Joan Cusack

Joan Mary Cusack ( ; born October 11, 1962) is an American actress. She is known for her distinctive voice and offbeat comedic timing, and her portrayals of neurotic, endearing characters have earned her numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award.

Cusack received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles in the comedy-drama Working Girl (1988) and the romantic comedy In & Out (1997). Her other starring roles include those in Toys (1992), Addams Family Values (1993), Nine Months (1995), Cradle Will Rock (1999), Where the Heart Is (2000), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), School of Rock (2003), and Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008). She has also provided voice roles such as Jessie in the Toy Story franchise (1999–present), for which she won an Annie Award, and Abby Mallard in Chicken Little (2005), as well as the narrator of the children's preschool series Peep and the Big Wide World (2004–2011).

Cusack was a cast member on the comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live from 1985 to 1986. She starred on the Showtime hit drama comedy series Shameless (2011–2015) as Sheila Jackson, a role for which she received five consecutive Primetime Emmy nominations, winning the award in 2015. She is a sister of actress Ann Cusack and actor John Cusack.

Early life

Joan Mary Cusack was born on October 11, 1962, in New York City and was raised in Evanston, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Her mother, Ann Paula "Nancy" Cusack (née Carolan; 1929–2022), was a mathematics teacher and political activist. Her father, Dick Cusack (1925–2003), was an actor and filmmaker, and two of her four siblings, Ann and John, are actors. Her Catholic family is of Irish descent. Cusack is an alumna of the University of Wisconsin–Madison (1984), where she earned a bachelor's degree in English.

Career Cusack has twice been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her work in Working Girl (1988) and In & Out (1997). She has appeared with her brother John in ten movies: Class (1983), Sixteen Candles (1984), Grandview, U.S.A. (1984), Broadcast News (1987), Say Anything... (1989), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Cradle Will Rock (1999), High Fidelity (2000), Martian Child (2007), and War, Inc. (2008).

Cusack voiced Jessie in the Pixar hits Toy Story 2 (1999), Toy Story 3 (2010), Toy Story 4 (2019), and Toy Story 5 (2026).

In the film Addams Family Values (1993), she played psychotic serial killer Debbie Jellinsky, who marries and kills rich men. She also starred in the short-lived ABC sitcom What About Joan? in 2001 and the hit film Arlington Road (1999). For many years, Cusack was also the commercial spokeswoman for U.S. Cellular. One of Cusack's best-known roles was the principal of Horace Green Elementary School, Rosalie 'Roz' Mullins, in School of Rock (2003). She played Dr. Burton, the therapist of Charlie (Logan Lerman), in the teen film The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012). She also played Erin's mom in the final episode of NBC's The Office.

Cusack was a cast member on the NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live in its eleventh season (1985–86) with fellow cast members and future stars such as Robert Downey Jr., Damon Wayans, and Anthony Michael Hall. Her recurring characters on SNL included Salena, a socially inept girl who tries to ask out her boyfriend, Biff (played by Jon Lovitz), who is also socially inept. In addition, she did celebrity impersonations of Brooke Shields, Jane Fonda, and Queen Elizabeth II.

She has been nominated four times for the American Comedy Award in the category of Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture and has won three times, for Runaway Bride (1999), In & Out (1997), and Working Girl (1988). She has also won the New York Film Critics Circle Award and the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress for In & Out.

Cusack narrates the public-TV animated series Peep and the Big Wide World. In September 2010, Cusack guest-starred on NBC's Law & Order: SVU.

She also appeared as Justice Strauss in Netflix's adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events, which premiered in 2017.

Cusack also appeared as the Tin Foil Lady in the Netflix movie Let It Snow, which was released in November 2019.

