Mary McDonnell

Mary McDonnell, a two-time Oscar(r),-nominated actress, is well recognized for her roles on screen in modern and historical roles. She also has a long history of acting roles on stage and screen. Mary Eileen McDonnell was the daughter of John McDonnell (a computer consultant) and Eileen (Mundy), a Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania native. Raised in Ithaca, New York, she graduated from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Fredonia. Later, she attended drama school and was accepted into the well-known Long Wharf Theatre Company on the East Coast. Her most memorable film role was in Dances with Wolves (1990) by Kevin Costner. She played the character "Stands with a Fist", a Sioux Indian-raised white woman. The actress received her first Academy Award nomination for the role. McDonnell's film credits also include Lawrence Kasdan's Grand Canyon (1991) & Mumford (1999), opposite veteran actors such as 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). The film won her the Robert Altman Awards at the 2012 Independent Spirit Awards. McDonnell played a prominent role in the Syfy Network's award winning series Battlestar Galactica (2004), where she was praised for her portrayal of the President Laura Roslin. She earned an Emmy nomination for her recurring guest spot on the popular television series ER (1994). She stars as Captain Sharon Raydor on the TNT's hit drama series Major Crimes (2012), the follow-up to The Closer (2005), in which McDonnell originated the role and was awarded an Primetime Emmy(r) nomination. The character she played as a paraplegic soap operas in John Sayles' critically acclaimed film Passion Fish (1992) earned her an Best Actress Academy Award (r) nomination and an Academy Award nomination. Golden Globe nod.