It is often the case that in the background of a successful comic, there has been tragedy. For Molly Shannon, it was surviving a 1969 car accident that killed her mother, younger sister and a cousin and left her father with a leg injury. "It's a massive loss that affects everything, but not consciously," she has said. Perhaps ironically, the perkily petite brunette with flashing blue eyes has become best known for her pratfalls and physical comedy on NBC's "Saturday Night Live", which she joined in early 1995. The Ohio native trained at NYU's Tisch School and briefly worked as a researcher for Orion Television before relocating to L.A. While she found guest roles (e.g., "Twin Peaks", "Ellen"), Shannon supported herself as an assistant talent coordinator and occasional performer on the Fox variety series "In Living Color". But it was the showcase "The Rob and Molly Show", which she co-wrote and co-starred alongside Rob Muir that brought her to the attention of a producer of "SNL.” It took the comic until her second season on the show to introduce her most popular character, the intense Catholic schoolgirl Mary Katherine Gallagher who, when pressured, hooks her hands in her armpits and then smells them. Invariably, the skits featuring this clumsy character require Shannon to perform her most physical stunts and usually end up with Mary Katherine's school uniform skirt twirled up exposing her white cotton underwear. The character has proven so popular that she is the center of a comedy feature, "Superstar" (1999), that marks Shannon's first leading role in films.

In addition to Mary Katherine, the comedienne draws upon her improvisational skills and gift for mimicry for her other signature characters on "SNL". She has proven amusing spoofing rock singer-turned-actress Courtney Love, Lucy Lawless' Xena, tap dancer Ann Miller (partnered with Cheri Oteri's Debbi Reynolds in the sketch "Leg Up!") and a dead-on Meredith Vieira, one of the hosts of the ABC talk show "The View". (For the April 1, 1998 edition of "The View", Shannon and cast mates Oteri, as Barbara Walters, and Tracy Morgan, in drag as Star Jones, began the network broadcast and proved so true-to-life, it took viewers several minutes and the entrance of the real hosts to make it clear a joke was being played.)

Although Shannon had made brief appearances in forgettable films, her success on "SNL" led to a renewed feature career. She was tapped to join cast mates Chris Kattan and Will Ferrell in "A Night at the Roxbury" (1998), playing the latter's girlfriend and had a brief role as a gossipy co-worker of Jane Adams in Todd Solondz's "Happiness" (also 1998). Shannon then co-starred with Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal and Lisa Kudrow in the mobster comedy "Analyze This" and portrayed the best friend to Drew Barrymore in "Never Been Kissed" (1999) and Kate Beckinsale in "Serendipity" (2001). Shannon had a supporting role as a teacher in the slapstick comedy, “Osmosis Jones” (2001), then played an aspiring singer who goes on a date with the man acting as Jolly Saint Nick (Tim Allen) in “The Santa Clause 2” (2002). After small parts in “My Boss’s Daughter” (2003) and “American Splendor” (2003), she played a mother who lets her lonely son (Liam Aiken) adopt a scruffy dog that turns out to be on a mission from the Dog Star Sirius in “Good Boy!” (2003).

Shannon went back to television with a regular role on the sitcom “Cracking Up” (Fox, 2003-2004), playing a moody mom married to a control freak husband (Chris McDonald) who rents a guest house to a college student (Jason Schwartzman) unaware of the severity of her family’s dysfunction. The series was a midseason pickup that was put on hold after six episodes aired. It never saw the light of day again. Shannon then joined the ensemble cast for “Scary Movie 4” (2006), playing the ex-wife of a bumbling and moronic man (Craig Bierko) heroically trying to save his children from rampaging beings on giant tripods—a spoof of Tom Cruise’s character from “War of the Worlds” (2005).