Annette O'Toole


Annette O'Toole is an American actress, dancer, and singer-songwriter. She is known for portraying Lisa Bridges in the TV series Nash Bridges; Beverly Marsh in the It miniseries; Lana Lang in Superman III; Elaine, the girlfriend of Nick Nolte's character in 48 Hrs.; the leading role, Kathy, in the romantic-comedy Cross My Heart; and Martha Kent, the mother of Clark Kent, on the television series Smallville.

Early life and career

O'Toole was born Annette Toole in Houston, Texas, the daughter of Dorothy Geraldine and William West Toole Jr. Her mother taught dance, which O'Toole herself began learning at the age of three. She started taking acting lessons after her family moved to Los Angeles when she was 13. Her first television appearance was in 1967 on The Danny Kaye Show, followed over the next few years with guest appearances in shows such as My Three Sons, The Virginian, Gunsmoke, Hawaii Five-O, and The Partridge Family.

1970s–1980s

O'Toole's first major film role was as a jaded beauty pageant contestant in the 1975 satire 'Smile'; she got the role after doing an impression of a "dead cockroach" at the audition. She also appeared as the tutor and girlfriend of Robby Benson's character in the college basketball story 'One on One' in 1977. She co-starred opposite Gary Busey in the 1980 film Foolin' Around. In 1981, she starred in the HBO onstage production of Vanities, as well as in the TV movie Stand By Your Man, which detailed the life of country music legend Tammy Wynette. Later on in 1982, she appeared briefly as Nick Nolte's girlfriend in 48 Hours. That same year, she played Alice Perrin in Cat People, and then in 1983 she played Lana Lang, and single mother of Ricky in Superman III.
In 1985, she co-starred with Barry Manilow in the CBS television movie Copacabana playing Lola La Mar to Manilow's Tony Starr. Also in 1985, she had a starring role as Ms. Edmunds in the original Bridge to Terabithia, and appeared in the TV adaptation of Strong Medicine the following year. In 1987's Cross My Heart, a romantic comedy, O'Toole had a leading role opposite Martin Short.

1990s–2000s

In 1990, O'Toole had roles in two ABC television miniseries. She played the adult Beverly Marsh in the miniseries adaptation of the Stephen King novel It, and also portrayed Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy in The Kennedys of Massachusetts, a role that earned her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress. She next starred in the 1992 NBC miniseries Jewels, based on the Danielle Steel novel of the same name.
In 1993, O'Toole starred in Desperate Justice as Ellen Wells. In 1995, she starred as Cheryl Keeton in the 1995 Lifetime television film based on Ann Rule's true crime novel Dead by Sunset. She had a recurring role on the television show Nash Bridges and starred in her own series The Huntress as a female bounty hunter. In 1997 O'Toole starred in the TV movie Keeping the Promise.
In October 2001, 18 years after portraying Lana Lang in Superman III, O'Toole returned to the Superman mythos in the role of Martha Kent, Superman's adoptive mother, in the television series Smallville. She remained part of the show's main cast, though at times in the background, until the end of its sixth season. On January 19, 2010, it was announced that O'Toole would be returning to Smallville for at least one episode.

2010s

On November 22, 2010, O'Toole played the role of Veronica, a middle-aged woman suffering from a severe case of Alzheimer's, in season 3 episode 7 of the TV series Lie to Me. In March 2013 she appeared in Grey's Anatomy as a school teacher who finds out, after surgery, that she will die from cancer.
O'Toole portrayed Susan Emerson in six episodes of the first two seasons of Halt and Catch Fire.
In 2016, O'Toole returned to the Stephen King realm as boarding house owner Edna Price in 'The Kill Floor' episode of the King mini-series 11.22.63.
O’Toole is currently playing the role of Hope McCrea in the Netflix series Virgin River.

Musical career

In retrospect, O'Toole can date the beginning of her songwriting career to events during a car ride after the September 11 attacks; as her husband Michael McKean describes it, "On September 11, 2001, Annette found herself without an airline to carry her back down to Los Angeles from Vancouver, where she films Smallville. So she drove a rental car down. The two of us drove it back up together, and on the long drive up there, somewhere between Portland and Seattle, she told me she had a tune in her head." The "tune in her head" became "Potato's in the Paddy Wagon", one of three songs the couple wrote for A Mighty Wind, including the Oscar-nominated song "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow."
O'Toole sang "What Could Be Better?" — a song she and her husband co-wrote – for the 2004 Disney children's album A World of Happiness.
In May–June 2005, the couple did a cabaret act for "Feinstein's at the Regency" in New York City.
On July 7, 2007, O'Toole appeared as a backing singer for her husband's fictional band Spinal Tap at the London leg of the Live Earth concerts. She has also performed on the band's 2009 Unwigged and Unplugged tour, and contributed lyrics to "Short and Sweet" on the 2009 Spinal Tap album Back from the Dead.
In 2011 she starred in CAP21's production of the new musical Southern Comfort, based on the Sundance award-winning documentary, by Dan Collins and Julianne Wick Davis.

