Melissa McCarthy is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and fashion designer. She is the recipient of several accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards and nominations for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.
Born in Plainfield, Illinois, McCarthy was raised on a farm in a large Catholic family. She began her performing career as a stand-up comedian in New York City in 1996. She appeared as a contestant on the TV show Star Search and later moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. McCarthy's breakthrough role was playing Sookie St. James on the television series Gilmore Girls from 2000 to 2007. In 2005 she co-starred with Ryan Reynolds in The Longest Yard and played Dena Thompson in Sam Raimi's film The Nines the following year.
In 2009 she had supporting roles in Jason Reitman's Up in the Air and Ben Falcone's comedy I Love You, Man before starring as Megan Price, Bridesmaids' lead character, which earned her critical acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress among other accolades. Following appearances on Saturday Night Live from 2011 to 2013, she starred alongside Jon Cryer and Katy Mixon in the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly from 2010 to 2016 for which she was nominated for another Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. In 2015 McCarthy co-starred opposite Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in Sisters directed by Jason Moore; also that year she headlined the action comedy Spy directed by Paul Feig who has worked with her extensively since Bridesmaids; both were box office successes grossing over $100 million worldwide each while receiving largely positive reviews upon release..
McCarthy has also been featured as a voice actress lending her voice talents to characters such as Joy (the main protagonist)in Inside Out (2015), Nibblerin Futurama: Bender's Game (2008)and herselfin Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014). Since 2018 McCarthy has starred alongside Elizabeth Mossand Leslie Jonesin Feig's Ghostbusters franchise reboot Ghostbusters: Answer the Call(2016).
Melissa stopped acting to focus on other aspects of her life such as being a mother and wife firstly but also because after years of being labelled fat or overweight by Hollywood standards she realised that there are more important things than what society tells you what you should look like . Secondly she wanted break away from