Bonnie Hunt

Bonnie Lynn Hunt (born September 22, 1961)[1] is an American comedian, actress, director, producer, writer and television host. Her film roles include Rain Man, Beethoven, Beethoven's 2nd, Jumanji, Jerry Maguire, The Green Mile, Cheaper by the Dozen, and Cheaper by the Dozen 2.

Bonnie Hunt
Hunt at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival
Birth name	Bonnie Lynn Hunt
Born	(1961-09-22) September 22, 1961 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Medium	Film, television
Alma mater	Notre Dame High School for Girls
Years active	1984–present
Genres	Improvisational comedy
Spouse	John Murphy ​ ( m. 1988; div. 2006)
Parent(s)	Robert Edward Hunt Alice E. Hunt (née Jatczak)

Hunt has done voice work in A Bug's Life, Zootopia, and the Monsters, Inc., Cars, and Toy Story franchises. She starred in Grand and Davis Rules, as well as creating, producing, writing, and starring in The Building, Bonnie, and Life with Bonnie. From 2008 to 2010, she hosted The Bonnie Hunt Show.

Early life

Bonnie Lynn Hunt was born on September 22, 1961, in Chicago, to Robert Edward Hunt, an electrician, and Alice E. Hunt (née Jatczak), a homemaker.[2] Her father was of Irish and Belgian ancestry and her mother is of Polish descent.[3][4][5] She has three older brothers named Patrick, Kevin, and Tom, two older sisters named Cathy and Carol, and a younger sister named Mary. She was educated in Catholic schools, attending St. Ferdinand Grammar School and Notre Dame High School for Girls in Chicago, and worked part-time as a nurse's aide.[6]

In 1982, Hunt worked as an oncology nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. In 1984, she co-founded an improvisational comedy troupe called An Impulsive Thing.[6] Hunt also performed as a member of Chicago's world-famous the Second City, joining in 1986.

In 1988, while a nurse, Hunt auditioned on her lunch break for the role of waitress Sally Dibbs in Rain Man and won it.[6]

Career

In 1990, Hunt portrayed Carol Anne Smithson in Grand. She refused to become a cast member of Saturday Night Live because the series' producers generally frowned on her preferred improvisational style.[7] In 1992, she was offered the part of B. J. Poteet, a replacement for Julia Duffy, on Designing Women.[7] Instead, she chose to co-star in Davis Rules.

In 1993, Hunt teamed with good friend David Letterman to produce The Building. The series was also filmed live; mistakes, accidents, and forgotten lines were often left in the aired episode. In 1995, Hunt and Letterman reteamed for 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. Her role on the series earned her a 2004 Emmy nomination (which was her first). Despite fair ratings, the series was canceled in its second season. Hunt announced on Live with Regis and Kelly that ABC had offered her another sitcom, in which she would have portrayed a divorced detective. This pilot titled Let Go (also known as Crimes and Dating) was not picked up for the fall 2006 schedule.

She directed, co-wrote, and co-starred in Return to Me. It was filmed in her Chicago neighborhood and included bit parts for a number of her relatives. The film, which received a positive reception from critics,[8] was largely influenced by Hunt's blue-collar Catholic upbringing in Chicago.[9]

Hunt portrayed Alice Newton in Beethoven and Beethoven's 2nd, Sarah Whittle/Madam Serena in Jumanji, and Kate Baker in Cheaper by the Dozen and Cheaper by the Dozen 2. She portrayed the sister of Renée Zellweger's character in Jerry Maguire and Jan Edgecomb in The Green Mile. She portrayed Grace Bellamy in Loggerheads. She has provided her voice for a total of eight Pixar films: A Bug's Life as Rosie, Monsters, Inc. as Ms. Flint, Cars, Cars 2, and Cars 3 as Sally Carrera, Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4 as Dolly, and Monsters University as Karen Graves. In addition, Hunt voiced Bonnie Hopps in the Walt Disney Animation Studios' film, Zootopia, which marked her first non-Pixar animated film.

The Bonnie Hunt Show

Main article: The Bonnie Hunt Show

In 2007, Hunt taped a pilot episode for Telepictures. The pilot was approved and the talk show was created. The Bonnie Hunt Show premiered on Monday, September 8, 2008. The 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 series was inspired by the format of Live with Regis and Kelly, with the host and guests often interacting with the audience. Many of the series' staffers were longtime friends of Hunt's from Chicago. The series typically started with an opening monologue followed by guest interviews and games played with the audience. Hunt's mother Alice often appeared in webcasts from her home in Chicago. 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 Bonnie Hunt 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 on May 26, 2010.

Personal life

In 1988, Hunt married investment banker John Murphy. During her appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman on June 6, 2006, she mentioned that she was single again, implying that she and Murphy had separated.

