Mary McDonnell

Mary McDonnell is a two-time Oscar(r)-nominated actress, who is well-known for her character portrayals that span both present and past screen roles, as well as the long list of acting in stage and film. 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 descent. Raised in Ithaca, New York, she graduated from the State University of New York (SUNY) in Fredonia. After that, she went to drama school , and was admitted to the famous 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), playing "Stands with a Fist" as a white woman raised by the Sioux Indians. The actress received her first Academy Award nomination for the role. McDonnell has been in the Lawrence Kasdan films Grand Canyon (1991), and Mumford (1999) in the role of experienced actors as Robert Redford and Sidney Poitier. She also was a part of Roland Emmerich's Independence Day (1996), featuring Will Smith. Margin Call (2011) which was against Kevin Spacey, earned McDonnell the Robert Altman award at the 2012 Independent Spirit Awards. On the smaller screen, McDonnell starred in four seasons of Syfy Network's award-winning television series Battlestar Galactica (2004) in her highly acclaimed role as President Laura Roslin. Her regular guest role as a host on the television show ER (1994) resulted in an Emmy nomination. TNT's hit drama series Major Crimes (2012) features McDonnell as Captain Sharon Raydor. This is the sequel to The Closer (2005) in which McDonnell played the character. McDonnell was nominated for the Primetime Emmy(r). As an actress with paraplegia in John Sayles' critically acclaimed film Passion Fish (1992), she won a Best Actress Academy Award(r), nomination, and a Golden Globe nomination.