Nicole Sullivan

Nicole Sullivan (born April 21, 1970) is an American actress and comedian best known for her six seasons (1995–2001) on the sketch comedy series MADtv. She also played Holly Shumpert in five seasons (2001–2005, 2007) of the CBS sitcom The King of Queens. Sullivan played the recurring character of Jill Tracy on Scrubs. She voiced heroic Mira Nova in Disney/Pixar's Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and the villainous Shego in Disney Channel's Kim Possible. She had recurring voice roles on Family Guy and voiced Franny Robinson in Disney's Meet the Robinsons. From 2008 to 2009, she starred in and was the lead of her own Lifetime television series Rita Rocks. From 2008 to 2013, she voiced Marlene the Otter in The Penguins of Madagascar. She played Jules' (Courteney Cox) therapist, Lynn Mettler, on the comedy Cougar Town. She portrayed Lyla in the Disney Channel film Let It Shine in 2012. In 2013, she starred in the short-lived Nickelodeon sitcom Wendell & Vinnie as Wilma Basset. From 2014 to 2022, she portrayed Janine, the Johnsons' next-door neighbor, on the ABC sitcom Black-ish. She also voices Kara Danvers aka Supergirl in DC Super Hero Girls. Early life Sullivan was born in Manhattan on April 21, 1970. She took dance classes at age 7 and performed in Off Broadway and Broadway productions with the First All-Children's Theatre. Sullivan's mother Madonna (Rauscher) Sullivan, a businesswoman, and her father Edward C. Sullivan, who represented Manhattan's 69th district in the New York State Assembly from 1977 to 2002, moved the family upstate to Middleburgh, New York, in 1982. During high school, Nicole was class treasurer throughout her junior year. She played soccer in high school, recorded statistics for the boys' basketball team and was a member of student council. After graduating from Middleburgh in 1987, she attended Northwestern University as a theatre major. She worked two jobs to pay her way through college and writing plays and sketches for the student theatre. Sullivan spent her junior year in London, studying at the British American Drama Academy and became a member of the Greenwich Shakespeare Company. Sullivan graduated from Northwestern and then moved to Los Angeles to start a television career. After appearing in commercials and sporadic guest roles on shows including Herman's Head, she was recruited to join the cast of MADtv.