Line #23 Creator/MaryGross


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mary_gross.jpg]]
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3	Mary Martha Gross (born March 25, 1953) is an American voice actress, comedian, and actress best known for ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' and other roles.
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5	Mary Gross was hired on ''Saturday Night Live'' during the show's seventh season (1981-1982), where new showrunner, Dick Ebersol, was trying to salvage the show after Jean Doumanian's disatrous turn in 1980. Like most cast members at the time, Gross was often overshadowed by the SpotlightStealingSquad of Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo (but only in season seven when the other women in the cast with her were Robin Duke and Christine Ebersole. When Christine Ebersole was replaced with Julia Louis-Dreyfus in season 8, Gross's time onscreen did increase somewhat). In her first season (season seven), Gross was a Weekend Update anchor paired with Brian Doyle-Murray (and occasionally switched out with Christine Ebersole), but that got dropped during the next season when Weekend Update went from being called ''SNL Newsbreak'' to ''Saturday Night News'' and Creator/BradHall was chosen as the anchor[[note]]Weekend Update wouldn't be called Weekend Update again until Lorne Michaels came back in 1985[[/note]].
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7	Gross's recurring characters include Alfalfa from the ''SNL'' take on ''The Little Rascals'' (and the one who attempted to assassinate Eddie Murphy's Buckwheat), Celeste (a sexually-repressed wife married to an equally repressed husband played by Tim Kazurinsky), Chi Chi (a Latina talk show host with Julia-Louis Dreyfus as her co-host, Consuela), and Siobhan Cahill (a Irishwoman who reports on all things Irish-related)[[note]]coincidentally, ''Saturday Night Live'' would have two short-lived female cast members who have parts of that name: Siobhan Fallon [no relation to Jimmy Fallon] and Beth Cahill[[/note]]. Her notable celebrity impressions include Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Brooke Shields, Ann Landers, Lena Horne, Leslie Uggams[[note]]both of which would be considered dodgy casting today, since both Uggams and Horne are black and Mary Gross is white, though Lena Horne was more mixed-race and passed for white, while Uggams had darker skin[[/note]], Mary Hart from ''Entertainment Tonight'', Marilyn Monroe, Margaret Thatcher, Paul Reubens (as his Pee-Wee Herman character), and Nancy Reagan.
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9	Gross was hot enough in her post-''SNL'' days that she initially found steady comedy work in film: ''Baby Boom'' (1987), ''Hot to Trot'' (1988), and as assistant troop leader/spy Annie Herman in ''Troop Beverly Hills'' the following year. She’s had small television roles on ''Murphy Brown'' (the 1990s version, not the 2010s reboot), ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'', ''Six Feet Under'', ''Malcolm and the Middle'', and ''The New Adventures of Old Christine'' (starring her former cast mate, Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Gross has also done voicework for such cartoons as ''Aaahh!!! Real Monsters'', ''The Angry Beavers'', ''Animaniacs'', and ''Hey Arnold!'' She also had a small part in the 2003 Christopher Guest film ''A Mighty Wind'', had a recurring role on the soap opera ''General Hospital'' in 2008, and appeared on an episode of ''Californication''.
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11	In the late 1990s, Gross lost hearing in her right ear due to Meniere’s disease and has since shied away from returning to stage work in Chicago despite encouragement from Creator/TimKazurinsky and her brother Michael ([[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer yes, Mary Gross's brother is Michael Gross]], the same one from ''Family Ties'').
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13	!Film Roles
14	* ''Film/ClubParadise'' as Jackie
15	* ''Film/BabyBoom1987'' as Charlotte Elkman
16	* ''Film/TheCouchTrip'' as Vera Maitlin
17	* ''Film/CasualSex'' Ilene
18	* ''Film/BigBusiness'' as Judy
19	* ''Film/HotToTrot'' as Ms. French
20	* ''Film/{{Feds}}'' as Janis Zuckerman
21	* ''Film/TroopBeverlyHills'' as Annie Herman
22	* ''Film/ThereGoesTheNeighborhood'' as Mrs. Bratesman
23	* ''Film/TheSantaClause1'' as Ms. Daniels
24	* ''Film/PracticalMagic'' as Debbie
25	* ''Film/Tremors3BackToPerfection'' as Tourist Mom
26	* ''Film/FortyDaysAndFortyNights'' as Bev Sullivan
27	* ''Film/AMightyWind'' as Ma Klapper
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29	!Television Roles
30	* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' as Herself/various (1981-1985)
31	* ''Series/TalesOfTheUnexpected'' as Woman on beach (1 episode)
32	* ''Series/ThePeopleNextDoor'' as Abigail [=MacIntyre=] Kellogg
33	* ''Series/{{Billy}}'' as Phoebe Trillman (recurring)
34	* ''Series/MurphyBrown'' as Chris Manheim (1 episode)
35	* ''Series/JacksPlace'' as Rosemary (1 episode)
36	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' as Katie's Mom (recurring)
37	* ''Series/TheLarrySandersShow'' as Mary Gross (1 episode)
38	* ''Series/LoisAndClark'' as Nell Newtrich (1 episode)
39	* ''WesternAnimation/AngryBeavers'' as Deer/Bird (1 episode)
40	* ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' as Mrs. Quick (recurring)
41	* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' as School Nurse Shelley (3 episodes)
42	* ''Series/{{Providence}}'' as Martha Blanekship (1 episode)
43	* ''Series/OffCentre'' as Roberta Flack/Mrs. Platt (1 episode)
44	* ''Series/DharmaAndGreg'' as Mary (1 episode)
45	* ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'' as Bobbie Lightfoot (1 episode)
46	* ''Series/JudgingAmy'' as Marta (1 episode)
47	* ''Series/AccordingToJim'' as Cynthia/Lisa (2 episodes)
48	* ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' as Evelyn (1 episode)
49	* ''Series/ThatsSoRaven'' as Miss Patterson (1 episode)
50	* ''Series/TheNewAdventuresOfOldChristine'' as Mrs. Orr (1 episode)
51	* ''Series/BostonLegal'' as Leigh Swift (recurring)
52	* ''Series/GeneralHospital'' as Aunt Raylene (recurring)
53	* ''Series/{{Life\|2007}}'' as Maude Paxton (1 episode)
54	* ''Series/{{Californication}}'' as Principal Green (1 episode)
55	* ''Series/TheDefenders2010'' as Judy Baker (1 episode)
56	* ''Series/HartOfDixie'' as Old Lady #3 (1 episode)
57	* ''WesternAnimation/PoundPuppies2010'' as Mrs. Beasley (1 episode)

Context Creator / MaryGross