Mary Lynn Rajskub

Mary Lynn Rajskub (/ˈraɪskəb/; born June 22, 1971)[1] is an American actress and comedian, best known for portraying Chloe O'Brian in the Fox action thriller series 24.
== Early life ==
Rajskub was born on June 22, 1971 in Detroit, Michigan and raised in nearby Trenton, the daughter of Betty and Tony Rajskub. She is of Irish, Polish, and Czechoslovak descent.[2] Her father is a pipefitter of Czech descent,[citation needed]and her mother worked as a pharmacist's assistant.[3] Rajskub played the clarinet in a school band and portrayed Frenchie in the musical Grease. One of her childhood inspirations was the television series Moonlighting. She later moved to Los Angeles, California, where she worked as a waitress in a Hard Rock Cafe and a ticket-taker at the Beverly Center movie theater.
== Career ==
Rajskub's first part was as an Oompa-Loompa in a community theater production of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and her first starring role was Raggedy Ann.[4] In 1996 she appeared in music videos for the songs "The Good Life" by Weezer and "The New Pollution" by Beck.
From 1996-1998, she had a recurring role on the HBO series The Larry Sanders Show as booking assistant Mary Lou Collins.
Her most notable role is CTU systems analyst Chloe O'Brian on 24, which she joined in 2003 at the start of the show's third season. Her character was a hit with viewers and critics and was one of the few cast members to return in the show's fourth season. After being a regular guest star for two seasons, Rajskub became a main cast member in the show's fifth season. By the end of the series, she was the lead female, with top billing second only to Kiefer Sutherland. Her character also had the honor of saying the final words of the series in the season 8 series finale. Rajskub and Sutherland appeared briefly as their 24 characters in a 2007 episode, "24 Minutes", of the Fox animated series The Simpsons. In August 2013, it was announced that she would reprise her Chloe O'Brian role in the 2014 limited series 24: Live Another Day.[5]
Rajskub was one of the original cast members of Mr. Show.[6] She appeared in Kelsey Grammer's The Sketch Show on Fox Television, The King of Queens as a character named Priscilla, and in numerous films including Mysterious Skin, Legally Blonde 2, Sweet Home Alabama, Dude, Where's My Car?, Man on the Moon, Punch-Drunk Love, The Anniversary Party, Firewall, Little Miss Sunshine, music videos for Beck, Weezer and Sheryl Crow, as well as portraying a blind woman in the film Road Trip.
Rajskub was part of a comic duo (with Karen Kilgariff) called Girls Guitar Club. In 2006, she made a cameo appearance in "Partings", the 6th season finale of Gilmore Girls, where she played a troubadour looking for her big break. (Rajskub had previously appeared on Gilmore Girls as the female lead in A Film by Kirk, a short film made by the character Kirk Gleason.) She has volunteered as an actress with the Young Storytellers Program. She has an educational background as a painter, having attended the San Francisco Art Institute.
Rajskub has been nominated twice for a Screen Actors Guild Award; once in 2005, and again in 2007 for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. She guest starred on Flight of the Conchords episode "Prime Minister" as Karen, an Art Garfunkel fanatic. She guest starred as "Gail the Snail" in an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia titled "The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention", and reprised the role in the ninth-season finale, "The Gang Squashes Their Beefs," and season thirteen's "The Gang Beats Boggs: Ladies Reboot." In 2009, she also appeared in the film Julie & Julia as Sarah, one of Julie Powell's close friends. In 2010, Rajskub performed stand-up on John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show. In June 2010, she appeared in the "Lovesick" episode during the second season of the USA series Royal Pains.
From July through October 2010, she performed in her solo show, Mary Lynn Spreads Her Legs, at the Steve Allen Theater in Los Angeles. Reviewer F. Kathleen Foley of the Los Angeles Times wrote "that cheerfully vulgar title sums up the overall tone, which is often breezily obscene".[7] The show, written by Rajskub with help from director/developer Amit Itelman, was inspired by Rajskub's experiences with pregnancy, childbirth and early motherhood.
