Molly Shannon has become a highly sought-after talent in Hollywood, with a career spanning television and film.
She spent six seasons as a member of the repertory company on "Saturday Night Live," where she created a range of eclectic characters, including Mary Katherine Gallagher and Sally O'Malley. Her parodies of Courtney Love, Liza Minnelli, Helen Madden, and Terry Rialto earned her critical acclaim. In 2000, she received an Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program."
Prior to joining "SNL," Shannon appeared at The Up Front Comedy Theater in Los Angeles in "The Rob and Molly Show," an improvisational show she co-wrote with Rob Muir.
Shannon's extensive film credits include "A Good Person," "Spin Me Round," the Academy Award-nominated "Promising Young Woman," "Wild Nights with Emily," "Private Life," "Half Magic," "The Little Hours," "Fun Mom Dinner," "The Layover," "We Don't Belong Here," "Me, Earl and the Dying Girl," "Life After Beth," the 5th installment of the popular "Scary Movie" franchise, the animated comedy "Hotel Transylvania," and the sequel "Hotel Transylvania 2," "Bad Teacher," "Superstar," "Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette," "Year of the Dog," "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," "Evan Almighty," "Igor," "Little Man," "Scary Movie 4," "Ron Howard's How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "A Night at the Roxbury," "Analyze This," "Happiness," "Never Been Kissed," "The Good Boy!," "Serendipity," "Osmosis Jones," "The Santa Clause 2," and "Wet Hot American Summer."
Her television credits include "The Other Two," "I Love That For You," "The White Lotus," "Divorce," opposite Sarah Jessica Parker, a guest starring role on NBC's revival of "Will & Grace," for which she received a Primetime Emmy nomination, the "Wet Hot American Summer" miniseries for Netflix, an eight-episode series which served as a prequel to the cult comedy classic film of the same name, and a guest arc on the HBO series, "Enlightened," for which she received an Emmy nomination for 'Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.'
Shannon's critically acclaimed memoir, "Hello, Molly!", was released by HarperCollins in April 2022 and became a New York Times bestseller. The memoir tells the story of resilience and redemption through the eyes of Molly, both before and after the childhood tragedy that would end up shaping her entire life.
In 2010, Shannon made her Broadway debut replacing Tony Award winner Katie Finneran in the hit musical "Promises, Promises" alongside Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth.
In 2018, Shannon teamed up with Will Ferrell to provide commentary on the 2018 Rose Parade in character as eccentric broadcasters, Cord Hosenbeck and Tish Cattigan. The parody, "The 2018 Rose Parade Hosted by Cord & Tish," was live streamed on Amazon Prime Video. The duo returned to cover Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's nuptials with "The Royal Wedding Live with Cord and Tish!" which aired on HBO and this year, they covered the Rose Parade for the second year in a row.
Born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, Molly earned a BFA in drama from New York University's prestigious Tisch School of the Arts. She lives in California with her husband and two children.
Her television movies include "More of Me," "12 Days of Christmas Eve," and "The Music Man."
Shannon's first children's picture book, "Tilly the Trickster," was released in 2011 by Abrams Books for Young Readers, an imprint of ABRAMS. The book tells the tale of Tilly, "a mischief maker of the best kind-one who learns her lesson but never lets the reader stop having fun."
