Early life

McCarthy was born in Plainfield, Illinois, the daughter of Sandra and Michael McCarthy. She is the cousin of actress and model Jenny McCarthy and professional basketball player Joanne McCarthy. McCarthy was raised on a farm in a "big Irish Catholic family". Some of her ancestors were from County Cork, Ireland. She graduated from St. Francis Academy (now Joliet Catholic Academy) in Joliet, Illinois. Her career started with stand-up comedy. McCarthy is an alumna of The Groundlings, an improvisational and sketch comedy troupe based in Los Angeles, California.

Career

1997-2010: Early work, Gilmore Girls and Samantha Who?

McCarthy made her first television appearance in an episode of the NBC comedy series Jenny, opposite her cousin Jenny McCarthy. She made her feature film debut in a minor role in the 1999 comedy Go, and later had roles in the movies Drowning Mona, Disney's The Kid, Charlie's Angels, The Third Wheel and The Life of David Gale. She also did voice work in three episodes of Kim Possible, where she played DNAmy. In 2000, McCarthy was cast as Sookie St. James, the control freak and scatterbrain/klutzy best friend of Lorelai Gilmore, on the The WB television series Gilmore Girls. Throughout the series, Sookie is Lorelai's business partner and cheerleader. Sookie shares a somewhat antagonistic relationship with Michel, the hotel's front desk clerk. She is also the one person who consistently champions Lorelai and Luke's romantic relationship, even long before the two were actually involved. She dates and later marries Jackson Belleville, a sweet but whiny vegetable farmer with an extremely odd family. They eventually have two children: David "Davey" Edward and Martha Janice. At the end of the series, Sookie is again pregnant. The series ended after seven seasons, in 2007.

In 2007, she starred opposite Ryan Reynolds in the science fantasy psychological thriller The Nines, written and directed by John August. She later starred in the independent comedies The Captain, Just Add Water, and Pretty Ugly People. Also in 2007, McCarthy starred as Dena Stevens on the ABC sitcom Samantha Who?. The role was Samantha's socially awkward childhood best friend whom Samantha hasn't seen since seventh grade. When Samantha wakes up from her coma she convinces Samantha that they have always been best friends. While Andrea eventually forces her to reveal the truth, Samantha still remains friends with her. She lives with her two dogs. On May 18, 2009, ABC announced that they would not be renewing Samantha Who? for a third season. She guest starred in Rita Rocks and on Private Practice. In 2010, McCarthy played supporting roles in films The Back-Up Plan and Life as We Know It.

2011-present: Mike and Molly, Bridesmaids and success

On September 20, 2010, McCarthy was cast in the leading role as Molly Flynn on the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly. In 2011, McCarthy had a breakout performance in the comedy movie Bridesmaids alongside Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper. McCarthy received an Academy Award nomination for her performance. In fall 2011, after achieving fame from Bridesmaids, she received her first Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role on Mike & Molly. In June 2011, she hosted the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards. McCarthy later had supporting roles in This Is 40 (2012), the semi-sequel to Judd Apatow's film Knocked Up, and The Hangover Part III (2013). She was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in June 2012 along with 175 other individuals. McCarthy hosted Saturday Night Live on October 1, 2011, on April 6, 2013, a third time on February 1, 2014, and most recently on February 13, 2016. She was nominated three times for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her appearances on the television show from 2012-2014.

In 2013, McCarthy co-starred in the crime comedy Identity Thief with Jason Bateman. Identity Thief opened at #1 at the box office, and grossed $174 million worldwide despite negative reviews. In his negative review of the film, film critic Rex Reed controversially made several references to McCarthy's weight, referring to her as "obese" and using several pejorative terms to refer to her body type. Reed's comments immediately attracted wide criticism from various film critics and the industry at large. Film critic Richard Roeper said, "This just smacks of mean-spirited name-calling in lieu of genuine criticism." In a column for The Huffington Post, Candy Spelling likened Reed's review to bullying. Later in 2013, she co-starred with Sandra Bullock in the buddy cop comedy The Heat. The film was released in the United States and Canada on June 28, 2013 to both critical and commercial success. With McCarthy being called "box office gold, The Heat grossed $229 million worldwide. McCarthy co-wrote the script for the movie Tammy, which was released on July 2, 2014. McCarthy starred in the movie, about a woman who loses her job and her car, and then learns that her husband has been unfaithful. To get away, McCarthy's character is forced to rely on her alcoholic grandmother for transportation (played by Susan Sarandon) as they embark on a journey of self-discovery.

McCarthy has also produced a CBS pilot, which starred her husband, Ben Falcone. McCarthy played the female lead, opposite Bill Murray, in the 2014 comedy-drama film St. Vincent, directed and written by Theodore Melfi. In addition, McCarthy was the lead in frequent collaborator Paul Feig's spy comedy Spy (2015), a role that earned McCarthy her first Golden Globe Award nomination. McCarthy is the founder of the production company On the Day with her husband Ben Falcone. Tammy was the first project of her company. The film cost $20 million, quite a low budget, and McCarthy, who can command close to $10 million a role—took a smaller upfront salary in exchange for a larger-than-normal cut of the film's proceeds, according to people familiar with the deal.

