Bonnie Hunt

Bonnie Lynne Hunt (born September 22, 1961) is an American actress, comedienne, writer,director, television producer and daytime television host.

Early life

Hunt, who was born in Chicago, Illinois, is the daughter of Alice, a homemaker of Polishdescent, and Bob Hunt, an electrician of Irish descent.She was raised in a large Catholicfamily, and has three older brothers, Patrick, Kevin, and Tom, two older sisters, Cathy and Carol, and one younger sister, Mary. Hunt was educated in Catholic schools and attended St. Ferdinand Grammar School and Notre Dame High School for Girls in Chicago.

In 1982, Hunt worked as an oncology nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. In 1984, she co-founded An Impulsive Thing, an improvisational comedy troupe, with Holly Wortell, Andy Miller and John Gripentrog. Hunt also performed as a member of Chicago's world-famousThe Second City, joining in 1986.

Career

In 1990, Hunt played a role on the NBC show Grand, a comedy that lasted a season and a half. Hunt refused to become a cast member of Saturday Night Live because the show's producers generally frowned on her preferred improvisational style. In 1992, she turned down a higher-paying role on Designing Women to co-star in Davis Rules with Jonathan Winters, Randy Quaid, and Audrey Meadows.

In 1993, Hunt teamed with good friend David Letterman to produce The Building, a short-lived sitcom that was modeled after early-1950s television shows. The show was also filmed live; mistakes, accidents, and forgotten lines were often left in the aired episode. Hunt and Letterman re-teamed in 1995 with The Bonnie Hunt Show (later retitled Bonnie), which featured many of the same cast members as The Building and the same loose style. The show was praised by critics but was canceled after 11 of the 13 episodes produced were aired. In 2002, Hunt returned to television with Life with Bonnie, a show known for clean and offbeat humor. Her role on that show earned her a 2004Emmy nomination, her first. Despite fair ratings, the show was canceled in its second season. Hunt announced on Live with Regis and Kellythat ABC had offered her another sitcom, in which she would have played a divorced detective. This pilot, Let Go (also known as Crimes and Dating), was not picked up for the fall 2006 schedule.

Hunt co-wrote, directed, and co-starred in the 2000 film Return to Me, a romantic comedy starring David Duchovny and Minnie Driver. It was filmed in her Chicago neighborhood and included bit parts for a number of her relatives.

Hunt starred as Alice Newton opposite Charles Grodin in the popular children's films Beethoven and Beethoven's 2nd. She played oppositeRobin Williams in Jumanji as well as opposite Steve Martin in Cheaper by the Dozen and its sequel. She played the sister of Renée Zellweger in the movie Jerry Maguire and Jan Edgecomb opposite Tom Hanks in the film adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Green Mile. Also, she played the biological mother, Grace Bellamy, of Mark Austin (played by Kip Pardue) in Loggerheads, a 2005 independent film written and directed by Tim Kirkman. She has provided her voice for a total of four Pixar films: A Bug's Life as Rosie the black widow spider;Monsters, Inc. as training supervisor Mrs. Flint; Cars as the heroine Sally Carrera; and Toy Story 3 as Dolly. In addition, Hunt received a writing credit on the film Cars, and will be reprising her role in the sequel Cars 2.

Personal life

Hunt married investment banker John Murphy in 1988. However, during her June 6, 2006, appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, she mentioned that she was single again. Like her Cheaper by the Dozen co-star Steve Martin, she has no children.

Hunt's hometown is Chicag and she is a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan, having not missed an Opening Day at Wrigley Field since 1977. She is also a supporter of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, of which she is an honorary board member.

The Bonnie Hunt Show

In 2007 Bonnie Hunt taped a pilot episode for Telepictures. The pilot was approved and the talk show was created. The Bonnie Hunt Showpremiered on Monday, September 8, 2008. The show's set design was a tribute to Dean Martin and on the walls are pictures of historic television personalities as well as Hunt's family members. The show was inspired by the format of Live with Regis and Kellywith the host and guests often interacting with the audience. Many of show's staffers were longtime friends of Hunt's from Chicago. The show typically started with an opening monologue followed by guest interviews and games played with the audience. Hunt's mother Alice often appeared inwebcasts from her home in Chicago. A characteristic of the show was Hunt's over-the-top faux indignation at non-PG language after which she would enjoy the double-entendre drenched material she had pretended to poo-poo. The Bonnie Hunt Show taped in Culver City, California and was viewed in 17 of the top 20 US television markets in the United States. In its first year, the show was nominated for three Daytime Emmy Awards: for opening theme, hairstyle, and makeup. It won the Gracie Award for "Outstanding Talk Show" in 2009. In 2010, Hunt was nominated for "Outstanding Talk Show Host" at the Daytime Emmy Awards. The final episode aired Wednesday, May 26, 2010.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Rain Man	Sally Dibbs
1992	Beethoven	Alice Newton
1993	Dave	White House Tour Guide
1993–1999	Mike & Spike	Olivia R. Alexanders	TV Show- Voice
1993	Beethoven's 2nd	Alice Newton
1994	Only You	Kate Corvatch
1995	Now and Then	Mrs. DeWitt
1995	Jumanji	Sarah Whittle/Madam Serena
1996	Getting Away with Murder	Dr. Gail Holland
1996	Jerry Maguire	Laurel Boyd
1998	A Bug's Life	Rosie	Voice
1998	Kissing a Fool	Linda Streicher
1999	Random Hearts	Wendy Judd
1999	Mike & Spike Movie	Olivia R. Alexanders	Voice
1999	The Green Mile	Jan Edgecomb
2000	Return to Me	Megan Dayton	also director/writer
2001	Monsters, Inc.	Ms. Flint	Voice
2001	Mike & Spike Christmas	Olivia R. Alexanders	Christmas TV Special- Voice
2002	Stolen Summer	Margaret O'Malley	limited release
2003	Cheaper by the Dozen	Kate Baker
2005	Cheaper by the Dozen 2	Kate Baker
2005	Loggerheads	Grace
2006	From Hair To Eternity	Martha Bakerson
2006	I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With	Stella Lewis
2006	Cars	Sally Carrera	Voice
2008– 2010	The Bonnie Hunt Show	Herself/Host	TV Talk show
2010	Toy Story 3	Dolly	Voice
2011	Cars 2	Sally Carrera	Voice

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