Mary McDonnell

Mary McDonnell, a two-time Oscar(r),-nominated actress, is well known for her portrayals on screen in both historical and modern roles. She has also had a long line of acting roles on stage and screen. Mary Eileen McDonnell was born on April 28, 1952, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to Eileen (Mundy) and John McDonnell, a computer consultant, both of Irish origin. Growing up in Ithaca, New York, she graduated from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Fredonia. After that, she went to drama school and was accepted into the prestigious Long Wharf Theatre Company on the East Coast. In the following two decades she was offered her first film role in Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves (1990) where she played "Stands with a Fist", a white woman born to the Sioux Indians. The role was so well-loved that she was awarded her first Academy Award nomination. McDonnell's film credits also include Lawrence Kasdan's Grand Canyon (1991) & Mumford (1999) with veteran actors such as Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier and Ben Kingsley; Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day (1996) (starring Will Smith); the highly acclaimed art house hit Donnie Darko (192001) as well as Margin Call (2011). It earned her the Robert Altman Awards at the 2012 Independent Spirit Awards. McDonnell was the president Laura Roslin in the critically loved show Battlestar Galactica (2004) on Syfy. She appeared in four seasons. Her recurring guest role as a host on the television series ER (1994) brought her an Emmy nomination. She plays Captain Sharon Raydor on the TNT's popular drama series Major Crimes (2012), the follow-up to The Closer (2005), where McDonnell was the sole actor and for which she earned an primetime Emmy(r) nomination. Her performance as a paraplegic soap operas in John Sayles' critically acclaimed film Passion Fish (1992) earned her an Best Actress Academy Award (r) nomination and a Golden Globe nod.