Melissa McCarthy

**Melissa Ann McCarthy** (born August 26, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, producer, writer, and fashion designer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and nominations for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. McCarthy is known for starring as Molly Flynn on the CBS sitcom *Mike & Molly* (2010–2016), her performance in the comedy film *Bridesmaids* (2011), several commercially successful comedies, including *Identity Thief* (2013), *The Heat* (2013), *Tammy* (2014), *St. Vincent* (2014), *Spy* (2015), and *The Boss* (2016). In 2023, she will portray Ursula in the 2023 live-action Disney film *The Little Mermaid*, which is based on the 1989 animated film of the same name.

## Early life and education

Melissa Ann McCarthy was born on August 26, 1970, in Plainfield, Illinois to Sandra and Michael McCarthy. She is a cousin of actress and model Jenny McCarthy. McCarthy was raised on a farm in a large Catholic family. Her father is of Irish-Scottish descent, while her mother is of English, German, and Irish ancestry. Some of her forebears were from County Cork. She graduated from St. Francis Academy (now Joliet Catholic Academy) in Joliet, Illinois. Her career started with stand-up comedy in Los Angeles, and later in New York City. McCarthy is an alumna of The Groundlings, an improvisational and sketch comedy troupe based in Los Angeles, California. She also performed in New York City as a drag queen under the moniker Miss Y, including at the Wigstock festival.

## Personal life

McCarthy married her longtime boyfriend Ben Falcone, an actor and alumnus of The Groundlings, on October 8, 2005. The couple have two daughters, Vivian and Georgette. McCarthy's pregnancy with Vivian was written into the last season of *Gilmore Girls*. Vivian and Georgette both made an appearance in the 2016 film *The Boss*, with the former playing a younger version of her mother's character.

Falcone often makes cameo appearances in McCarthy's movies and TV series, such as a third-season episode of *Gilmore Girls*, *The Nines*, *Bridesmaids*, *The Heat*, *Tammy*, *Identity Thief*, *Spy*, *The Boss*, *Life of the Party*, *The Happytime Murders*, *Can You Ever Forgive Me?* and *Nine Perfect Strangers.*

In the April 2021 issue of *Instyle*, McCarthy said that "[she is] on the left for sure" with regard to politics.

In August 2021, McCarthy joined the 40x40 campaign launched by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex to mark her 40th birthday. 40x40 is a campaign that asks people around the world to spend 40 minutes of their time mentoring women reentering the workforce and combating the outsized economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women.

## Production

In 2013, McCarthy founded the production company On the Day Productions with her husband Ben Falcone. *Tammy* was the company's first project. The film cost $20 million.

### Production credits

#### Film

* *Tammy* (2014; co-production with New Line Cinema and Gary Sanchez Productions)
* *The Boss* (2016; co-production with Universal Pictures and Gary Sanchez Productions)
* *Life of the Party* (2018; co-production with New Line Cinema)
* *The Happytime Murders* (2018; co-production with STX Entertainment, H. Brothers, Black Bear Pictures and Henson Alternative)
* *Superintelligence* (2020; distributed by HBO Max; co-production with New Line Cinema and Bron Creative)
* *Thunder Force* (2021; co-production with Netflix)
* *Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed* (2021)
* *Margie Claus* (TBA; co-production with New Line Cinema)
* Untitled Tinker Bell Project (TBA; co-production with 20th Century Studios and 21 Laps Entertainment)
* Untitled Female Boston Cops Project (TBA; co-production with New Line Cinema)
* *Cousin Irv From Mars* (TBA; co-production with Universal Pictures)
* *Just Do It* (TBA; co-production with 20th Century Studios)
* Untitled Stanley Cup Project (TBA; co-production with Paramount Pictures)

#### Television

* *Nobodies* (2017–2018; co-production with Jax Media)
* *God’s Favorite Idiot* (2022)

## Fashion line

McCarthy, who studied textiles at Southern Illinois University, originally was interested in a career in fashion before she pursued a career in acting. When she first moved to New York City, it was to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology. One of her closest friends is shoe designer Brian Atwood. McCarthy also spent time working as the costumer for a dance company.

In 2015, McCarthy announced her first clothing collection, Melissa McCarthy Seven7, for plus-size women. The line includes clothes up to size 28. In an interview with More, McCarthy stated that "people don't stop at size 12. I feel like there's a big thing missing where you can't dress to your mood above a certain number. Malls segregate "plus-size" clothes stores and hide these stores away from other sections of the mall." Seven7, which was developed alongside Sunrise Brands, debuted in August 2015 on the Home Shopping Network.

## Gallery

### Images

* Events
* Behind the scenes