Kate Flannery
Encyclopedia
Katherine Patricia "Kate" Flannery (born June 10, 1964) is an American
actress best known for playing the role of Meredith Palmer
on the NBC
hit series The Office.
. She attended Saint John Neumann School and Archbishop John Carroll High School in Radnor, Pennsylvania
. She graduated from the University of the Arts
in Philadelphia. She is one of seven children in an Irish-American family.
Flannery is one of only two cast members from The Office who is actually from Pennsylvania
, where the show is set. The other is Zach Woods
, who plays the character Gabe.
's National Touring Company, Flannery is an original member of Chicago
's Annoyance Theater, where she created over 15 shows including "The Miss Vagina Pageant" and "The Real Live Brady Bunch".
The Lampshades, her comedy lounge act with veteran improviser Scot Robinson, has been running in Hollywood at the iO WEST stage for over four years and was seen at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival
in Aspen, Colorado
. The Lampshades was New York
magazine's "LA Pick" for 2006 and was declared "Best Saturday Comedy Show of the Year" by LA Weekly
.
at the Circle in the Square Theatre
in New York City
and Los Angeles
. Also in Los Angeles, she played the teen prostitute and Blair's sister in The Phacts of Life at the Renberg Theatre and in the Lily Tomlin
/Jane Wagner production of Hildy, Hildy, Three Feet Under at The Evidence Room.
She is the musical director of the Los Angeles Drama Club, teaching Shakespeare to children and young adults.
using the stage name "Lady Puff". She toured with the band and sang on their second album, It's Fun To Steal.
on the television comedy The Office. Before The Office, she made appearances on The Bernie Mac Show
, Boomtown, Curb Your Enthusiasm
, and Jimmy Kimmel Live
. She currently blogs (sometimes as her Office character) on MySpace
.
In 2008, Flannery was a talent scout on Last Comic Standing
with her The Office costar Brian Baumgartner
, and she appeared with the cast of The Office on Celebrity Family Feud
.
Flannery also appeared as a judge in a 2009 episode of Iron Chef America
.
She has also appeared on The Jay Leno Show
portraying Wendy in a skit at the time of the burger chain's 40th anniversary, Mother Earth
in a skit on the November 19, 2009 episode and Mrs. Claus
on December 21, 2009.
In an interview on Chelsea Lately
, Flannery stated that she'll be playing Harper's mother on the Disney Channel series, Wizards of Waverly Place
.
She was a contestant on Don't Forget the Lyrics.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress best known for playing the role of Meredith Palmer
Meredith Palmer
Meredith Elizabeth Palmer is a fictional character from the US television series The Office. She is played by Kate Flannery. She is an original character and has no equivalent in the British version of the show, The Office....
on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
hit series The Office.
Personal life
Flannery was born in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. She attended Saint John Neumann School and Archbishop John Carroll High School in Radnor, Pennsylvania
Radnor, Pennsylvania
Radnor is a wealthy Main Line township. It is an unincorporated community in Radnor Township of Delaware County and Tredyffrin Township of Chester County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It lies near the communities of Villanova and St...
. She graduated from the University of the Arts
University of the Arts (Philadelphia)
The University of the Arts is one of the United States' oldest universities dedicated to the arts. Its campus makes up part of the Avenue of the Arts in Center City, Philadelphia...
in Philadelphia. She is one of seven children in an Irish-American family.
Flannery is one of only two cast members from The Office who is actually from Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, where the show is set. The other is Zach Woods
Zach Woods
Zach Woods is an American actor and comedian. From 2010-11, he portrayed Gabe Lewis on the NBC sitcom The Office. He was promoted to a series regular beginning in Season 7....
, who plays the character Gabe.
Improvisation
A former member of The Second CityThe Second City
The Second City is a improvisational comedy enterprise which originated in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.The Second City Theatre opened on December 16, 1959 and has since expanded its presence to several other cities, including Toronto and Los Angeles...
's National Touring Company, Flannery is an original member of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's Annoyance Theater, where she created over 15 shows including "The Miss Vagina Pageant" and "The Real Live Brady Bunch".
The Lampshades, her comedy lounge act with veteran improviser Scot Robinson, has been running in Hollywood at the iO WEST stage for over four years and was seen at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival
U.S. Comedy Arts Festival
The Comedy Festival, formerly known as the US Comedy Arts Festival, is a comedy festival held each year in Las Vegas, Nevada. From its 1985 inception to 2007, it was held annually at the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen, Colorado...
in Aspen, Colorado
Aspen, Colorado
The City of Aspen is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 5,804 in 2005...