Personal life

O'Toole married actor Bill Geisslinger on April 8, 1983; the couple had two daughters, Nell and Anna. She is Catholic.
O'Toole first met Michael McKean, the man who would later become her second husband, when McKean was working on Laverne & Shirley. O'Toole and McKean became friends in 1997 while starring together on Final Justice, a Lifetime movie. They were married in March 1999.
O'Toole and McKean guest-starred together in "Mega", a 10th-season episode of Law & Order as a wealthy married couple accused of murder. The couple also guest-starred on Boy Meets World as Topanga Lawrence's parents. McKean also played reporter Perry White, later the boyfriend of O'Toole's character Martha Kent, on Smallville.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1967My Three SonsTinaEpisode: "The Chaperones"
1967This Is the LifeDebbieEpisode: "Debbie"
1969Bright PromiseGypsy1 episode
1970Dan AugustRobbie WagnerEpisode: "Love Is a Nickel Bag"
1970The VirginianLark WaltersEpisode: "The Mysterious Mr. Tate"
1970GunsmokeEdda SpragueEpisode: "The Witness"
1971The Mod SquadLorrie ColemanEpisode: "A Bummer for R.J."
1971The Partridge FamilyCarolEpisode: "Partridge Up a Pear Tree"
1971Hawaii Five-OSueEpisode: "...And I Want Some Candy and a Gun That Shoots"
1973SearchTerry BainEpisode: "The 24 Carat Hit"
1973The Girl Most Likely to...JennyTV Movie
1973The RookiesPregnant WomanEpisode: "Frozen Smoke"
1973The RookiesBank TellerEpisode: "Lots of Trees and a Running Stream"
1974The F.B.I.Brenda PorterEpisode: "The Lost Man"
1974Dirty SallyGeorgeEpisode: "My Fair Laddie"
1974Police WomanDonna HessEpisode: "Shoefly"
1975S.W.A.T.Rita BonelliEpisode: "The Killing Ground"
1975PetrocelliTinaEpisode: "Terror on Wheels"
1975The EntertainerBambi PaskoTV Movie
1976SerpicoHeatherEpisode: "The Indian"
1976Barnaby JonesCas CarterEpisode: "Band of Evil"
1977The War Between the TatesWendy GeogheganTV Movie
1977What Really Happened to the Class of '65?Kathy Adams MillerEpisode: "Everybody's Girl"
1977–1978The Tony Randall ShowMelissa2 episodes
1979VisionsSandyEpisode: "Ladies in Waiting"
1979Love for RentCarol MartinTV Movie
1981Standing Room OnlyKathyEpisode: "Vanities"
1981Stand by Your ManTammy WynetteTV Movie
1984The Best Legs in the Eighth GradeRachel BlackstoneTV Movie
1985Bridge to TerabithiaMiss EdmundsTV Movie
1985Alfred Hitchcock PresentsStellaPilot
1985CopacabanaLola LamarTV Movie
1987Broken VowsNana Marie 'Nim' FitzpatrickTV Movie
1986Strong MedicineJessica WeitzTV Movie
1989'Betsy NorthTV Movie
1990The Kennedys of MassachusettsRose Fitzgerald KennedyTV Mini-Series; Main cast
1990ItBeverly MarshTV Mini-Series; Main cast
1990'Maud Gage BaumTV Movie
1990A Girl of the LimberlostKate ComstockTV Movie
1991General Motors Playwrights TheaterCarolEpisode: "Unpublished Letters"
1991White LieHelen LesterTV Movie
1992JewelsSarah Thompson WhitfieldTV Mini-Series; Main cast
1993Kiss of a KillerKate WilsonTV Movie
1993Love MattersJulieTV Movie
1993Desperate JusticeEllen WellsTV Movie; A.K.A. A Mother's Revenge
1995My Brother's KeeperJoann BradleyTV Movie
1995The Outer LimitsCommander Lydia ManningEpisode: "Dark Matters"
1995Dream OnBess JustinEpisode: "Bess You Is Not My Woman Now"
1995Dead By SunsetCheryl Keeton CunninghamTV Mini-Series; Main cast
1995The Christmas BoxKeri EvansTV Movie
1995Claudia HarrellEpisode: "Traveller"
1996The Man Next DoorAnnie HodgesTV Movie
1996–1998Nash BridgesLisa BridgesMain cast
Guest
1997Keeping the PromiseAnne HallowellTV Movie
1997Final DescentConnie PhippsTV Movie
1998Final JusticeGwen SaticoyTV Movie
1999Boy Meets WorldRhiannon LawrenceEpisode: "State of the Unions"
2000Law & OrderValerie GraceEpisode: "Mega"
2000–2001The HuntressDorothy 'Dottie' ThorsonMain cast
2001–2011SmallvilleMartha Kent / The Red QueenMain cast
Guest
2006AquamanAtlanna TV Pilot
2010Lie to MeVeronicaEpisode: "Veronica"
2011Private PracticeJanetEpisode: "Blind Love"
2012The FinderElaine ShermanEpisode: "The Boy with the Bucket"
2013Grey's AnatomyMadeleine SkurskiEpisode: "Idle Hands"
2014F to 7thDianeWeb series; 2 episodes
2014–2015Halt and Catch FireSusan EmersonRecurring
2015Battle CreekAmelia ZuranskyEpisode: "Homecoming"
201611.22.63Edna PriceEpisode: "The Kill Floor"
2019The PunisherEliza SchultzRecurring role
2019Virgin RiverHope McCreaMain role
2020The Good DoctorCaroline ReznikEpisode: "Sex and Death"
2020KiddingLouiseEpisode 7 Season 2"