Kristen Johnston

Kristen Angela Johnston (born September 20, 1967)[2] is an American actress. Best known for her work on television sitcoms, she twice won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Sally Solomon in 3rd Rock from the Sun. Johnston also starred as divorce attorney Holly Franklin on The Exes, and since 2018, stars as recovering addict Tammy Diffendorf on Mom. Johnston has also starred in such films as; Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000), Ice Age (2002), Music and Lyrics (2007), and Bride Wars (2009).

Kristen Johnston
Johnston at the SAMHSA Special Recognition Award Ceremony in 2014
Born
Kristen Angela Johnston

(1967-09-20) September 20, 1967
Washington, D.C., U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationNew York University
OccupationActress
Years active1985–present
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]

Early life

Johnston was born in Washington, D.C.,[2] but was raised mostly in Fox Point, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee, where she attended St. Eugene's Catholic Grade School and Whitefish Bay High School. She is of English descent. She spent some of her teen years in Sweden and in South America and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drama at New York University.

Career

Johnston made her professional stage debut with New York's Atlantic Theater Company, which was founded by playwright David Mamet. During her association with that company, she appeared in such productions as As You Like It and Stage Door, among many others. She has performed with the Naked Angels Theater Company in The Stand-In and Hot Keys, and with New York Stage and Film in Kim's Sister, with David Strathairn and Jane Adams. For her performance in The Lights at Lincoln Center Theater, Johnston was nominated for a Drama Desk Award as Best Supporting Actress.[3]

The show brought her to the attention of a Carsey-Werner television executive. After numerous auditions in 1996 for the TV series 3rd Rock from the Sun, she won the role of Sally Solomon. She starred in the series from 1996 to 2001. The role earned her two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.[4]

Kristen Johnston Speaks with the Media - 2014 Voice Awards

She made her feature film debut in The Debt, winner of Best Short at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. In 1995, she played Kate in the film Backfire! She played Esmeralda, a sea hag in Thrill Ride, a family friendly film released in 2016. Other television credits include guest-starring roles on the series Chicago Hope, Hearts Afire, and The 5 Mrs. Buchanans. She was also the narrator in Microscopic Milton on the Disney Channel. Her significant roles in commercially successful movies included Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me in 1999, Ice Age, and Music and Lyrics in 2007. In 1998, she was a spokesmodel for the Clairol company, as well as appearing on Bad Religion's No Substance album cover.[5]

Johnston appeared in the sixth and final season of Sex and the City. In the episode entitled "Splat!", her character, Lexi Featherston, an aging party girl, accidentally falls out of a window and dies (after saying, "I'm so bored I could die."), prompting Carrie Bradshaw (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) to re-examine her life. In 2005, Johnston was featured in six episodes of NBC's ER. She was cast as Patsy in a proposed American remake of the British TV show Absolutely Fabulous, but the series was never picked up by a network. She appeared in a recurring role in the 2009 season of Ugly Betty and had a single-episode appearance as a dominatrix in the second season opener of Bored to Death.[6][7]

She starred in the TV Land sitcom The Exes, which ran for four seasons between November 30, 2011, and September 16, 2015. In 2018, she began a recurring role on the CBS sitcom Mom, and was upgraded to series regular for season 7 (2019–2020).[8]

Personal life

Her father was former Wisconsin Republican state senator Rod Johnston.[9]

In her autobiography, Guts: The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster, Johnston discusses an addiction to alcohol and pills that began when she was in high school. She mentioned that at the height of her addiction, she drank on average two bottles of wine per evening. She stated in the 2012 book that she had been sober for five years. Through her charity SLAM, NYC (Sobriety, Learning and Motivation), she mentors high school girls from New York City with addiction and self-esteem issues[10] and has been crusading for the city to build a recovery high school.[11]

Johnston said she was diagnosed in November 2013 with lupus myelitis, which caused her to miss filming for some episodes of her series The Exes. A character played by Leah Remini was introduced in season three to cover Johnston's absence.[12][13]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1985 The Orkly Kid Unknown Short film
1992 Amazonia Unknown Short film
1993 The Debt Alice Kosnick Short film
1995 Backfire! Kate
1999 Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me Ivana Humpalot
2000 The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas Wilma Slaghoople
2002 Ice Age Sylvia (voice) Deleted scene
2002 Austin Powers in Goldmember Dancer Uncredited
2005 Strangers with Candy Coach Divers
2007 Music and Lyrics Rhonda
2009 Bride Wars Deb
2009 Finding Bliss Irene Fox
2011 Life Happens Francesca
2012 Vamps Mrs. Van Helsing
2012 Bad Parents Tracy
2014 Lovesick Katherine
2016 Thrill Ride Esmeralda
2018 Swiped Professor Barnes
2018 For the Love of George Psychic Sara
2018 Hurricane Bianca 2: From Russia with Hate Roksana
2020 Small Town Wisconsin Alicia

