Mary McDonnell
Birth name: Mary McDonnell
Birthplace: Wilkes- bare, Pennsylvania
Birthday: April 28, 1952
Profession: actor
Year active: 1978- present
Born in Wilkes- bare, PA and brought up in Ithaca, NewYork. Mcdonnell graduated from State University of New York at Fredonia, where she also attended drama school. McDonnell is married to Randle Mell, who is also an actor. They have two children.
After working in theatre for more than twenty one years, mainly with the prestigious Long Wharf Theatre Company, she got a break in the films when Kevin Costner picked her to play the strong-willed Stands With A Fist in his blockbuster, “Dances With Wolves.” The feature made McDonnell a star at 37, and a first-time recipient of an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Some other movies to her credit are “Grand Canyon”, “Sneakers”, “Independence Day”, “Donnie Darko”.
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On television, she has worked in series like, “As The World Turns”, “E/R”. In 2003, she starred in Battlestar Galactica as Laura Roslin, a former Secretary of Education who becomes the president of human colonists.
