Kristen Johnston facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kristen Johnston
|
|
---|---|
Johnston at the SAMHSA Special Recognition Award Ceremony in 2014
|
|
Born |
Kristen Angela Johnston
September 20, 1967 Washington, D.C., U.S.
|
Nationality | American |
Education | New York University |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1985–present |
Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
Kristen Angela Johnston (born September 20, 1967) is an American actress. Best known for her work on television sitcoms, she twice won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Sally Solomon in 3rd Rock from the Sun. She starred as divorce attorney Holly Franklin on The Exes, and as Tammy Diffendorf on Mom. She has also appeared in the films The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000), Ice Age (2002), Music and Lyrics (2007), and Bride Wars (2009).
Contents
Education
Johnston earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drama at New York University.
Career
Johnston made her professional stage debut with New York's Atlantic Theater Company, founded by playwright David Mamet, where she appeared in many productions including As You Like It and Stage Door. She performed with the Naked Angels Theater Company in The Stand-In and Hot Keys, and with New York Stage and Film in Kim's Sister with David Strathairn and Jane Adams. For her performance in The Lights at Lincoln Center Theater, she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Best Supporting Actress.
A Carsey-Werner casting agent who saw her in The Lights recommended her for the role of Sally Solomon on the TV series 3rd Rock from the Sun. After numerous auditions in 1996, she won the part and starred on the show from 1996 to 2001, winning two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
She made her feature film debut in The Debt, winner of Best Short at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. In 1995, she played Kate in the film Backfire! She played Esmeralda, a sea hag in Thrill Ride, a family friendly film released in 2016. Her other television credits include guest-starring roles on Chicago Hope, Hearts Afire, and The 5 Mrs. Buchanans. She narrated Microscopic Milton on the Disney Channel. Her significant roles in commercially successful movies include Ice Age and Music and Lyrics in 2007. In 1998, she was a spokesmodel for the Clairol company.
Johnston appeared in the sixth and final season of Sex and the City. In the "Splat!" episode, her character, Lexi Featherston, an aging party girl, accidentally falls out of a window and dies (after saying, "I'm so bored I could die"), prompting Carrie Bradshaw (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) to reexamine her life. In 2005, Johnston was featured in six episodes of NBC's ER. In 2009, she was cast as Patsy in a proposed American remake of the British TV series Absolutely Fabulous. A pilot was filmed but it wasn't picked up to series. She had a recurring role in the 2009 season of Ugly Betty, and had a single-episode appearance in the second season opener of Bored to Death.
She starred in the TV Land sitcom The Exes, which ran for four seasons from November 30, 2011 to September 16, 2015. In 2018, she began a recurring role on the CBS sitcom Mom, and was upgraded to series regular for season 7 (2019–2020).
Personal life
Johnston is the daughter of former Wisconsin Republican state senator Rod Johnston.
Johnston said she was diagnosed in November 2013 with lupus, which caused her to miss filming some episodes of her series The Exes. A character played by Leah Remini was introduced in season 3 to cover her absence.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1985 | The Orkly Kid | Unknown | Short film |
1992 | Amazonia | Unknown | Short film |
1993 | The Debt | Alice Kosnick | Short film |
1995 | Backfire! | Kate | |
2000 | The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas | Wilma Slaghoople | |
2002 | Ice Age | Sylvia (voice) | Deleted scene |
2002 | Austin Powers in Goldmember | Dancer | Uncredited |
2005 | Strangers with Candy | Coach Divers | |
2007 | Music and Lyrics | Rhonda | |
2009 | Bride Wars | Deb | |
2009 | Finding Bliss | Irene Fox | |
2011 | Life Happens | Francesca | |
2012 | Vamps | Mrs. Van Helsing | |
2012 | Bad Parents | Tracy | |
2014 | Lovesick | Katherine | |
2016 | Thrill Ride | Esmeralda | |
2018 | Swiped | Professor Barnes | |
2018 | For the Love of George | Psychic Sara | |
2018 | Hurricane Bianca 2: From Russia with Hate | Roksana | |
2019 | The Wedding Year | Barbara | |
2020 | Small Town Wisconsin | Alicia |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1994 | Chicago Hope | Dr. Wendy Smythe | Episode: "Genevieve and Fat Boy" |
1994 | The 5 Mrs. Buchanans | Zena | Episode: "Bad News Bert: There's Peanuts in the Peanut Butter" |
1995 | Hearts Afire | Margot | Episode: "John and Georgie's Not-So-Excellent Adventure" |
1996 | London Suite | Grace Chapman | Television film |
1996–2001 | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Sally Solomon | 139 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1997, 1999) Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1998) Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries, or TV Film (1997) Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series (1997) Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (1997—1999) |
1997 | Microscopic Milton | Narrator | Television film |
2004 | Sex and the City | Lexi Featherston | Episode: "Splat!" |
2005 | ER | Head Nurse Eve Peyton | 6 episodes |
2007 | Kim Possible | Warmonga | 3 episodes |
2009 | The New Adventures of Old Christine | Francie | Episode: "Too Close for Christine" |
2009 | Ab Fab | Patsy | US remake of Absolutely Fabulous. Pilot episode only. Series not picked up. |
2009–2010 | Ugly Betty | Helen | 3 episodes |
2010 | Bored to Death | Mistress Florence | Episode: "Escape from the Dungeon!" |
2011–2015 | The Exes | Holly Franklin | 64 episodes |
2013 | RuPaul's Drag Race | Herself | 2 episodes |
2014 | Kirstie | Waitress Maddie | Episode: "Maddie vs. Maddie" |
2014 | Modern Family | Brenda | Episode: "Strangers in the Night" |
2015 | Getting On | Marla Pounder | Episode: "Please Partake of a Memorial Orange" |
2017 | Daytime Divas | Anna Crouse | 6 episodes |
2018–21 | Mom | Tammy Diffendorf | 57 episodes Guest (season 5); Recurring (season 6); Main (seasons 7–8) |
2019 | Amphibia | Braddock (voice) | Episode: "Prison Break"; replaced by April Winchell afterwards |
2022 | Our Flag Means Death | The Widow Evelyn Higgins | 2 episodes |
2023 | The Righteous Gemstones | May-May Montgomery | Season 3 |
Stage
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1993 | The Lights | Rose | Nominated—Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play |
1997 | Baby Anger | Mary Kay Paterson | |
1998 | The Skin of Our Teeth | Sabina | |
2001 | The Smell of the Kill | Nicky | |
2001–2002 | The Women | Sylvia | |
2002 | Twelfth Night | Maria | |
2004 | Aunt Dan and Lemon | Aunt Dan | |
2004 | The Baltimore Waltz | Anna | |
2004 | Much Ado About Nothing | Beatrice | |
2004 | The Skin of Our Teeth | Sabina | |
2007 | Scarcity | Martha | |
2006–2007 | Love Song | Joan | |
2007–2009 | So Help Me God | Lily Darnley | Nominated—Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play (2007, 2010) |
2008 | The Understudy | Theresea Rebeck |
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1994 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | The Lights | Nominated | |
1996 | Golden Globe Award | Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Nominated | |
Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated | ||||
1997 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Won | ||
Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated | |||
1998 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Nominated | ||
Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated | |||
1999 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Won | ||
2010 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actress in a Play | So Help Me God! | Nominated |
Autobiography
- 2012: Guts: The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster, Gallery Books, ISBN: 978-1451635065
See also
In Spanish: Kristen Johnston para niños