Mary McDonnell

Mary McDonnell is a two-time Oscar(r)-nominated actress she is well-known for her character performances in both modern and historical screen roles, as well as an extensive history of films and stage roles. Mary Eileen McDonnell is a Pennsylvania-born actress. She was the child of Eileen (Mundy), an Irish-American computer expert, and John McDonnell. Born in Ithaca, New York, she graduated from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Fredonia. She then attended drama school , and was accepted into the highly regarded Long Wharf Theatre Company on the East Coast. Her most memorable film role was in Dances with Wolves (1990) by Kevin Costner. She played the part of "Stands with a Fist", a Sioux Indian-raised white woman. Her first Academy Award nomination for the part. McDonnell's film credits include the Lawrence Kasdan films Grand Canyon (1991) and Mumford (1999) (opposite to such seasoned performers as Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier and Ben Kingsley); Roland Emmerich's Independence Day (1996) (starring Will Smith); acclaimed art house cult hit Donnie Darko (2001); and Margin Call (2011) (opposite Kevin Spacey), which brought her the Robert Altman Award at the 2012 Independent Spirit Awards. McDonnell was the President Laura Roslin in the critically acclaimed series Battlestar Galactica (2004) on Syfy. She was the lead in four seasons. McDonnell received an Emmy for her frequent guest appearance on the television series ER (1994). The wildly popular TNT drama Major Crimes (2012) stars her as Captain Sharon Raydor. It is McDonnell's first series and she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy(r). As an actress with paraplegia in John Sayles’s critically acclaimed film Passion Fish (1992), she was awarded the Best Actress Academy Award(r) nomination, as well as a Golden Globe nomination.