Jackie Hoffman

Jacqueline Laura Hoffman (born November 29, 1960) is an American actress, singer, and comedian known for her one-woman shows of Jewish-themed original songs and monologues. She is a veteran of Chicago's famed The Second City comedy improv group.

Hoffman was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Critics' Choice Television Award for her role as Mamacita in the miniseries Feud (2017).

Career

Stage Hoffman won the Joseph Jefferson Award, Chicago's venerable theatre award, during her eight-year tenure with the Second City troupe.

In 2002, Hoffman was cast in the musical Hairspray on Broadway, playing the roles of Prudy Pingleton, Gym Teacher, Matron and Denizen of Baltimore. She won the 2003 Theatre World Award for her performance.

Film and television

Hoffman has acted in the movies Kissing Jessica Stein, Mo' Money, Garden State, Down, Queer Duck: The Movie, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde, and A Dirty Shame, and was the voice of the Water Cooler in Robots.

In addition to cameoing on the television show Curb Your Enthusiasm, she has appeared in many series, including Difficult People, Strangers with Candy, Hope and Faith, Ed, Starved, Cosby, 30 Rock, One Life to Live, The Other Two, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, and was the voice of Dilmom on Dilbert.

Hoffman provided the voice of "Mary Phillips, the Talk Radio host", in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Despite her frequent stage banter on her dislike of children, Hoffman did a surprising turn as the voices of the Gate to Fairy-tale Land and the Witch's Magic Wand in the Dora the Explorer movie, Dora's Fairytale Adventure. She has also been a frequent guest on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

In 2007 she was featured in the film Making Trouble, a tribute to female Jewish comedians, produced by the Jewish Women's Archive. In 2011, Hoffman appeared as a cameo in The Sitter as Mrs. Sapperstein. In 2012, she has had a recurring role in The New Normal. She appeared in a cameo role in the Oscar-winning movie Birdman in 2014.

In 2017, she starred in the first season of the FX series entitled Feud: Bette and Joan in the role of Joan Crawford's housekeeper, Mamacita, for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie.

Since 2021, she has appeared in the Hulu series Only Murders in the Building as supporting character Uma Heller, an amusingly caustic neighbor of the show's principal characters.

In 2023, Hoffman portrayed the role of Assistant Principal McGee in the 10-episode Paramount+ series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies.

Discography Jackie Hoffman can be heard on the original Broadway cast recordings of Hairspray, Xanadu, The Addams Family, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the revival Broadway cast recording of On the Town, and the PS Classics' recording of Jackie Hoffman: Live at Joe's Pub released in Fall 2008. She also appears on Scott Alan's CD, Dreaming Wide Awake, in a duet with Carly Jibson.

Personal life Hoffman was born in Queens, New York. She is friends with Stephen Colbert and his wife Evelyn McGee-Colbert, jokingly making a scene when she did not catch Evelyn's bouquet at the couple's 1993 wedding.

At age 46, during the run of her show Regrets Only, she was hospitalized for a hysterectomy to remove a benign tumor. She was back in three weeks, with a cot backstage for whenever she was not singing or talking.

She is married to jazz trumpeter Steve Smyth.

Stage credits Year Play Role Theatre 1995 One Woman Shoe Jill La Mama E.T.C., Off-Off-Broadway 1997 Incident at Cobbler's Knob Squirrel Lincoln Center Festival 2000 Straight Jacket Jerry Playhouse 91, Off-Broadway 2001 The Book of Liz Sister Constance Butterworth et al. Greenwich House Theater, Off-Broadway 2002–2004 Hairspray Prudy Pingleton et al. Neil Simon Theatre, Broadway 2006 The Sisters Rosensweig Gorgeous Teitelbaum Old Globe Theatre, Regional 2006–2007 Regrets Only Myra Kesselman New York City Center Stage I, Off-Broadway 2007–2008 Xanadu Calliope/Aphrodite Helen Hayes Theatre, Broadway 2009–2011 The Addams Family Grandmama Eudora Addams Oriental-Ford Center for the Arts, ChicagoLunt-Fontanne Theatre, Broadway 2012 Chicago Matron "Mama" Morton The Muny, Regional 2014–2015 On the Town Maude P. Dilly et al. Lyric Theatre, Broadway 2015–2016 Once Upon a Mattress Princess Winnifred Abrons Arts Center, Off-Broadway 2017–2018 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Mrs. Teavee Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, Broadway 2018–2020 Fidler Afn Dakh Yente Edmond J. Safra Hall/Stage 42, Off-Broadway 2021 Fairycakes Moth Greenwich House Theater, Off-Broadway 2022 The Tattooed Lady Ida Gibson Suzanne Roberts Theatre, Regional2023Gutenberg! The Musical!The ProducerJames Earl Jones Theatre, Broadway2025My First Ex-HusbandMonica/GloriaMMC Theater, Off-Broadway

Filmography Film Year Film Role 1992 Mo' Money Jill 2001 Kissing Jessica Stein Joan Levine The Shaft Marie-Anne Holland 2003 Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde Dog Spa Receptionist 2004 Garden State Aunt Sylvia Largeman A Dirty Shame Dora 2005 Robots Water Cooler (voice) 2006 Queer Duck: The Movie Lola Buzzard (voice) 2008 The Entrepreneurs Janet 2009 How to Seduce Difficult Women Book Publisher 2010 The Extra Man Pushy Woman 2011 The Sitter Mrs. Sapperstein 2014 Birdman Mary 5 Flights Up "Eh" Lady 2015 Decay Neighbor 2019 The Social Ones Amanda 2020 Shiva Baby Susan 2022 Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Ma Cody 2023 A Good Person Belinda You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah Irene

Television