Shameless In 2010, Cusack joined the Showtime drama/comedy Shameless as Sheila Jackson, the mother of Karen Jackson (Laura Slade Wiggins). The first season premiered on January 9, 2011, and had its first finale March 27, 2011. Cusack replaced actress Allison Janney, who portrayed the role in the first edit of the pilot episode. They have two sons. The shop is named after Barbra Streisand's character in What's Up Doc? (1972), Cusack's favorite movie.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1980 Cutting Loose My Bodyguard Shelley 1983 Class Julia 1984 Sixteen Candles Geek Girl #1 All Together Now Linda Parker Grandview, U.S.A. Mary Maine 1987 The Allnighter Gina Broadcast News Blair Litton 1988 Stars and Bars Irene Stein Married to the Mob Rose Working Girl Cynthia 1989 Say Anything... Constance Dobler Uncredited 1990 Men Don't Leave Jody My Blue Heaven Hannah Stubs1991 Arrive Alive Joy Unfinished film The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez Cathy Also writer 1992 Hero Evelyn Laplante Toys Alsatia Zevo 1993 Addams Family Values Debbie Jellinsky 1994 Corrina, Corrina Jonesy 1995 Nine Months Gail Dwyer Two Much Gloria 1996 Mr. Wrong Inga Gunther 1997 Grosse Pointe Blank Marcella Mayes A Smile Like Yours Nancy Tellen In & Out Emily Montgomery 1999 Arlington Road Cheryl Lang Cradle Will Rock Hazel Huffman Runaway Bride Peggy Flemming Toy Story 2 Jessie Voice 2000 High Fidelity Liz Where the Heart Is Ruth Meyers 2002 It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie Rachel Bitterman 2003 School of Rock Rosalie Mullins Looney Tunes: Back in Action Mother 2004 Raising Helen Jenny Portman The Last Shot Fanny Nash Uncredited 2005 Ice Princess Joan Carlyle Chicken Little Abby Mallard Voice 2006 Friends with Money Franny 2007 Martian Child Liz Gordon 2008 War, Inc. Marsha Dillon Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Miss Lucinda Bond 2009 Confessions of a Shopaholic Jane Bloomwood Toys in the Attic Madam Curie Voice; English dub My Sister's Keeper Judge De Salvo Acceptance Nina Rockefeller 2010 Toy Story 3 Jessie Voice 2011 Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil Verushka Mars Needs Moms Milo's Mom Voice; Also motion-capture Hawaiian Vacation Jessie Voice; Short film Small Fry Arthur Christmas Mission Control Elf Voice 2012 Partysaurus Rex Jessie Voice; Short film The Perks of Being a Wallflower Dr. Burton 2014 Welcome to Me Dawn Hurley 2015 The End of the Tour Patty Gunderson Freaks of Nature Peg Parker 2016 Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping Tilly Friel 2017 Snatched Barb Unicorn Store Gladys The Christmas Train Agnes 2018 Instant Family Mrs. Howard 2019 Toy Story 4 Jessie Voice Let It Snow Mysterious Tin Foil Woman Klaus Mrs. Tammy Krum Voice 2026 Toy Story 5 Jessie

Television Year Title Role Notes 1985–1986 Saturday Night Live Various Characters 17 episodes 1994 Great Performances The Daughter Episode: "The Mother" 2000 Sesame Street Herself 1 episode 72nd Academy Awards Jessie Voice; Television special 2001–2002 What About Joan? Joan Gallagher Lead role 2004–2011 Peep and the Big Wide World Narrator Voice; Main role 2010 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Pamela Burton Episode: "Locum" 2011–2015 Shameless Sheila Jackson Recurring role (seasons 1–5) 2011 Phineas and Ferb Glenda Wilkins Voice; Episode: "Last Train to Bustville" 2013 The Office Erin's Biological Mother Episode: "Finale" Toy Story of Terror! Jessie Voice; Television special 2014 Toy Story That Time Forgot 2016–2019 The Stinky & Dirty Show Red Voice; 8 episodes 2017, 2019 A Series of Unfortunate Events Justice Strauss 4 episodes 2020 Homecoming Francine Bunda 3 episodes

Video games Year Title Voice role Notes 1999 Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue Jessie 2005 Chicken Little Abby Mallard Archive recordings 2006 Chicken Little: Ace in Action 2010 Toy Story 3: The Video Game Jessie 2011 Kinect: Disneyland Adventures 2012 Kinect Rush: A Disney–Pixar Adventure 2016 Disney Magic Kingdoms Initial release; voice lines were later removed in an update 2023 Disney Speedstorm

Awards and nominations