In January 2011, Rajskub guest starred in the episode "Our Children, Ourselves" on the second season of ABC's Modern Family. In the fall of 2011, Rajskub appeared in the short-lived sitcom How to Be a Gentleman. Also in 2011, Rajskub's webseries, Dicki, began airing on My Damn Channel.[8] Dicki is based on a number of people that Rajskub grew up with in and around Michigan. The title character is a 40-year-old woman who lives at home with her parents, makes crafts, and takes her art seriously. Dicki has been one of My Damn Channel's most successful web series to date. The first season concluded in November 2011, but a second season is currently in development. Rajskub performed in the June 2012 edition of Don't Tell My Mother! (Live Storytelling), a monthly showcase in which celebrities share true stories they would never want their mothers to know.[9] She currently hosts a podcast on the Nerdist Network called Kickin' it Mary Lynn Style.[when?]
In 2013, Rajskub appeared in the Netflix semi-original series Arrested Development in a silent yet well-received[10] role as Heartfire, a character Rajskub has said "speak[s] from the heart, but do[es]n't use any words".[11] In the same year Rajskub also appeared in the web series All Growz Up with Melinda Hill.[12]
Rajskub appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor podcast on March 27, 2015.
In August 2016, Rajskub appeared at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 24 Hours With Mary Lynn Rajskub, well-received among fans and critics.[13]
== Personal life ==
Rajskub dated David Cross, who introduced her to Mr. Show,[6] and left the show when they broke up after the end of the second season. Afterwards, she dated music producer Jon Brion for five years until they broke up in the fall of 2002. Rajskub later dated comedian Duncan Trussell.[14]
Rajskub met personal trainer Matthew Rolph when he approached her after one of her comedy sets. They began dating, and she became pregnant three months later.[15] Their son, Valentine Anthony, was born in 2008.[16] Rajskub married Rolph on August 1, 2009 in an impromptu wedding in Las Vegas.[17]
Rajskub is bisexual and discussed her past relationships with women in an article for AfterEllen.com.[18]
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1997	Who's the Caboose? 	Cheeseball 	
1998	The Thin Pink Line 	Suzy Smokestack 	
1999	Magnolia 	Janet 	Voice
1999	Man on the Moon 	Friday's Mary 	
2000	Road Trip 	Blind Brenda 	
2000	Dude, Where's My Car? 	Zelmina 	
2000	Sunset Strip 	Eileen 	
2001	Storytelling 	Melinda 	
2001	The Anniversary Party 	Mary-Lynn 	
2002	Punch-Drunk Love 	Elizabeth 	
2002	Sweet Home Alabama 	Dorothea 	
2002	Run Ronnie Run 	Herself 	
2003	Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde	Reena Giuliani 	
2003	Claustrophobia 	Grace 	
2004	Mysterious Skin 	Avalyn Friesen 	
2004	Helter Skelter 	Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme	
2006	Firewall 	Janet Stone 	
2006	Little Miss Sunshine 	Pageant Assistant Pam 	
2006	Grilled 	Renee 	
2007	Humble Pie 	Peggy Orbison 	
2008	Sunshine Cleaning 	Lynn 	
2009	Julie & Julia 	Sarah 	
2012	Safety Not Guaranteed 	Bridget 	
2013	The Kings of Summer 	Captain Davis 	
2015	Sex, Death and Bowling 	Kim Wells 	
2017	Wilson 	Jodie 	
2017	In Search of Fellini 	Kerri 	
2018	Night School 	Theresa 	