. The Lampshades was New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
magazine's "LA Pick" for 2006 and was declared "Best Saturday Comedy Show of the Year" by LA Weekly
LA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
.
Stage work
Flannery played Neely O'Hara in Off Broadway hit Valley of the DollsValley of the Dolls
Valley of the Dolls is a novel by American writer Jacqueline Susann, published in 1966. The "dolls" within the title is a slang term for downers, barbiturates used as sleep aids....
at the Circle in the Square Theatre
Circle in the Square Theatre
The Circle in the Square Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre in midtown Manhattan on 50th Street in the Paramount Plaza building.The original Circle in the Square was founded by Paul Libin, Theodore Mann and Jose Quintero in 1951 and was located at 5 Sheridan Square in Greenwich Village...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Also in Los Angeles, she played the teen prostitute and Blair's sister in The Phacts of Life at the Renberg Theatre and in the Lily Tomlin
Lily Tomlin
Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin is an American actress, comedienne, writer, and producer. Tomlin has been a major force in American comedy since the late 1960's when she began a career as a stand up comedian and became a featured performer on television's Laugh-in...
/Jane Wagner production of Hildy, Hildy, Three Feet Under at The Evidence Room.
She is the musical director of the Los Angeles Drama Club, teaching Shakespeare to children and young adults.
Filmography
- Wizards of Waverly PlaceWizards of Waverly PlaceWizards of Waverly Place is a Disney Channel Original Series that premiered on October 12, 2007. It won "Outstanding Children's Program" at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards in 2009...
(2010) as Elaine Finkle - Finger Babies (2010) as Teacher
- YouYou (film)YOU is a 2008 American drama film directed by and starring Melora Hardin. The film also stars Gildart Jackson , Brenda Strong, Joely Fisher, Allison Mack, Amy Pietz, Jerry Hardin, and Don Michael Paul.-Plot:...
(2009) as Airline Counter Girl - Coco Lipshitz: Behind the Laughter (2009) as Reporter
- Wild Girls Gone (2007) as Reading Circle #4
- Jesus People (2007) as Sharon Nyenhuis
- Danny Roane: First Time DirectorDanny Roane: First Time DirectorDanny Roane: First Time Director is a 2006 comedy film written, directed by and starring Andy Dick, Jack Black and Mo Collins. This independent production is a documentary mixed with a mockumentary on Dick's struggle on making a film.-Plot:...
(2006) as Marla - The Office (2005–present) as Meredith (129 episodes)
- I'm Not Gay (2005) as Secretary
- The Heir Apparent (2005) as Heidi
- CarolinaCarolina (film)Carolina is a 2003 romantic comedy film directed by Marleen Gorris, starring Julia Stiles, Shirley MacLaine, Alessandro Nivola, Mika Boorem, Randy Quaid, and Jennifer Coolidge. Lisa Sheridan has a cameo role in the film, and Barbara Eden has the uncredited part of Daphne. It is set in Los Angeles,...
(2003) as Café Waitress - Life Without DickLife Without DickLife Without Dick is a direct-to-video 2002 American black comedy film written and directed by Bix Skahill. The screenplay focuses on the relationship that develops between an incompetent hitman and a woman who accidentally kills her boyfriend when she discovers he's leaving her for another...
(2002) as Crampy Legs Partygoer - Amy Stiller's BreastAmy Stiller's BreastAmy Stiller's Breast is a 2000 short comedy film starring Amy Stiller as herself, and featuring her parents Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara as themselves. It was directed by Becky Neiman and written by Henry Joseph, Becky Neiman, and Amy Stiller.-Plot:...
(2002) as Reporter - TrickTrick (film)Trick is a 1999 gay-themed romantic comedy film directed by Jim Fall. Trick appeared at the Sundance and Berlin film festivals in 1999. Filming was completed in less than three weeks in August 1998.-Plot:...
(1999) as Ridiculous Writer - Can't Stop DancingCan't Stop DancingCan't Stop Dancing is a 1999 feature length film written and directed by Steven Falick and Ben Zook and starring Ben Zook.-Plot:Randy Rubio, a leader of a small-time dance troupe, learns that their fifteen-year run at a Kansas theme park is coming to an end...
