Lisa Ann Walter
Walter in 2016
Born (1963-08-03) August 3, 1963 (age 60)
Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.
Alma materCatholic University (BFA)
Occupation(s)Actress, comedian, television producer
Years active1995–present
Children4

Lisa Ann Walter (born August 3, 1963) is an American actress, comedian and television producer, best known for her roles as Chessy in the romantic comedy film The Parent Trap (1998) and Melissa Schemmenti on the Peabody Award winning ABC mockumentary sitcom Abbott Elementary, for which she received a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

She was formerly the creator and executive producer of Oxygen network reality weight-loss competition series, Dance Your Ass Off.[1] Her other reality television work includes her stint as a judge on ABC's reality television series The Next Best Thing: Who Is the Greatest Celebrity Impersonator?, and as winning celebrity editions of the game shows The Weakest Link and Jeopardy!. She also created and starred in the 1996–1997 sitcom, Life's Work, and appeared in such films as Bruce Almighty, Shall We Dance, and War of the Worlds.

Personal

Walter was born on August 3, 1963, in Silver Spring, Maryland.[2] She and her older sister, Laura, are the children of a geophysicist British father who was born in France of Alsatian descent and a substitute-teacher mother who was born in Sicily. The family lived in different places following their father's work, and their childhood homes included Germany and the suburbs of Washington, D.C.[3][4] She graduated with a theater degree from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in 1983.[3]

In 1983, she married fellow actor Sam Baum. They had son Jordan (1988) and daughter Delia (1992)[5] before divorcing in 1999. She has twin sons Spencer and Simon Walter (11 October 2000).[6][7][8][9]

Career

After five years of standup comedy, Walter starred in her own Fox Network comedy series, My Wildest Dreams (1995), followed by an ABC sitcom, Life's Work (1996–1997), which she both created and starred in. Walter also co-starred in the Bravo series Breaking News and in the NBC sitcom Emeril.[10] She played Whoopi Goldberg's tarty sidekick Claudine in Eddie (1996).

Walter co-starred in the Disney film The Parent Trap (1998); in the remake of the original classic, she appeared as Chessy, the nanny to Dennis Quaid's character's daughter, who was played by a young Lindsay Lohan. Since then she played supporting roles in the comedy Bruce Almighty (2003) and the romantic comedy Shall We Dance (2004).

In early 2007, Walter had a supporting role as Mabel the bartender in the MyNetworkTV soap opera Watch Over Me. Later that May she served as a judge on the ABC reality TV show The Next Best Thing, which searched for the best celebrity impersonators in America. In early 2008, Walter was in the comedy film Drillbit Taylor, and also starred on the VH1 reality series Celebracadabra, in which celebrities competed to see who was the best magician among them. She made it to the final three but was eliminated in the sixth episode. She has developed a series for the Oxygen network called Dance Your Ass Off. On December 19, 2011, she played a dramatic role on the TNT series Rizzoli & Isles as a ballet coach.

Her comic memoir, The Best Thing About My Ass Is That It's Behind Me, was published in May 2011.[11] Beginning in May 2011, Walter hosted The Fabulous Lisa Ann Walter Show, a talk show on the Los Angeles radio station KFI. The program aired for three hours each Saturday and Sunday. In August 2014, Walter quit in order to focus on her acting career.[12]

Since 2021, Walter appears in the ABC comedy Abbott Elementary as second grade teacher Melissa Schemmenti.[10][13] Walter, alongside the rest of the show's cast, won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series at the 2023 ceremony[14] and was nominated again the following year.[15]

On October 20, 2022, Walter received the Virtuoso Award at the San Diego International Film Festival.[16][17] In 2023 won Celebrity Jeopardy winning the Tournament Round competing against Mo Rocca and Katie Nolan. She won $1 million for the Entertainment Community Fund.[18]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1996 Eddie Claudine
1998 The Parent Trap Chessy
2000 Get Your Stuff Nancy Perry
2001 Early Bird Special Janet
2003 Bruce Almighty Debbie
2004 Shall We Dance? Bobbie
2005 War of the Worlds Sheryl
2005 The Trouble with Dee Dee Dee Dee Rutherford
2006 Room 6 Sgt. Burch
2006 Coffee Date Sara
2006 Man vs. Monday Joan Short film
2007 Graduation Carol
2007 Entry Level Kathie
2008 Drillbit Taylor Dolores
2010 Wreckage Dr. Richardson
2010 Killers Olivia Brooks
2010 Monsters Under the Bed Leslie Branson Short film
2012 Wedding Day Chef Cherie
2013 Feels So Good Lisa Wright
2014 Wish Wizard Helga Short film
2015 You Can't Have It Suzanne
2015 Dependent's Day Bette
2015 The LA Spinster Lisa Short film
2017 The Ice Cream Truck Christina
2019 Stripped Margot Mathison
2020 Jersey Tess Short film
2022 The Ladies Blanche Short film