In May 2015, McCarthy received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In August 2015, Forbes ranked her as the third highest-paid actress of 2015, with earnings of $23 million. In 2016, McCarthy starred in The Boss, a comedy film based on a character McCarthy first created in the Los Angeles Groundlings, a wealthy businesswoman "who goes to jail for insider trading, and struggles to reinvent herself as America’s new sweetheart when she's released".

On January 27, 2015, it was announced that McCarthy had officially signed for the lead role in the all-female reboot of Ghostbusters directed by Paul Feig, where she will portray Abby, an author and scientist. McCarthy also announced The Memory of Running, based on the Ron McLarty novel about a war veteran on a cross-country bike pilgrimage, Cousin Irv based on the book by Bruce Eric Kaplan, and Just Do It. In Just Do It, McCarthy is set to star as a "wife who tries to repair her marriage with her husband through 100 days of continuous sex".

On April 7, 2016, Melissa McCarthy officially announced to Ellen DeGeneres on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that she would be returning for the Gilmore Girls revival on Netflix.

On November 19, 2014, announced that McCarthy will star as fairy heroine Tinker Bell in the untitled comedy-adventure directing by Shawn Levy. She is also set to produce the film.

Personal life

McCarthy married her longtime boyfriend, Ben Falcone, an actor and alumnus of The Groundlings, on October 8, 2005. The couple have two daughters, Vivian (born May 5, 2007) and Georgette "Georgie" (born March 2010). McCarthy's pregnancy with Vivian was written into the last season of Gilmore Girls. Their daughter Vivian played the younger version of her mother's character in the movie The Boss.

Falcone often makes cameo appearances in movies and television shows starring McCarthy, such as a third season episode of Gilmore Girls, Bridesmaids, The Heat, Tammy, Identity Thief, Spy, and The Boss.

Since the start of the Mike & Molly series, McCarthy has lost an estimated 75 pounds (34 kg). She credits the weight loss to a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, regular exercise, and a "super-boring life" that includes a 7:30 PM bedtime.

Fashion line

McCarthy, who studied Textiles at Southern Illinois University, originally was interested in a career in fashion before she pursued a career in acting. When she first moved to New York City, it was to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology. One of her closest friends is shoe designer Brian Atwood. McCarthy also spent time working as the costumer for a dance company.

Following her success in films, she teamed up with Sunrise Brands to manufacture her first clothing collection, Melissa McCarthy Seven7, for plus-size women. The line will include clothes up to size 28. McCarthy states that "People don't stop at size 12. I feel like there's a big thing missing where you can't dress to your mood above a certain number. segregate plus-size" clothes stores and hide these stores away from other sections of the mall. McCarthy has stated she "...wants to put an end to body shaming plus-size women."

Her fashion line, Seven7, debuted in August 2015 on the Home Shopping Network, with plans for her designs to be sold in major retailers in the following months.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1998	God	Margaret	Short film
1999	Go	Sandra
2000	Charlie's Angels	Doris
2000	Drowning Mona	Shirley
2000	Auto Motives	Tonnie	Short film
2000	Disney's The Kid	Sky King Waitress
2002	Pumpkin	Cici Pinkus
2002	Third Wheel, TheThe Third Wheel	Marilyn
2002	White Oleander	Paramedic
2003	Life of David Gale, TheThe Life of David Gale	Nico the Goth Girl
2003	Chicken Party	Tot Wagner
2003	Kim Possible: The Secret Files	DNAmy	Voice
2003	Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle	Woman at Crime Scene	Only in credits
2006	Cook-Off!	Amber Strang
2007	Nines, TheThe Nines	Margaret / Melissa / Mary
2007	The Captain	Fran	Short film
2008	Just Add Water	Selma
2008	Pretty Ugly People	Becky
2010	Back-Up Plan, TheThe Back-Up Plan	Carol
2010	Life as We Know It	DeeDee
2011	Bridesmaids	Megan Price
2012	This Is 40	Catherine
2013	Identity Thief	Diana/Dawn Budgie
2013	The Hangover Part III	Cassy
2013	The Heat	Det. Shannon Mullins
2014	Tammy	Tammy Banks	Also screenwriter and executive producer
2014	St. Vincent	Maggie Bronstein
2015	Spy	Susan Cooper
2016	The Boss	Michelle Darnell	Also screenwriter and executive producer
2016	Ghostbusters	Abby Yates
TBA	B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations	Watts	Voice

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Jenny	Melissa	Episode: "1.5"
2000	D.C.	Molly	2 episodes
2000-2007	Gilmore Girls	Sookie St. James	122 episodes
2002-2005	Kim Possible	DNAmy (voice)	3 episodes
2004	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Saleswoman	Episode: "The Surrogate"
2007-2009	Samantha Who?	Dena	35 episodes
2009	Rita Rocks	Mindy Boone	Episode: "Why Can't We Be Friends?"
2010	Private Practice	Lynn McDonald	Episode: "Best Laid Plans"
2010-2016	Mike & Molly	Molly Flynn	127 episodes
2011-2016	Saturday Night Live	Host	4 episodes
2012	The Penguins of Madagascar	Shelley	Episode: "Hair Apparent/Love Takes Flightless"
2016	Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life	Sookie St. James	Limited series

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Melissa McCarthy

[ Source: Wikipedia ]