Julie Hagerty

Julie Hagerty Headshot

Actress • Comedian • Model

Birth Date: June 15, 1955

Age: 68 years old

Birth Place: Cincinnati, Ohio

First-rate comic actress, Julie Hagerty achieved pop cultural immortality as the female lead of the comedy classic "Airplane!" (1980). An enduring film that only grew funnier and more impactful with each passing year, its mega-success buoyed Hagerty to roles in its 1982 sequel as well as "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy" (1982) with Woody Allen and "Lost in America" (1985) with Albert Brooks. After winning a Theatre World Award for her Broadway turn in "The House of Blue Leaves," Hagerty concentrated on character roles, playing wife to Richard Dreyfuss in the comedy hit "What About Bob?" (1991) and mother to Tom Green in "Freddy Got Fingered" (2001), Jason Lee in "A Guy Thing" (2003) and Ryan Reynolds in "Just Friends" (2005). On television, she starred with Fran Drescher and Twiggy on the short-lived ensemble sitcom "Princesses" (CBS, 1991) and recurred on multiple series, including "Malcolm in the Middle" (Fox, 2000-06), "Family Guy" (Fox, 1999-2002; 2005- ) and "Happy Endings" (ABC, 2011-13). With her instantly recognizable voice and appearance, Julie Hagerty carved out an impressive, lengthy career and brought out delightful comic colors in any project in which she appeared.

Born June 15, 1955 in Cincinnati, OH, Julie Hagerty achieved success as a teenage model, dividing her time between New York City and her Midwestern home state. The pull of the big city proved too great, however, and she moved to the Big Apple fulltime, where she studied acting and began to cut her professional teeth in theatrical productions. When it came to screen acting, Hagerty hit the jackpot right out of the gate when she made her debut as the female lead in "Airplane!" (1980), one of the most successful and enduring comedy smashes of all time. Parodying the popular disaster film genre, "Airplane!" helped create a new genre of self-referential spoofs and would be cited for decades in helping shape modern comedy, with many of its lines becoming pop cultural mainstays and giving its either newbie or aging veteran stars - including Leslie Nielsen, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves and Robert Hayes - a major career boost. So influential was the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker production, that Hagerty's career would be defined by her turn as the helium-voiced flight attendant Elaine Dickinson, whose blithe obliviousness to the mayhem around her while employing a mild-mannered demeanor supplied many of the film's biggest laughs.

Now established as a gifted comic actress who could land razor-sharp punchlines with a spacey effortlessness, Hagerty delighted again as a daffy nurse in "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy" (1982) and reprised her star-making role in "Airplane II: The Sequel" (1982), which sent the titular aircraft and its wacky passengers to outer space. She scored another comedy classic hit when she and Albert Brooks played a married couple chasing the American dream but instead finding a nightmare in "Lost in America" (1985). She toplined the fish-out-of-water comedy "Goodbye, New York" (1985) and essayed the female lead opposite Steve Guttenberg in "Bad Medicine" (1985) and Jeff Goldblum in Robert Altman's "Beyond Therapy" (1987). She found more success on the stage, where she won a Theatre World Award for her work as a flashy starlet caught in a farce in "The House of Blue Leaves," a role she reprised for an installment of "American Playhouse" (PBS, 1982-1993).

In fact, Hagerty would carve out an impressive career on the stage, with acclaimed roles in such Broadway productions as "The Front Page," "Three Men on a Horse" and "Morning's at Seven" as well as such off-Broadway efforts as "The Years" and "The Marriage of Bette and Boo." Back on screen, she booked roles in the films "Bloodhounds of Broadway" (1989), "Rude Awakening" (1989" and "Reversal of Fortune" (1990), but scored a sleeper hit with "What About Bob?" (1991), playing the wife of a therapist (Richard Dreyfuss) whose vacation is threatened by a charming but incessantly needy patient (Bill Murray). Hagerty landed her first series regular role alongside Twiggy and Fran Drescher as modern-day New York "Princesses" (CBS, 1991), but the show was plagued by behind-the-scenes drama and barely made it to air, where it received bad reviews and even worse ratings. After appearing in "Noises Off " (1992), she recurred on "Women of the House" (CBS/Lifetime, 1995) and "Murphy Brown" (CBS, 1988-1998).

Settling into the lower-profile but steady life of a character actress, Hagerty notched small roles in the flashy "U Turn" (1997) and the reviled Tom Green outing "Freddy Got Fingered" (2001) and continued to quietly line up jobs on television and in film. Cornering the market when it came to playing sweetly ditzy mothers who inadvertently annoy their children, Hagerty delighted in "A Guy Thing" (2003), "She's the Man" (2006) and, most hilariously, "Just Friends" (2005). She recurred on "Malcolm in the Middle" (Fox, 2000-06), "Girlfriends" (UPN, 2000-06; The CW, 2006-08) and "Family Guy" (Fox, 1999-2002, 2005- ) and charmed in a guest spot on "Happy Endings" (ABC, 2011-13) as the food-obsessed mother of the Kerkovich sisters (Eliza Coupe and Elisha Cuthbert).

