Mary McDonnell

Mary McDonnell is a two-time Oscar(r)-nominated actress recognized for her character roles in both period and present-day screen roles, and many 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 of Irish descent. She was born in Ithaca, New York and graduated from Fredonia State University of New York. Later, she attended the drama school and was accepted to the Long Wharf Theatre Company in East Coast. Her most memorable film role was in Dances with Wolves (1990) by Kevin Costner. She played the character "Stands with a Fist" an Indian Sioux-raised white woman. The role was so well-loved that she received her first Academy Award nomination. McDonnell has appeared in the Lawrence Kasdan films Grand Canyon (1991), and Mumford (1999) in the role of veteran actors like 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 a duet with Kevin Spacey, earned McDonnell the Robert Altman award at the 2012 Independent Spirit Awards. McDonnell was president Laura Roslin in the critically well-reviewed show Battlestar Galactica (2004) on Syfy. She was the lead for four seasons. Her regular guest role as host on the tv series ER (1994) brought her an Emmy nomination. The hit TNT drama series Major Crimes (2012) features McDonnell as Captain Sharon Raydor. This is the sequel to The Closer (2005) in which McDonnell created the role. She was nominated for an Primetime Emmy(r). As an actress with paraplegia in John Sayles’s critically acclaimed film Passion Fish (1992), she won a Best Actress Academy Award(r) nomination, as well as a Golden Globe nomination.