Hunt's hometown is Chicago, Illinois.[10] She is a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan, having not missed an opening day at Wrigley Field since 1977. She was in attendance in Cleveland, along with fellow Cubs fans Eddie Vedder, Bill Murray and John Cusack, for the Cubs' historic Game 7 victory during the 2016 World Series.

She is a supporter of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, of which she is an honorary board member.[11]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Rain Man	Sally Dibbs
1992	Beethoven	Alice Newton
1993	Dave	White House Tour Guide
	Beethoven's 2nd	Alice Newton
1994	Only You	Kate Corvatch
1995	Now and Then	Mrs. DeWitt
	Jumanji	Sarah Whittle / Madam Serena	Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
1996	Getting Away with Murder	Gail Holland
	Jerry Maguire	Laurel Boyd
1998	A Bug's Life	Rosie (voice)
	Kissing a Fool	Linda Streicher
1999	Random Hearts	Wendy Judd
	The Green Mile	Jan Edgecomb	Nominated – Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress – Drama Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2000	Return to Me	Megan Dayton	Also director and writer
2001	Monsters, Inc.	Ms. Flint (voice)
2002	Stolen Summer	Margaret O'Malley	Limited release
2003	Cheaper by the Dozen	Kate Baker
2005	Cheaper by the Dozen 2	Kate Baker
	Loggerheads	Grace
2006	I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With	Stella Lewis
	Cars	Sally Carrera (voice)
2009	Hurricane Season	Principal
2010	Toy Story 3	Dolly (voice)
2011	Hawaiian Vacation	Dolly (voice)	Short film
	Cars 2	Sally Carrera (voice)
2013	Monsters University	Karen Graves (voice)
2016	Zootopia	Bonnie Hopps (voice)
2017	Cars 3	Sally Carrera (voice)	[12]
2019	Toy Story 4	Dolly (voice)
2020	Onward	Mermaid (voice)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	American Playhouse	Foxtrot Dancer	Episode: "Under the Biltmore Clock"
1990	Grand	Carol Anne Smithson	Main role
1991–92	Davis Rules	Gwen Davis	Main role 18 episodes
1993	The Building	Bonnie Kennedy	Lead role Also creator, executive producer, writer
1995–96	Bonnie	Bonnie Kelly	Also producer, writer Viewers for Quality Television Founder's Award (1996)
1997	Wheel of Fortune	Herself
2002–04	Life with Bonnie	Bonnie Molloy	Also creator, director, executive producer Nominated: TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy (2003), Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2003 / 2004), Satellite Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2003 / 2004), Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (2004)
2006	Let Go		Director (film)
2008–10	The Bonnie Hunt Show	Herself / Host	Also executive producer, writer Nominated – Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host (2010)
2010	The Life & Times of Tim	Gabe's Mother (voice)	Episodes: "Nagging Blonde / Tim and the Elephant"
2013–2018	Sofia the First	Aunt Tilly (voice)	Recurring role
2013	Call Me Crazy: A Five Film		Director (film) Episode: "Eddie" segment
2014	Cars Toons: Tales From Radiator Springs	Sally Carrera (voice)	Recurring role
2018	Escape at Dannemora	Catherine Leahy Scott	Miniseries; recurring role
2019	Forky Asks A Question	Dolly	Episode: "What Is a Leader?"

Video games

Year	Title	Role
2006	Cars	Sally Carrera
2010	Toy Story 3: The Video Game	Dolly

Theme park attractions

Year	Title	Role
2012–present	Radiator Springs Racers	Sally Carrera

References

1. "About Bonnie Hunt (1961– )". MovieActors.com
2. "Bonnie Hunt Biography". Film Reference. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
3. Bonnie Hunt, host; Jared Padalecki, guest (February 10, 2009). "Episode". The Bonnie Hunt Show.
4. Grahnke, Lon (April 14, 1992). "Hunt draws on improv talents for 'Davis' role". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 43. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
5. "Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: Genealogy Report: Descendants of Joannis Backes". Familytreemaker.genealogy.com. Retrieved February 17, 2012.
6. http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2009/04/17/in-the-magazine/people-and-places/teaming-bonnie-hunt.html
7. Collins, Scott (August 31, 2008). "Hunt ready to take on daytime". Chicago Tribune. p. 10. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
8. "Return to Me". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
9. Stack, Peter (April 2, 2000). "Hunt's Full Heart". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
10. Reiss, Dawn (April 17, 2009). "Teamin Up with Bonnie Hunt". The Saturday Evening Post. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
11. "Honorary Board". TheMMRF.org. Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. Archived from the original on July 15, 2010. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
12. "Sneak peek: 'Cars 3' zooms ahead with new character Cruz Ramirez". USA TODAY. Retrieved October 29, 2017.

External links

• Bonnie Hunt on IMDb
• Bonnie Hunt at the TCM Movie Database