Early life

Engel was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Ruth Caroline (née Hendron) and Benjamin Franklin Engel, who was a Coast Guard admiral. Engel attended Walter Johnson High School and the Academy of the Washington Ballet from which she graduated. She earned her college degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Her sister, Robin Ruth Engel, was Miss Hawaii, 1967.

Career

After college, Engel appeared in musical productions with Washington's American Light Opera Company. She moved to New York City in 1969, appearing Off-Broadway in Lend an Ear, and for a year as Minnie Fay in the Broadway production of Hello, Dolly!, starting in December 1969. A 1971 off Broadway production of The House of Blue Leaves eventually played in Los Angeles, where Engel was seen by Mary Tyler Moore and her husband, producer Grant Tinker, her soon-to-be employers.

Engel appeared as Georgette Franklin Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show from 1972 until the show ended in 1977. The role won her two Emmy nominations. After that series ended, she teamed up with former Mary Tyler Moore Show co-star Betty White for The Betty White Show during its first and only (1977-1978) season. She later co-starred in two short-lived 1980 sitcoms, Goodtime Girls, as Loretta Smoot, and in Jennifer Slept Here featuring Ann Jillian.

Engel had a recurring role on Coach as Shirley Burleigh and starred as the voice of Love-a-Lot Bear in The Care Bears Movie (1985). She played a good witch in a 2007 recurring role of Esmeralda on the now-defunct NBC soap opera Passions. Engel received consecutive Emmy nominations as outstanding guest actress in a comedy series in 2003, 2004, and 2005 for her role on Everybody Loves Raymond as Robert Barone's mother-in-law, Pat MacDougall.

While her movie appearances have been sporadic, Engel made her film debut in Miloš Forman's first English language movie Taking Off for which she was nominated for a British Academy Award for best supporting actress. Other film appearances include The Outside Man (1973), Signs of Life (1989), Papa Was a Preacher (1987), The Sweetest Thing (2002) and the made-for-TV movies The Day the Women Got Even (1980) and A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story (1978).

She lent her voice to the animated films Open Season (2006), Open Season 2 (2009), Dr. Dolittle 2, and Open Season 3 (2011).

Engel returned to her stage roots in 2006, appearing on Broadway in the musical The Drowsy Chaperone, with Sutton Foster and Edward Hibbert. She created the role of Mrs. Tottendale, which she continued to perform, leaving the Broadway production as of April 1, 2007. She was featured in the North American tour, performing in Toronto in September 2007, through engagements at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco, in August 2008, and at the Denver Performing Arts Complex in October 2008.

For the summers of 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2010, Engel appeared in various productions at The Muny Theater in Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri. She most recently appeared in Show Boat in August 2010 as "Parthy". In July 2005 she appeared in Mame as "Agnes Gooch", in June 2007 she appeared in Oklahoma! as "Aunt Eller", and in July 2009 she appeared as "Mrs. Paroo" in The Music Man.

In June 2010, Engel appeared at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, Maine production of The Drowsey Chaperone as Mrs. Tottendale. In October through December 2010, Engel was featured in the Vineyard Theatre's Off-Broadway production of Middletown, written by Will Eno.

In 2012, she appeared in episodes of The Office as an older lady being helped by Erin Hannon (Ellie Kemper) and in the episode called "Palmdale, Ech" of Two and a Half Men as the mother of Lyndsey MacElroy portrayed by Courtney Thorne-Smith. In March 2012, 35 years after the close of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Engel was reunited with Betty White in the third season of Hot in Cleveland as Mamie Sue Johnson, best friend of White's character Elka, in a continuing, recurring role.

Engel appeared in the new Annie Baker play John, which opened Off-Broadway at the Signature Theatre on July 22, 2015 (previews), directed by Sam Gold. The play ran to September 6, 2015. The cast also features Lois Smith. Engel was nominated for the 2016 Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play for her role in this play.

Engel stars in the new musical Gotta Dance, which premiered at the Bank of America Theatre, Chicago on December 13, 2015, running through January 2016. The cast also stars Stefanie Powers, Lillias White and Andre DeShields. The musical is directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, with a book by Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin, and the score by Matthew Sklar and Nell Benjamin.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1971	Taking Off	Margot	Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1972	The Outside Man	Mrs. Barnes
1978	A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story	Claire Ruth
1980	The Day the Women Got Even	Kathy Scott
1983	The Magic of Herself the Elf	Willow Song	voice
1985	Papa Was a Preacher	'Mama' Porter
1985	The Care Bears Movie	Love-a-Lot Bear	voice
1989	Signs of Life	Betty
2001	Dr. Dolittle 2	Giraffe	voice
2002	The Sweetest Thing	Vera
2006	Open Season	Bobbie	voice
2006	Boog and Elliot's Midnight Bun Run	Bobbie	voice
2007	Nunsensations	Sr. Marie Eugene
2008	Open Season 2	Bobbie	voice
2010	Open Season 3	Bobbie	voice
2013	Grown Ups 2	Mrs. Lamonsoff

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1974	Rhoda	Georgette Franklin	2 episodes
1972-1977	The Mary Tyler Moore Show	Georgette Franklin	56 episodes Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1976-1977)
1977-1978	The Betty White Show	Mitzi Maloney	14 episodes
1980	Mork and Mindy	Ambrosia Melspar	Season 2 ep 12 The Exidor Affair
1980	Goodtime Girls	Loretta Smoot	13 episodes
1977-1982	The Love Boat	Cleo Bagby	4 episodes
1978-1983	Fantasy Island	Brenda Rappaport	5 episodes
1983-1984	Jennifer Slept Here	Susan Elliot	13 episodes
1992	Hi Honey, I'm Home	Georgette Franklin Baxter	1 episode
1991-1997	Coach	Shirley Burleigh	17 episodes
2003-2005	Everybody Loves Raymond	Pat MacDougall	13 episodes Prism Award for Best Performance in a Comedy Series (2006) Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (2003-2005)
2007	Passions	Esmeralda	4 episodes
2012	The Office	Irene	3 episodes
2012-2015	Hot in Cleveland	Mamie Sue Johnson	10 episodes
2012	Two and a Half Men	Jean	2 episodes

[ Source: Wikipedia ]