Early life

Smith was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She graduated from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 1972 with a degree in elementary education. In the 1970s and 1980s, she worked as a dancer, a cheerleader for the old St. Louis Cardinals football team, and a burlesque performer. She has said that there was "no stripping, but I did wear feathers". She was forced to quit dancing after suffering a knee injury. She later worked in Hollywood, California as an actress and in casting.

Career

Smith was working as a casting associate on The Office when she was offered the role of Phyllis Vance, a character created specifically for her; a soft-spoken saleswoman who tends to disagree with the pompous office manager Michael Scott. She received Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2006 and 2007 for her performance in The Office, in the category "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series". In June 2008, Smith appeared with the cast of The Office on Celebrity Family Feud. In 2011, she played a supporting role in the film Bad Teacher. In 2015, she voiced the character of Sadness in the Pixar film Inside Out, receiving high critical praise for her performance.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	The 40-Year-Old Virgin	Mrs. Stitzer	Uncredited
2006	I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With	Marsha
2011	Butter	Nancy
2011	Bad Teacher	Linn
2011	Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked	Flight Attendant
2015	Inside Out	Sadness	Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999-2013	64 Zoo Lane	Molly the Hippopotamus and Thelma the Whale	Voice role
2005	Arrested Development	Carla	Episode: "The Immaculate Election"
2005-2013	The Office	Phyllis Vance	187 episodes Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
2006	The Office: The Accountants	Phyllis Vance	Episode: "Phyllis"
2008	The Office: The Outburst	Phyllis Vance	Episode: "The Explanation"
2013	Trophy Wife	Mrs. Patty Steinberg	3 episodes
2014	The Middle	Mrs. Huff	Episode: "The Sinkhole"
TBA	Sesame Street	herself	Episode

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2015	Disney Infinity 3.0	Sadness	Voice

[ Source: Wikipedia ]