(1999) as Tonia
Music
Flannery was a member of the band Mono PuffMono Puff
Mono Puff is a New York City band and a side project of John Flansburgh, one of the Johns from They Might Be Giants.The main band consisted of Flansburgh, the vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist, and songwriter; bassist Hal Cragin; and drummer Steve Calhoon of Skeleton Key, Enon and Pretendo...
using the stage name "Lady Puff". She toured with the band and sang on their second album, It's Fun To Steal.
Television
Flannery currently appears as the alcoholic, divorced, single mother Meredith PalmerMeredith Palmer
Meredith Elizabeth Palmer is a fictional character from the US television series The Office. She is played by Kate Flannery. She is an original character and has no equivalent in the British version of the show, The Office....
on the television comedy The Office. Before The Office, she made appearances on The Bernie Mac Show
The Bernie Mac Show
The Bernie Mac Show is an American sitcom featuring comic actor Bernie Mac and his wife Wanda raising his sister's three kids: Jordan, Bryana and Vanessa. The show aired for five seasons , concluding with a half-hour series finale on Fox....
, Boomtown, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American comedy television series produced and broadcast by HBO, which premiered on October 15, 2000. As of 2011, it has completed 80 episodes over eight seasons. The series was created by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, who stars as a fictionalized version of himself...
, and Jimmy Kimmel Live
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Jimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcast on ABC.The nightly hour-long show made its debut on January 26, 2003, following Super Bowl XXXVII. Jimmy Kimmel Live! is produced by Jackhole Productions in association with ABC Studios...
. She currently blogs (sometimes as her Office character) on MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
.
In 2008, Flannery was a talent scout on Last Comic Standing
Last Comic Standing
Last Comic Standing is an American reality television talent show that has aired from 2003 through 2010.The goal of the program is to select a comedian from a group, who will receive a development contract with the NBC network, and a television special first to air on the cable-TV network Comedy...
with her The Office costar Brian Baumgartner
Brian Baumgartner
Brian Baumgartner is an Emmy Award-winning American film and television actor, best known for playing Kevin Malone on The Office.-Personal life:...
, and she appeared with the cast of The Office on Celebrity Family Feud
Celebrity Family Feud
Celebrity Family Feud is a spin-off game show created by NBC, and hosted by television weather anchor Al Roker. The announcer was Burton Richardson. Celebrity Family Feud pitted two families against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey-type question posed to 100...
.
Flannery also appeared as a judge in a 2009 episode of Iron Chef America
Iron Chef America
Iron Chef America: The Series is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's Iron Chef, and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed Iron Chef USA. The show is produced by Food Network, which also carried a dubbed version of the original Iron Chef. Like the...
.
She has also appeared on The Jay Leno Show
The Jay Leno Show
The Jay Leno Show is an American comedy show created by and starring Jay Leno, that aired from September 14, 2009 to February 9, 2010 on NBC following the May 29, 2009 conclusion of Leno's first tenure as host of The Tonight Show...
portraying Wendy in a skit at the time of the burger chain's 40th anniversary, Mother Earth
Mother Nature
Mother Nature is a common personification of nature that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing aspects of nature by embodying it in the form of the mother. Images of women representing mother earth, and mother nature, are timeless...
in a skit on the November 19, 2009 episode and Mrs. Claus
Mrs. Claus
Mrs. Claus is the wife of Santa Claus, the Christmas gift-bringer in North American Christmas tradition.While Santa Claus himself emerged from the 1820s from a number of traditions of European folklore, Mrs...
on December 21, 2009.
In an interview on Chelsea Lately
Chelsea Lately
Chelsea Lately is an American late night comedy talk show hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler on E!. The show debuted on July 16, 2007, and is produced by Handler's production company, Borderline Amazing Productions...
, Flannery stated that she'll be playing Harper's mother on the Disney Channel series, Wizards of Waverly Place
Wizards of Waverly Place
Wizards of Waverly Place is a Disney Channel Original Series that premiered on October 12, 2007. It won "Outstanding Children's Program" at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards in 2009...
.
She was a contestant on Don't Forget the Lyrics.
External links
- Kate Flannery on MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- The Lampshades, Flannery's comedy lounge act
- Kate Flannery video interview on FanLib