems a reasonably safe bet, though it's hardly the sort of series people will rush home to see.
