Mary McDonnell

Mary McDonnell, a two-time Oscar(r),-nominated actress, is most well famous for her performance on screen in both historical and modern roles. She also has a long history of 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 from Irish origin. She was raised in Ithaca, New York, she graduated from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Fredonia. Later, she attended the drama program and was admitted to the prestigious Long Wharf Theatre Company on the East Coast. After a few decades she scored her first major film role, in Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves (1990) as "Stands with a Fist" she was a white girl born to the Sioux Indians. Her first Academy Award nomination was for the character. McDonnell's film credits include the Lawrence Kasdan films Grand Canyon (1991) and Mumford (1999) (opposite the likes of well-known actors like Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier and Ben Kingsley); Roland Emmerich's Independence Day (1996) (starring Will Smith); acclaimed art house cult hit Donnie Darko (2001); and Margin Call (2011) (opposite Kevin Spacey), which was awarded the Robert Altman Award at the 2012 Independent Spirit Awards. McDonnell was the president Laura Roslin in the critically popular series Battlestar Galactica (2004) on Syfy. She appeared in four seasons. McDonnell was awarded an Emmy nomination for her recurring guest role in the TV series ER (1994). She stars as Captain Sharon Raydor on the TNT's hit drama series Major Crimes (2012), the sequel to The Closer (2005), in which McDonnell took on the role for the first time and for which she earned an Primetime Emmy(r) nomination. McDonnell received an Best Actress Academy Award(r) nomination and a Golden Globe nomination for her performance as an actor with paraplegia on soap opera in John Sayles's critically-acclaimed film, Passion Fish (1992).