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1995 My Wildest Dreams Lisa McGinnis Main role and also producer
1996–1997 Life's Work Lisa Ann Hunter Main role and also producer
1997 Late Bloomer Cassie Baltic TV film
1998 The Love Boat: The Next Wave Audrey Cranston "How Long Has This Been Going On?"
2000 Curb Your Enthusiasm Nurse "Interior Decorator"
2001 Emeril Cassandra Gilman Main role
2001 Strong Medicine Rita Harper "Hot Flash"
2002 Breaking News Rachel Glass Main role
2004 Las Vegas Rose Gluck "Sons and Lovers"
2006 Modern Men Iris "Kyle Dates Up"
2006 Nip/Tuck Mrs. Hickock "Reefer"
2006 Watch Over Me Mabel "Pilot", "The Engagement", "Goodbye"
2011 Rizzoli & Isles Coach JJ "Don't Stop Dancing, Girl"
2013–2015 The Exes Margo "Defending Your Wife", "What Dreams May Come", "Along Came Holly"
2016 The Odd Couple Linda "All About Eavesdropping", "All The Residents' Men"
2017 GLOW Lorene "Debbie Does Something"
2019 Grey's Anatomy Shirley Gregory "Reunited", "My Shot"
2020 Sydney to the Max Marlene "Father of the Bribe", "Night Not at the Museum"
2021 9-1-1 Delia Narwood "9-1-1, What's Your Grievance?"
2021–present Abbott Elementary Melissa Schemmenti Main role
2023 Celebrity Jeopardy! Herself Tournament champion [19]

References

  1. ^ "KFI's Lisa Ann Walter: Self-esteem begins with accepting the derriere you have". Los Angeles Daily News. August 7, 2011. Archived from the original on August 17, 2021. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  2. ^ "Walter, Lisa Ann 1963–". Encyclopedia.com. Cengage. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Knutzen, Eirik (October 20, 1996). "Pennsylvanians Collaborate on 'Life's Work'". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020. Born in Bellefonte to a geophysicist father born in Alsace and a substitute teacher mother from Sicily, Walter and her older sister, Laura, grew up on the road as their father's profession took them to the Max Planek Institute in Germany and NASA positions in the Washington, D.C. area.
  4. ^ Walter, Lisa Ann [@LisaAnnWalter] (July 23, 2014). "I'M part German, but not FROM there" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 19, 2020 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ Pennsylvanians Collaborate on 'Life's Work' mcall.com October 20, 1996
  6. ^ "Lisa Ann Walter". IMDb.
  7. ^ "Lisa Ann Walter says her twin sons have 'weird' similarity to 'Parent Trap' twins". April 7, 2023.
  8. ^ "Lisa Ann Walter is a Mother of 4 Children Including Identical Twins - Meet Her Family". February 16, 2022.
  9. ^ "Lisa Ann Walter's identical twins were born on same day as 'Parent Trap' twins". EW.com. April 6, 2023. Retrieved August 5, 2023. twin sons born on the day as the twins in the Parent Trap movie, but two years later
  10. ^ a b Jacobs, Matthew (March 22, 2022). "Like Abbott Elementary's Melissa, Lisa Ann Walter Has a Guy for Everything". Vulture.
  11. ^ Walter, Lisa Ann (May 16, 2011). "Actress recalls her Italian family's love of food". TODAY.com.
  12. ^ "Maggie McKay shares memories of KFWB". Daily News. September 3, 2014.
  13. ^ Webber, Stephanie (March 15, 2022). "Abbott Elementary's Lisa Ann Walter: 'Miracle' to Land a Show Like This". Us Weekly.
  14. ^ Pedersen, Erik (February 26, 2023). "SAG Awards: 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' Wins Top Film Prize; Michelle Yeoh & Brendan Fraser Take Lead Acting Honors; 'White Lotus' a Double Winner – Full List". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 27, 2023. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  15. ^ "Nominations Announced for the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®" (Press release). Screen Actors Guild. January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  16. ^ Milkowski, Jenny (October 7, 2022). "The San Diego International Film Festival Oct. 19-23 -". McKinnon Broadcasting. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  17. ^ "Night Of The Stars Tribute". San Diego International Film Festival. Archived from the original on October 8, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  18. ^ "'Abbott Elementary' star Lisa Ann Walter aces Philly clue during 'Celebrity Jeopardy!' victory". Philly Voice. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  19. ^ https://thejeopardyfan.com/2024/01/celebrity-jeopardy-1-23-2024.html#google_vignette

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