Mary Claire "Mimi" Kennedy is an American actress, author, and activist, best known for her performances in television comedies. She co-starred in a number of short-lived sitcoms before her role as Ruth Sloan on Homefront. Kennedy is known for her role as Abby O'Neil in the sitcom Dharma & Greg. In film, Kennedy appeared in Pump Up the Volume, Erin Brockovich, In the Loop, Due Date, Midnight in Paris, and The Five-Year Engagement. She is currently a series regular on the sitcom Mom, for which she received a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination.
Early life
Kennedy was born in Rochester, New York, the daughter of Nancy Helen and Daniel Gerald Kennedy. She got her start in theater with the Rochester Community Players, appearing in Agatha Christie's Spider Web in October 1960 when she was 12 years old. She was raised in Rochester, where she graduated in 1966 from Our Lady of Mercy High School. In the 1970s, she was in the musical Rhinegold, featuring songs by her friend Jim Steinman. She attended Smith College.
Career
Kennedy began her career appearing in the Broadway musicalGrease, and in 1977 landed a part in the short-lived variety series3 Girls 3, with Debbie Allen and Ellen Foley. She later played the role of Stockard Channing's sister in the short-lived Stockard Channing in Just Friends, and she was a regular on The Big Show. During the 1980s, she starred in a number of short-lived sitcoms, including The Two of Us, Spencer, and Family Man. She also co-starred in the sitcom Joe's Life. Kennedy made her dramatic turn with a supporting role in the critically acclaimed Homefront. The series ran from 1991 to 1993. She later was a regular on Savannah, playing the rich socialite mother of Shannon Sturges' character. After the series was canceled, she was cast in Pacific Palisades. This series also was canceled after a single season. In 1997, Kennedy returned to comedy roles playing Dharma's mother, Abby O'Neil, on the sitcom Dharma & Greg. During the 2000s, Kennedy had many guest-starring roles on television, appearing on Grey's Anatomy, House, ER, Scandal, In Plain Sight, Drop Dead Diva, and Veep. She also had a number of supporting film roles, appearing in Man in the Chair, In the Loop, Due Date, Midnight in Paris and The Five-Year Engagement. In 2013, Kennedy joined the cast of the sitcom Mom playing Marjorie, the twelve-step sponsor of the lead characters. She received a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination for her performance on the show. She became a series regular on the second season.
Personal life
Kennedy and her husband Larry Dilg were matched by the first known computer dating program Operation Match in 1966. They wed in 1978 and have two children. Kennedy is involved in several progressive activist causes, including Progressive Democrats of America for which she serves as chairperson of the board. Her mid-life memoir Taken to the Stage: The Education of an Actress was published by Smith&Kraus in 1996 with praise from advice columnistAbigail "Dear Abby" Van Buren and playwright Wendy Wasserstein, who called it "one of the great theatrical memoirs." She was a charter member of Artists United to Win Without War and a leading supporter of Dennis Kucinich's anti-war presidential campaign in 2004. Kennedy has worked on behalf of human rights, environmental issues, and labor issues.
