| Lisa Ann Walter | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Lisa Ann Walter |
| Born | August 3 1963  Silver Spring, Maryland, United States |
| Spouse(s) | Sam Baum (?-1999) |
Lisa Ann Walter (born August 3, 1963 in Silver Spring, Maryland) is an American actress, comedian, writer and film producer. She has appeared in such films as the 1998 version of The Parent Trap, Bruce Almighty, Shall We Dance, and War of the Worlds as Cheryl. Walter also created and starred in the short-lived 1996-1997 sitcom, Life's Work. She is a judge on ABC's reality television series The Next Best Thing: Who Is the Greatest Celebrity Impersonator?.
Contents |
Biography
Early life
Walter was born in rural Pennsylvania and raised in suburban Maryland near Washington, D.C., where she remembers "always liking to show off" as a child. Perhaps that was due to her father, who was a geophysicist at NASA and indulged his own unlikely love of performing after-hours in local community theater. Eventually, Walter studied drama at Catholic University of America where she graduated with a bachelor of arts degree and began appearing in various regional and dinner theater productions.
Walter moved to New York and performed at amateur night contests at some of the noted comedy clubs. She married and became a young mother at 24, but she soon had audiences roaring with her dead-on perspectives on kids, domestic life and social issues.
Career
After five years of standup comedy, she was cast to star in her own Fox Network comedy series, My Wildest Dreams, followed by an ABC sitcom, Life's Work, which she both created and starred in. Walter also co-starred in the critically acclaimed Bravo series Breaking News and in the NBC sitcom Emeril. On the feature side, in addition to Bruce Almighty (2003) and Shall We Dance (2004), Walter received rave reviews co-starring in the hit Disney film The Parent Trap (1998). In the remake of the original classic, she appeared as the nanny to Dennis Quaid's daughter. Prior to that, Walter played Whoopie Goldberg's tarty sidekick Claudine in Eddie (1996). Walter doubled her brood when she gave birth to twin boys in 2000. "I was taught a strong work ethic by my parents, and I'm not happy unless I'm doing two - or even three -- things at once," says Walter. "I enjoy working and raising a family, and I wouldn't want to do one without the other." While she is developing enough material for a return to standup comedy, Walter loves gourmet cooking, reading biographies, dancing and blues music. She resides in Los Angeles with her four children, including son Jordan, daughter Delia, and twin boys Simon and Spencer. Walter also has an older sister, Laura, who she is practically identical to. Laura lives in Florida with her husband, Jim, and their sons, Aidan and Andrew. In early 2007 Walter had a supporting role as Mabel the bartender in the MyNetworkTV soap opera Watch Over Me. Now, she's a judge on the reality TV show The Next Best Thing, a show to find the best impersonators in America. She plays the first judge.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Eddie | Claudine | |
| 1997 | Late Bloomer (TV) | Cassie Baltic | |
| 1998 | The Parent Trap | Chessie | |
| 2000 | Get Your Stuff | Principal Perry | |
| 2001 | Early Bird Special | Janet | |
| 2003 | Farm Sluts | Sexy Feminist Executive | |
| Bruce Almighty | Debbie | ||
| 2004 | Shall We Dance | Bobbie | |
| 2005 | Coffee Date | Sara | |
| War of the Worlds | Bartender Cheryl | ||
| The Trouble with Dee Dee | Dee Dee Rutherford | ||
| 2006 | Man vs. Monday | Joan | |
| Graduation | Carol | ||
| Coffee Date | Sara | ||
| Room 6 | Sgt. Burch | ||
| 2007 | Entry Level | Kathie | |
| Twisted | Doctor Richardson | Post-production (as of June 2007) |
