Early life

Hunt was born Bonnie Lynne Hunt on September 22, 1961 in Chicago, Illinois, to Robert Edward Hunt, an electrician, and Alice E. Hunt (née Jatczak), a homemaker. She has three older brothers named Patrick, Kevin, and Tom, two older sisters named Cathy and Carol, and a younger sister named Mary.

She was educated in Catholic schools and attended St. Ferdinand Grammar School and Notre Dame High School for Girls in Chicago.

In 1982, Hunt worked as an oncology nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. In 1984, she co-founded an improvisational comedy troupe called An Impulsive Thing with Holly Wortell, Andy Miller, and John Gripentrog. Hunt also performed as a member of Chicago's world-famous the Second City, joining in 1986.

Career

In 1990, Hunt portrayed Carol Anne Smithson in Grand. She refused to become a cast member of Saturday Night Live because the series' producers generally frowned on her preferred improvisational style. In 1992, she was offered the part of B. J. Poteet, a replacement for Julia Duffy, on Designing Women. Instead, she chose to co-star in Davis Rules.

In 1993, Hunt teamed with good friend David Letterman to produce The Building. The series was also filmed live; mistakes, accidents, and forgotten lines were often left in the aired episode. In 1995, Hunt and Letterman re-teamed with The Bonnie Hunt Show (later retitled Bonnie), which featured many of the same cast members as The Building and the same loose style. The show was praised by critics but was canceled after 11 of the 13 episodes produced were aired. In 2002, Hunt returned to television with Life with Bonnie. Her role on the series earned her a 2004 Emmy nomination (which was her first). Despite fair ratings, the series was canceled in its second season. Hunt announced on Live with Regis and Kelly that ABC had offered her another sitcom, in which she would have portrayed a divorced detective. This pilot titled Let Go (also known as Crimes and Dating) was not picked up for the fall 2006 schedule.

She directed, co-wrote, and co-starred in Return to Me. It was filmed in her Chicago neighborhood and included bit parts for a number of her relatives. The film, which received a positive reception from critics, was largely influenced by Hunt's blue-collar Catholic upbringing in Chicago.

Hunt portrayed Alice Newton in Beethoven and Beethoven's 2nd, Sarah Whittle / Madam Serena in Jumanji, and Kate Baker in Cheaper by the Dozen and Cheaper by the Dozen 2. She portrayed the sister of Renée Zellweger's character in Jerry Maguire and Jan Edgecomb in The Green Mile. She portrayed Grace Bellamy in Loggerheads. She has provided her voice for a total of 6 Pixar films: A Bug's Life as Rosie, Monsters, Inc. as Ms. Flint, Cars and Cars 2 as Sally Carrera, Toy Story 3 as Dolly, and Monsters University as Karen Graves. In addition, Hunt received a writing credit on Cars and reprised her role as Sally in Cars 2. She recently voiced a Walt Disney Animation Studios film, Zootopia as Bonnie Hopps, which marks her first non-Pixar film.

The Bonnie Hunt Show

Main article: The Bonnie Hunt Show

In 2007, Hunt taped a pilot episode for Telepictures. The pilot was approved and the talk show was created. The Bonnie Hunt Show premiered on Monday, September 8, 2008. The set design was a tribute to Dean Martin and on the walls are pictures of historic television personalities, as well as Hunt's family members. The series was inspired by the format of Live with Regis and Kelly, with the host and guests often interacting with the audience. Many of the series' staffers were longtime friends of Hunt's from Chicago, Illinois. The series typically started with an opening monologue followed by guest interviews and games played with the audience. Hunt's mother Alice often appeared in webcasts from her home in Chicago. A characteristic of the show was Hunt's over-the-top faux indignation at non-PG language, after which she would enjoy the double-entendre drenched material she had pretended to poo-poo. The Bonnie Hunt Show taped in Culver City, California and was viewed in 17 of the top 20 US television markets in the United States. In its first year, The Bonnie Hunt Show was nominated for 3 Daytime Emmy Awards: For opening theme, hairstyle, and makeup. It won the Gracie Award for "Outstanding Talk Show" in 2009. In 2010, Hunt was nominated for "Outstanding Talk Show Host" at the Daytime Emmy Awards. The final episode aired on May 26, 2010.

Personal life

In 1988, Hunt married investment banker John Murphy. However, during her appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman on June 6, 2006, she mentioned that she was single again, implying that she and Murphy divorced.

Hunt's hometown is Chicago, Illinois. She is a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan, having not missed an Opening Day at Wrigley Field since 1977. She is a supporter of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, of which she is an honorary board member.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Rain Man	Sally Dibbs
1992	Beethoven	Alice Newton
1993	Dave	White House Tour Guide
	Beethoven's 2nd	Alice Newton
1994	Only You	Kate Corvatch
1995	Now and Then	Mrs. DeWitt
	Jumanji	Sarah Whittle / Madam Serena	Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
1996	Getting Away with Murder	Dr. Gail Holland
	Jerry Maguire	Laurel Boyd
1998	Bug's Life, AA Bug's Life	Rosie	Voice
	Kissing a Fool	Linda Streicher
1999	Random Hearts	Wendy Judd
	Green Mile, TheThe Green Mile	Jan Edgecomb	Nominated - Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress - Drama
2000	Return to Me	Megan Dayton	Also director and writer
2001	Monsters, Inc.	Ms. Flint	Voice
2002	Stolen Summer	Margaret O'Malley	Limited release
2003	Cheaper by the Dozen	Kate Baker
2005	Cheaper by the Dozen 2	Kate Baker
	Loggerheads	Grace
2006	I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With	Stella Lewis
	Cars	Sally Carrera	Voice
2010	Toy Story 3	Dolly	Voice
2011	Hawaiian Vacation	Dolly	Voice
	Cars 2	Sally Carrera	Voice
2013	Monsters University	Karen Graves	Voice
2016	Zootopia	Bonnie Hopps	Voice

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	American Playhouse	Foxtrot Dancer	Episode: "Under the Biltmore Clock"
1990	Grand	Carol Anne Smithson	Main role
1991-92	Davis Rules	Gwen Davis	Main role 18 episodes
1993	The Building	Bonnie Kennedy	Lead role Also creator, executive producer, writer
1995-96	Bonnie	Bonnie Kelly	Also producer, writer Viewers for Quality Television Founder's Award (1996)
1997	Wheel of Fortune	Herself
2002-04	Life with Bonnie	Bonnie Molloy	Also creator, director, executive producer Nominated: TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy (2003), Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy (2003 / 2004), Satellite Award for Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy (2003 / 2004), Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (2004)
2006	Let Go		Director (film)
2008-10	Bonnie Hunt Show, TheThe Bonnie Hunt Show	Herself / Host	Also executive producer, writer Nominated - Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host (2010)
2010	The Life & Times of Tim	Gabe's Mother	Voice Episodes: "Nagging Blonde / Tim and the Elephant"
2013-present	Sofia the First	Aunt Tilly	Voice Recurring role
2013	Call Me Crazy: A Five Film		Director (film) Episode: "Eddie" segment
2014-present	Cars Toons: Tales From Radiator Springs	Sally Carrera	Voice Recurring role

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Cars	Sally Carrera	Voice
2007	Cars Mater-National Championship	Sally Carrera	Voice
2009	Cars Race-O-Rama	Sally Carrera	Voice
2011	Cars 2	Sally Carrera	Voice

Charities

Bonnie Hunt supports the following charitable cause: ALS (amyrotrophic lateral sclerosis).

[ Source: Wikipedia ]