Credits

PRIME: Somebody I Used To Know

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Libby
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Somebody I Used to KnowStream

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Libby
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69%

The Out-LawsStream

Actor
Margie Browning
Movie
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21%

A Christmas Story ChristmasStream

Actor
Mrs. Parker
Movie
2022
79%

Marriage StoryStream

Actor
Sandra
Movie
2019
95%

NoelleStream

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Mrs. Claus
Movie
2019
55%

Instant FamilyStream

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Jan
Movie
2018
82%

Young SheldonStream

Guest Star
Ms. Hutchins
Series
2017

Daily Blast Live

Guest
Show
2017

Trial & ErrorStream

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Madame Rhonda
Series
2017

Grace and FrankieStream

Guest Star
Shirley
Series
2016
90%

A Master Builder

Actor
Aline
Movie
2013

Home & Family

Guest
Talk
2012

New GirlStream

Guest Star
Nancy
Series
2011
95%

Happy EndingsStream

Guest Star
Mrs. Kerkovich
Series
2011
76%

Cupid

Guest Star
Liv
Show
2009

Confessions of a Shopaholic

Actor
Haley
Movie
2009

The Winner

Actor
Irene
Show
2007

Rachael Ray ShowStream

Guest
Talk
2006

She's the ManStream

Actor
Daphne
Movie
2006
44%

Pope Dreams

Actor
Kristina Venable
Movie
2006

Adam & Steve

Actor
Sheila
Movie
2005

Just FriendsStream

Actor
Carol Brander
Movie
2005
42%

Marie and Bruce

Actor
Party Guest at Frank's
Movie
2004

Pizza

Actor
Darlene
Movie
2004

A Guy ThingStream

Actor
Dorothy
Movie
2003
25%

Greg the BunnyStream

Guest Star
Series
2002

The Badge

Actor
Sister Felicia
Movie
2002

Bridget

Actor
Julie
Movie
2002

The GuardianStream

Guest Star
Series
2001

Freddy Got Fingered

Actor
Julie Brody
Movie
2001

Storytelling

Actor
Fern Livingston
Movie
2001

CSI: Crime Scene InvestigationStream

Guest Star
Series
2000

GirlfriendsStream

Guest Star
Series
2000

Malcolm in the MiddleStream

Guest Star
Series
2000

Held UpStream

Actor
Gloria
Movie
2000
17%

Baby Bedlam

Actor
Sindi
Movie
2000

Law & Order: Special Victims UnitStream

Guest Star
Mariel Plummer
Series
1999
78%

Chicken Soup for the Soul

Guest Star
Show
1999

Family Guy

Guest Voice
Carol Pewterschmidt
Show
1999

Family GuyStream

Guest Voice
Carol Pewterschmidt
Series
1999

The Story of Us

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Liza
Movie
1999

Jackie's Back!

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Pammy Dunbar
Movie
1999

Mel

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Bonnie
Movie
1999

Reunited

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Nicki Beck
Show
1998

Love Boat: The Next Wave

Guest Star
Show
1998

Tourist Trap

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Bess Piper
Movie
1998

King of the HillStream

Guest Voice
Ally
Series
1997

U-Turn

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Flo
Movie
1997

Boys Will Be Boys

Actor
Emily Clauswell
Movie
1997

Everybody Loves RaymondStream

Guest Star
Charlotte
Series
1996

London Suite

Actor
Anne Ferris
Movie
1996

Women of the HouseStream

Actor
Jennifer Malone
Series
1995
38%

The Wife

Actor
Rita
Movie
1995

ERStream

Guest Star
Brenda Wilkerson
Series
1994

Noises Off

Actor
Poppy Taylor
Movie
1992

Princesses

Actor
Show
1991

Quoi de neuf, Bob?

Actor
Movie
1991

What About Bob?Stream

Actor
Fay Marvin
Movie
1991
82%

Reversal of FortuneStream

Actor
Alexandra Isles
Movie
1990
92%

El Reverso de la Fortuna

Actor
Movie
1990

Bloodhounds of Broadway

Actor
Harriet MacKyle
Movie
1989

Rude Awakening

Actor
Petra Black
Movie
1989

Rude Awakening

Casting
Movie
1989

Un Difícil Despertar

Actor
Movie
1989

Murphy Brown

Guest Star
Series
1988

Beyond Therapy

Actor
Prudence
Movie
1987

Lost in AmericaStream

Actor
Linda Howard
Movie
1985
95%

Goodbye, New York

Actor
Nancy Callaghan
Movie
1985

Bad Medicine

Actor
Liz Parker
Movie
1985

Airplane II: The Sequel

Actor
Elaine Dickinson
Movie
1982

A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy

Actor
Dulcy
Movie
1982

Airplane!Stream

Actor
Elaine Dickinson
Movie
1980
97%

The Day the Women Got Even

Actor
Lisa Harris
Movie
1980

Sesame StreetStream

Guest
Series
1969

Sesame StreetStream

Guest Star
Series
1969

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