Mary McDonnell

Mary McDonnell is an actress who has been nominated for two Oscars(r). She is well-known for her portrayals of characters in period and contemporary screen roles. Mary Eileen McDonnell was the daughter of John McDonnell (a computer consultant) and Eileen (Mundy) is an Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania native. She was born in Ithaca and graduated from Fredonia State University of New York. After that, she went to drama school , and was accepted into the prestigious Long Wharf Theatre Company on the East Coast. She was only 22 when she scored her first movie role in Dances with Wolves (1990), where she was "Stands with a Fist", a Sioux Indian woman that is white. In exchange for the role, she was awarded her first Academy Award nomination. McDonnell's film credits also include Lawrence Kasdan's Grand Canyon (1991) & Mumford (1999) as well as opposite veteran actors like 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); and Margin Call (2011). It earned her the Robert Altman Awards at the 2012 Independent Spirit Awards. On the smaller screen, McDonnell starred in four seasons on the Syfy Network's award-winning television series Battlestar Galactica (2004) in her critically praised performance as President Laura Roslin. McDonnell was nominated for an Emmy for her recurring guest appearance on the television series ER (1994). TNT's hit drama series Major Crimes (2012) features her as Captain Sharon Raydor. This is the sequel to The Closer (2005) in which McDonnell developed the role. McDonnell was nominated for a Primetime Emmy(r). McDonnell received a Best Actress Academy Award(r) nomination and an Golden Globe nomination for her performance as the paraplegic soap-opera star in John Sayles' critically acclaimed film, Passion Fish (1992).