2018	Cold Brook 	Rachel 	
2019	Benjamin 	Jeanette 	completed
2019	Dinner in America 	Connie 	post-production
2019	A World Away 	Principal Garcia 	post-production
2021	Misery, Inc. 	post-production 	
=== Television ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1995–1996	Mr. Show 	Various Characters 	10 episodes
1996–1998	The Larry Sanders Show 	Mary Lou Collins 	18 episodes
1997 	The Weird Al Show 	Weather Woman 	Episode: "Talent Show"
1998 	NewsRadio 	Waitress 	Episode: "The Secret of Management"
1999 	Shasta McNasty 	Diana 	Episode: "Pilot"
1999–2000	Veronica's Closet 	Chloe 	15 episodes
2001 	Just Shoot Me! 	Penny 	Episode: "Maya Judging Amy"
2002 	Gilmore Girls 	Girlfriend in Kirk's film	Episode: "Teach Me Tonight"
2002 	The King of Queens 	Priscilla Stasna 	Episode: "Arthur, Spooner"
2003–2010	24 	Chloe O'Brian 	125 episodes
2003 	Good Morning, Miami 	Hollis 	Episode: "I Second That Promotion"
2004 	Home Movies 	Penny (voice) 	Episode: "Those Bitches Tried to Cheat Me"
2005 	The Sketch Show 	Various Characters 	6 episodes
2006 	Gilmore Girls 	Town Troubadour 	Episode: "Partings"
2007 	Human Giant 	Mindy 	2 episodes
2007 	The Simpsons 	Chloe O'Brian(voice) 	Episode: "24 Minutes"
2008 	The Middleman 	Dr. Gibbs 	Episode: "The Pilot Episode Sanction"
2009 	Flight of the Conchords 	Karen 	Episode: "Prime Minister"
2009–2018	It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia	Gail the Snail 	4 episodes
2010 	Royal Pains 	Blake 	Episode: "Lovesick"
2010 	The Benson Interruption 	Herself 	Episode #1.2
2010–2013	Chelsea Lately 	Herself 	9 episodes
2011 	Modern Family 	Tracy 	Episode: "Our Children, Ourselves"
2011 	Raising Hope 	Tanya 	Episode: "The Cultish Personality"
2011 	How to Be a Gentleman 	Janet 	9 episodes
2012 	The L.A. Complex 	Herself 	Episode: "Down in L.A."
2012 	Dirty Work 	Roxy 	3 episodes
2012 	The Burn with Jeff Ross 	Herself 	Episode: "Jimmy Kimmel/Jim Norton/Bobby Lee/Mary Lynn Rajskub"
2012 	Mash Up 	Herself 	TV movie
2012 	Grey's Anatomy 	Marion Steiner 	Episode: "Migration"
2013 	The Mentalist 	Susie Hamplin 	Episode: "Days of Wine and Roses"
2013 	Newsreaders 	Laney Trammings 	Episode: "Fit Town, Fat Town"
2013 	New Girl 	Peg 	Episode: "Winston's Birthday"
2013 	Arrested Development 	Heartfire 	2 episodes
2013–2014	2 Broke Girls 	Bebe 	5 episodes
2014 	TripTank 	Marilyn (voice) 	Episode: "Crossing the Line"
2014 	Californication 	Goldie 	4 episodes
2014 	24: Live Another Day 	Chloe O'Brian 	12 episodes (limited series)
2014 	Talking Dead 	Herself 	Episode: "Four Walls and a Roof"
2014–2017	@midnight 	Herself 	15 episodes
2015 	Maron 	Herself 	Episode: "Ex-Pod"
2015–2016	Brooklyn Nine-Nine 	Genevieve Mirren-Carter 	5 episodes
2015 	Highston 	Jean Liggetts 	Pilot
2015 	W/ Bob & David 	Chef Krissie 	Episode #1.3
2016 	The Girlfriend Experience 	Erin Roberts 	10 episodes
2016 	Take My Wife 	Mary Lynn 	Episode: "Opener"
2016 	Those Who Can't 	Summer 	3 episodes
2016 	Dream Corp LLC 	Patient #046 	Episode: "You Down with OCD?"
2016 	Drunk History 	Effie Cherry 	Episode: "Shit Shows"
2017 	The Guest Book 	Lynn 	Episode: "Story Two"
2018 	Detroiters 	 	Episode: "Lois"
2018 	Rob Riggle's Ski Master Academy 	Reporter 	Main role
2018 	Hawaii Five-0 	Crystal 	Episode: "A 'ohe mea 'imi a ka maka"
2019 	How High 2 	TBA 	Television film[19]