Television
Year Title Role Notes
1994 Chicago Hope Dr. Wendy Smythe Episode: "Genevieve and Fat Boy"
1994 The 5 Mrs. Buchanans Zena Episode: "Bad News Bert: There's Peanuts in the Peanut Butter"
1995 Hearts Afire Margot Episode: "John and Georgie's Not-So-Excellent Adventure"
1996 London Suite Grace Chapman Television film
1996–2001 3rd Rock from the Sun Sally Solomon 139 episodes
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1997, 1999)
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1998)
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries, or TV Film (1997)
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series (1997)
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (1997—1999)
1997 Microscopic Milton Narrator Television film
2004 Sex and the City Lexi Featherston Episode: "Splat!"
2004 ER Head Nurse Eve Peyton 6 episodes
2007 Kim Possible Warmonga 3 episodes
2009 The New Adventures of Old Christine Francie Episode: "Too Close for Christine"
2009–2010 Ugly Betty Helen 3 episodes
2010 Bored to Death Mistress Florence Episode: "Escape from the Dungeon!"
2011–2015 The Exes Holly Franklin 64 episodes
2013 RuPaul's Drag Race Herself 2 episodes
2014 Kirstie Waitress Maddie Episode: "Maddie vs. Maddie"
2014 Modern Family Brenda Episode: "Strangers in the Night"
2015 Getting On Marla Pounder Episode: "Please Partake of a Memorial Orange"
2017 Daytime Divas Anna Crouse 6 episodes
2018–present Mom Tammy Diffendorf 39 episodes
Guest (season 5); Recurring (season 6); Main (season 7)
2019 Amphibia Braddock (voice) Episode: "Prison Break"; replaced by April Winchell afterwards

Stage
Year Title Role Notes
1993 The Lights Rose Nominated—Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
1997 Baby Anger Mary Kay Paterson[14]
1998 The Skin of Our Teeth Sabina[15]
2001 The Smell of the Kill Nicky[16]
2001–2002 The Women Sylvia
2002 Twelfth Night Maria[17]
2004 Aunt Dan and Lemon Aunt Dan
2004 The Baltimore Waltz Anna
2004 Much Ado About Nothing Beatrice
2004 The Skin of Our Teeth Sabina
2007 Scarcity Martha
2006–2007 Love Song Joan [18]
2007–2009 So Help Me God Lily Darnley Nominated—Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play (2007, 2010)
2008 The Understudy Theresea Rebeck

Autobiography
  • 2012: Guts: The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster., Gallery Books, ISBN 978-1451635065

References
  1. Triggs, Charlotte (January 19, 2009). "Bride Wars' Kristen Johnston: 'I Was Way Too Thin'". People. =71.
  2. "Kristen Johnston: Biography". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
  3. "The 39th Annual Drama Desk Awards presented by The Drama Desk at the Criterion Center Stage Right, Jun 05, 1994 - 1994 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Play". ibdb.com. The Broadway League. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  4. "Kristen Johnston - Television Academy - Awards & Nominations". emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  5. "Kristen Johnston IMDb biography, ibid". Us.imdb.com. 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2013-03-23.
  6. "'Ugly Betty' scoop: Kristen Johnston in, Paula Abdul out!". ew.com (Entertainment Weekly). Meredith Corporation. 20 August 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  7. "Bored to Death S2 Ep 1: Escape From the Dungeon!". hbo.com. Home Box Office, Inc. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  8. Gelman, Vlada (July 18, 2019). "'Mom': Kristen Johnston Promoted to Series Regular for Season 7". TVLine.com. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  9. Fehring, Jefferson J. Aikin and Thomas H. (2017-10-16). Historic Whitefish Bay: A Celebration of Architecture and Character. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781467137591.
  10. Collins, Clark (March 10, 2012). "Kristen Johnston talks about her drug addiction, her life-threatening illness, her recovery, and her new memoir, 'Guts'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
  11. Johnston, Kristen (July 19, 2013). "Turning Addiction Into a Sideshow". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
  12. Johnston, Kristen (December 17, 2013). "[Untitled]". Facebook. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
  13. Blumm, K. C. (December 18, 2013). "Kristen Johnston Diagnosed with Lupus Myelitis". People. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
  14. "Kristen Johnston Takes a Baby Break from 3rd Rock". Playbill. 1997-06-09. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  15. Isherwood, Charles; Isherwood, Charles (1998-06-29). "The Skin of Our Teeth". Variety. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  16. Taylor, Markland; Taylor, Markland (2001-08-03). "The Smell of the Kill". Variety. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  17. "Kristen Johnston Joins Stiles in Central Park Twelfth Night". Playbill. 2002-04-26. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  18. "Molly Regan Steps in for Ailing Kristen Johnston in London Love Song". broadway.com.
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