Biography
Mary McDonnell is an American actress that has received such accolades as an Obie Award, a Saturn Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards.
After 21 years in theatre and television work, McDonnell made her film breakthrough in 1990 as the daughter of American settlers raised by the Sioux named Stands with a Fist in Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves (1990). She is also known for her roles in Lawrence Kasdan’s Grand Canyon (1991), John Sayles’ Passion Fish (1992), Sneakers (1992), Independence Day (1996), Donnie Darko (2001), and Margin Call (2011).
Her first lead role on television was in the short-lived sitcom E/R in 1984, in which George Clooney had a recurring role. Her next sitcom was the 1995 series High Society alongside Jean Smart. She also had a recurring role as Eleanor Carter, Dr. John Carter’s (Noah Wylie) mother in the NBC medical drama, ER. In 2003, she was cast as President Laura Roslin in the Syfy channel’s critically acclaimed series, Battlestar Galactica. In 2009, she joined the cast of The Closer for its last 3 seasons as Captain Sharon Ryder, a role she carried over to the police procedural Major Crimes. Most recently, she starred in Mike Flanigan’s gothic horror drama, The Fall of the House of Usher.