Mary McDonnell

Mary McDonnell is an actress who has been nominated for two Oscars(r). She is famous for her portrayals of characters from the past and present screen roles. Mary Eileen McDonnell was born on the 28th of April 1952 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to Eileen (Mundy) and John McDonnell, a computer consultant, both from Irish origin. Growing up in Ithaca, New York, she graduated from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Fredonia. She then attended the drama program and was accepted into the prestigious Long Wharf Theatre Company on the East Coast. After a few decades, she landed her breakthrough film role, in Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves (1990) where she played "Stands with a Fist" who is a white woman born to the Sioux Indians. Her first Academy Award nomination for the character. McDonnell's film credits also include Lawrence Kasdan's Grand Canyon (1991) & Mumford (1999), opposite veteran actors such as Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier and Ben Kingsley; Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day (1996) (starring Will Smith); the famous art house cult film Donnie Darko (192001); and Margin Call (2011). It earned her the Robert Altman Awards at the 2012 Independent Spirit Awards. McDonnell was a star in the Syfy Network's award-winning show Battlestar Galactica (2004), where she was recognized for her performance as the President Laura Roslin. Her regular guest role as host on the popular television series ER (1994) resulted in an Emmy nomination. The popular drama series on TNT Major Crimes (2012) stars her as Captain Sharon Raydor. It is McDonnell's first series and she was nominated for a primetime Emmy(r). Her portrayal of a paraplegic soap operas in John Sayles' critically acclaimed film Passion Fish (1992) earned her an Best Actress Academy Award (r) nomination and an Academy Award nomination. Golden Globe nod.