Mary McDonnell

Mary McDonnell is an actress who has been nominated for two Oscars(r). She is popular for her portrayals as characters from the past and present screen roles. Mary Eileen McDonnell was the daughter of John McDonnell (a computer consultant) and Eileen (Mundy) is an Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania native. She was raised in Ithaca and graduated from Fredonia State University of New York. Then, she went to drama school and was admitted to the Long Wharf Theatre Company in East Coast. Two decades later she scored her first major film role in Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves (1990) where she played "Stands with a Fist", a white woman raised by the Sioux Indians. McDonnell received her first Academy Award nomination for the part. McDonnell's film credits also include Lawrence Kasdan's Grand Canyon (1991) & Mumford (1999), opposite veteran actors like Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier and Ben Kingsley; Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day (1996) (starring Will Smith); the popular art house cult hit Donnie Darko (192001) as well as Margin Call (2011). The film won her the Robert Altman Awards at the 2012 Independent Spirit Awards. McDonnell was a regular in the Syfy Network's award-winning show Battlestar Galactica (2004), in which she was praised for her portrayal of President Laura Roslin. She earned an Emmy nomination for her frequent guest role on the television show ER (1994). She is the Captain Sharon Raydor on the TNT's popular drama series Major Crimes (2012), the sequel to The Closer (2005), in which McDonnell was the sole actor and was awarded a Primetime Emmy(r) nomination. She was awarded an Best Actress Academy Award(r) nomination and a Golden Globe nomination for her performance as a paraplegic soap opera star in John Sayles's critically acclaimed film, Passion Fish (1992).