Personal life

Oteri was born Cheryl Ann Oteri in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Gaetano Thomas Oteri, who founded and was the CEO of a music publishing company, "Of Music". She has Italian ancestry. She grew up with three siblings, Denise, Brian and Tommy Jr., in Upper Darby and attended Archbishop Prendergast High School in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.

Career

After moving to Los Angeles at age 28, Oteri worked at A&M Records for four years and eventually joined a comedy troupe called The Groundlings. In 1995, the producers of Saturday Night Live attended a performance with the intention of auditioning fellow Groundlings member Chris Kattan. Oteri performed a monologue during one of Kattan's costume changes, which led to Oteri herself being invited to audition for SNL along with Kattan and fellow Groundling Will Ferrell. She was hired as a repertory performer in September 1995 as part of an almost entirely new cast, which was brought in after the show's disastrous 1994-1995 season. Kattan would not join the cast of SNL until midway through the season.

She has also appeared in several Hollywood movies, including Scary Movie, Inspector Gadget, Liar Liar, Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, Shrek the Third and Southland Tales. She starred in two TV pilots that did not make it to air, Loomis and With You in Spirit.

She has also made guest appearances on television shows, such as Just Shoot Me!, Strangers with Candy and as an emotionally unstable nanny on Curb Your Enthusiasm. In 2009, Oteri became a regular voice cast in the Fox animated comedy series, Sit Down, Shut Up. She voices Helen Klench, the unappreciated librarian who often gets mistaken for objects, such as brooms or toilet brushes. The series premiered on April 19, 2009 and moved to Comedy Central in May 2010. Kenan Thompson, Kristin Chenoweth, Tom Kenny, Jason Bateman, Nick Kroll, Henry Winkler, Will Arnett and Will Forte are the other main cast members. She also played a tooth fairy on Imagination Movers, a regular on the Playhouse Disney block.

She starred in the AMC web series Liza Life Coach in 2010. Oteri appeared in the pilot episode of Glory Daze, which premiered on TBS on November 16, 2010.

Saturday Night Live

Original characters

• Arianna, a member of The Spartan Cheerleaders (with Will Ferrell)
• Rita DelVecchio, a grouchy Philadelphia woman mean to the neighborhood children, patterned after Oteri's tough-talking grandmother.
• Cass Van Rye, the dim-witted co-host of the "Morning Latte" talk show (with Will Ferrell)
• Mickey "The Dyke," a butch Public-access television cable TV host (with Mark McKinney)
• Nadeen, a testy employee whose catchphrase constantly orders everyone to "Simmer down now!"
• Althea McMahonaman, an absurdly hyper child who is an awful passenger and disturbs public servents
• Collette Reardon, a prescription pill-addict
• Joy Lipton, Erotic Attic boutique owner
• Adele, a vulgar and highly sexual office worker whose attempts at sexual innuendos disgust rather than attract her colleagues.
• Laura Zimmerman, one half of the Zimmeremans, who suddenly break into rough and sexual behaviour before returning to casual conversation as if nothing happened (with Chris Kattan)

Celebrity impressions

• Alanis Morissette
• Amy Fisher
• Barbara Walters
• Cyndi Lauper
• Debbie Reynolds (with Molly Shannon as Ann Miller in the "Leg Up" skits)
• Downtown Julie Brown
• Fran Drescher
• Gloria Stuart
• Jennifer Lopez
• Jennifer Tilly
• Jessica McClure
• Jessica Simpson
• Joanna Pacitti
• Jocelyn Wildenstein
• Judge Judy Sheindlin
• Jules Asner
• Kathie Lee Gifford
• Katie Couric
• Leslie Abramson
• Lisa Marie Presley
• Mariah Carey
• Marisa Tomei
• Marla Maples
• Mary Bono
• Melanie Chisholm
• Melissa Rivers
• Paula Jones
• Robin Byrd
• Ross Perot
• Tina Yothers
• Tori Spelling
• Yoko Ono

Filmography

• Comedy Bang! Bang! (2015) (TV) .... Madeline Ferrari
• Wishin' and Hopin' (2014) .... Sister Dymphna
• Christmas in Conway (2013) .... Gayle
• Grown Ups 2 (2013).... Penny
• Jessie (2013) (TV).... Ms. Folkemburg
• The New Normal (2012) (TV)...Babyproofer
• Bad Parents (2012)...Melissa
• And They're Off (2011) .... Dee
• Imagination Movers (2010) (TV) .... Gladys the Tooth Fairy
• Liza Life Coach (2009) (TV) .... Liza
• Boston Legal (2008) (TV) .... Martha Hedley
• Private Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous (2008) .... Pvt. Jeter
• The Life & Times of Tim (TV) (voice) .... Blobsnark (2 episodes, 2008)
• Surveillance (2008) .... Mom
• Shrek the Third (2007) (voice) .... Sleeping Beauty/Actress
• The Ant Bully (2006) (voice) .... Doreen Nickle
• Park (2006) .... Claire
• Southland Tales (2006) .... Zora Charmichaels
• Stephen's Life (2005) (TV) .... Principal Ainsley
• Smile (2005) .... Linda
• Surviving Eden (2004) .... Maria Villanova
• Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003) .... Ms. Heller
• On the Spot .... Wild Bachelorette (1 episode, 2003)
• With You in Spirit (2003) (TV) .... Montana
• Curb Your Enthusiasm .... Martine (1 episode, 2002)
• The Colin Quinn Show .... Wife (1 episode, 2002)
• Ally McBeal .... Melissa (1 episode, 2001)
• Loomis (2001) (TV)
• Sol Goode (2001) .... Bernie Best
• Strangers with Candy .... Hillary (1 episode, 2000)
• Scary Movie (2000) .... Gail Hailstorm
• Peppa Pig (2004-present).... Mummy Rabbit
• Inspector Gadget (1999) .... Mayor Wilson
• Lured Innocence (1999) .... Molly
• Small Soldiers (1998) (uncredited) .... Globotech Telephone Operator
• Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) (uncredited) .... Flight Attendant
• Just Shoot Me! (1997-1999) .... Cindy
• Liar Liar (1997) .... Jane
• Saturday Night Live (1995-2000) .... Various