Kathy Najimy

Kathy Ann Najimy ( ; ; born February 6, 1957) is an American actress and activist. She was first nationally known for her feminist play The Kathy and Mo Show, which she wrote and performed with Mo Gaffney. On film, she is best known for her roles in Soapdish (1991), Sister Act (1992) and its sequel (1993), Hocus Pocus (1993) and its sequel (2022), Hope Floats (1998), The Wedding Planner (2001), Rat Race (2001), WALL-E (2008), Step Up 3D (2010), The Guilt Trip (2012), Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas (2013), A Christmas Melody (2015), Dumplin' (2018), Music (2021), and Single All the Way (2021). On television, she is best known for her portrayal of Olive Massery on the NBC sitcom Veronica's Closet (1997–2000) and for voicing Peggy Hill on the animated television series King of the Hill (1997–2010). Early life Najimy was born on February 6, 1957, in San Diego, California, the daughter of Lebanese-American parents Samia (née Massery; 1928–2015) and Fred Najimy, a postal worker. Her mother immigrated from Lebanon to the United States in 1946. She was raised Maronite Catholic and attended Crawford High School. Her father died when she was 14. She is a 1995 graduate of San Diego State University. Career Najimy and Mo Gaffney's feminist comedy play The Kathy and Mo Show premiered in 1981 and had three long term New York City runs and generated two HBO specials, Parallel Lives and The Dark Side. Najimy's film career began in the early 1990s, with a number of offbeat minor roles in The Fisher King, Soapdish, This Is My Life, The Hard Way. Her first major role was as Sister Mary Patrick in the 1992 comedy Sister Act, a role she reprised in 1993 in Sister Act 2. She also starred in Hocus Pocus as Mary Sanderson, alongside Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker, and the 1994 made-for-TV movie In Search of Dr. Seuss as Kathy Lane. In 2000, she played the Stepmother in CinderElmo, a primetime special for Sesame Street. In 2001, she co-starred in the hit comedy film Rat Race alongside John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Whoopi Goldberg, Jon Lovitz and Seth Green. She has made four movies with Goldberg (Soapdish, Sister Act 1 and 2, and Rat Race). Najimy starred in Disney and Pixar's Academy Award winning film WALL-E and Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas.