Joan Cusack Biography

Fast Facts

• Trained at the Piven Theatre Workshop (founded by Jeremy Piven's parents) in Evanston, IL
• Was a cast member of Saturday Night Live during the 1985 to 1986 season
• (Developed her comedy chops as a fan of the work of Mel Brooks and Monty Python
• ) Nominated for Oscars in 1988 (Working Girl) and 1997 (In & Out)
• Voiced the part of Jessie the Cowgirl in Toy Story 2 (1999) and sang the Randy Newman ballad "When She Loved Me
• " (She again provided Jessie's voice in 2010's Toy Story 3
• ) Stipulated that her 2001 sitcom, What About Joan, be produced in Chicago so that she could be near her family
• Has appeared in numerous films with brother John, including Sixteen Candles, High Fidelity, Say Anything
• and War, Inc
• A narrator for the children's series, Peep and the Big Wide World, an animated educational program
• In 2010, appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as the adoptive mother of a runaway girl