Edie McClurg

Born on July 23, 1945 in Kansas City, Missouri, McClurg began her performing career at age five with the Kansas City Rhythm Kids. She retired when the dance teacher was arrested on a morals charge for "dating" the tall and lissome, yet underage, star dancer in the troupe. That girl's big number culminated with a back-bend where Edie drank a soda upside down (of course).She earned a Bachelor's degree in Speech Education and a Master of Science degree from Syracuse University and taught radio at the University of Missouri-Kansas City for eight years. There she re-entered the entertainment field as a DJ, newswoman and producer for the NPR affiliate KCUR-FM. Her proudest moment was portraying 'John Ehrlichman' (qv) in Conversation 26 of the NPR national broadcast of the Nixon Tape Transcripts. Her career-long devotion to satirical improvisation included an impressive tenure with The Groundlings.She went on to create original characters, performed on the short-lived talk show _The David Letterman Show (1980)_ (qv): Mrs. Marv Mendenhall, Dot Duncan, Whirly June Pickens, Officer Jeanelle Archer, 105-year-old Edie, etc. Television has been a home to many of McClurg's characters -- on _The Richard Pryor Show (1977)_ (qv); as Lucille Tarlek, wife of brash advertising salesman Herb Tarlek on _WKRP in Cincinnati (1978)_ (qv); and Mrs. Poole, the ever-cheery and almost omnipresent next-door neighbor on _Valerie (1986)_ (qv). Her movie career growth paralleled her ten years with The Groundlings. Her first film was 'Brian De Palma' (qv)'s teen horror classic _Carrie (1976)_ (qv). She did several 'John Hughes' (qv) films, including _Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)_ (qv), _Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)_ (qv), _She's Having a Baby (1988)_ (qv) and _Curly Sue (1991)_ (qv). Offbeat cult favorites are _Eating Raoul (1982)_ (qv), _Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988)_ (qv), HBO's _The Pee-Wee Herman Show (1981)_ (qv), and 'Martin Mull' (qv)'s _The History of White People in America (1985)_ (qv).In more mainstream films, she received a National Media Award for her portrayal of a mentally disabled woman in _Bill: On His Own (1983)_ (qv) (which starred 'Mickey Rooney' (qv)). She worked with 'Robert Redford' (qv) (in _A River Runs Through It (1992)_ (qv)), for 'Oliver Stone' (qv) (in _Natural Born Killers (1994)_ (qv)), for 'Diane Keaton' (qv) (in _Hanging Up (2000)_ (qv)), and was named Best Actress of the Chicago Alternative Film Festival for her portrayal of the mother of Ted Kaczynski ("The Unabomber").More recent roles include the nosy lady on _Fat Actress (2005)_ (qv), 'David Spade' (qv)'s nasty neighbor in _Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003)_ (qv), 'Dana Carvey' (qv)'s mother in Sony Pictures' _The Master of Disguise (2002)_ (qv), 'Jane Kaczmarek' (qv)'s friend on _Malcolm in the Middle (2000)_ (qv), and guest-starring on _CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000)_ (qv), _Providence (1999)_ (qv), _7th Heaven (1996)_ (qv), and _Caroline in the City (1995)_ (qv). She had voice roles in such television series and feature films as _The Little Mermaid (1989)_ (qv), _The Rugrats Movie (1998)_ (qv), _A Bug's Life (1998)_ (qv), and _Cars (2006)_ (qv).::'Edie McClurg' (qv)