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Mary Gross (born March 25, 1953) is an American voice actress, comedian, and actress known for her four-year stint on Saturday Night Live from 1981 to 1985 and her recurring role as Sabrina's favorite teacher, Mrs. Quick in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch from 1997 to 2000. Her credits also include minor roles on Animaniacs, Boston Legal, That's So Raven, and Six Feet Under.

Early life

A Chicago native, Gross is the youngest of three children born to William Oscar Gross, a tool designer, and Virginia Ruth (née Cahill), a telephone operator (the eldest being actor Michael Gross). She attended Madonna High School—an all-girls Catholic school, since demolished—and Loyola University. While in high school, Gross made her performing debut—singing, in character, as France's Louis XIV, to the tune of Bernstein and Sondheim's "I Feel Pretty"—alongside fellow Madonna alumna Marilu Henner.

Career

Early career

She is an alumna of the Second City comedy troupe. Before becoming part of the group she was a secretary with the American Dental Association.

Saturday Night Live (1981–1985)

Gross joined SNL in 1981, during the show's 7th season following the show's disastrous sixth season, when the show was nearly canceled. She became co-anchor of SNL's Weekend Update segment (renamed SNL Newsbreak) during her first season. She and the rest of the cast left in 1985 following executive producer Dick Ebersol's departure from the show.

Recurring characters

• Alfalfa, from SNL's recurring parody of The Little Rascals and skits regarding the murder of Eddie Murphy's Buckwheat character.
• Siobhan Cahill, an Irish woman who reports on Irish events on Saturday Night News (Weekend Update's name when Brad Hall was cast as anchor). Coincidentally, Saturday Night Live would have Siobhan Fallon and Beth Cahill as cast members in the 1990s.
• Chi Chi, a Hispanic woman who hosts two fake public-access television cable TV shows (The Ghostbusters Show and Let's Watch TV) with her best friend, Consuela (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus)
• Celeste, a repressed woman married to an equally repressed man (played by Tim Kazurinsky)

Celebrity impersonations

• Ann Landers
• Brooke Shields
• Ruth Westheimer (Dr. Ruth)
• Nancy Reagan
• Paul Reubens (as Pee-wee Herman)
• Eleanor Roosevelt
• Geraldine Ferraro
• Harriet Nelson
• Irlene Mandrell
• Marilyn Monroe
• Mary Tyler Moore
• Jeane Dixon
• Mary Hart
• Lena Horne
• Margaret Thatcher
• Simone de Beauvoir
• Suzanne Somers
• Leslie Uggams

Personal life

Gross has never married, but as of June 1982, Chicago-based photographer Jay King was referred to as "her longtime boyfriend" in a profile/interview of Gross penned by Chicago Sun-Times writer Michael Davis. Duration aside, their relationship was also reported that year by the Chicago Tribune's Jon Anderson and several years later by researcher-author Mary Unterbrinker.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

1. "Celebrity Birthdays". Asheville Citizen-Times. March 25, 2023. p. 5C. ProQuest 2792347897. Actor Paul Michael Glaser is 80. Musician Elton John is 76. Actor Bonnie Bedelia is 75. Actor-comedian Mary Gross is 70. Actor James McDaniel ('NYPD Blue') is 65. See also:
   • "Today in History: Today's Birthdays". Daily Breeze. March 25, 2003. p. B5. ProQuest 338554978. Actor Paul Michael Glaser is 60. Singer Elton John is 56. Actress Bonnie Bedelia is 55. Singer Nick Lowe is 54. Actress-comedian Mary Gross is 50. Actor James McDaniel is 45.
2. ^ Caro, Mark (March 17, 2011). "Hollywood's Fickle; Family Ties Endure". Chicago Tribune. Sec. 3, pp. 1, 3. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
3. "Obituaries". Chicago Tribune. March 22, 2005. p. 6. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
4. ^ Davis, Michael (Chicago Sun-Times). "'Saturday Night Live' Mary Gross on a Roll". The Jersey Journal. June 10, 1982. p. 32. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
5. ^ Anderson, Jon (March 11, 1982). "Second City pays off for 'ditsy' Mary Gross". Chicago Tribune. Sec. 4, p. 1. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
6. The Curious Case of Tim Kazurinsky, September 3, 2021, archived from the original on December 13, 2021, retrieved September 20, 2021
7. Doumanian's failed hires
8. SNL Archives | Character Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
9. SNL Archives | Character Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
10. SNL Archives | Character Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
11. Unterbrink, Mary (1987). Funny Women: American Comediennes, 1860-1985. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 173. ISBN 0899502261.
12. ^ "Mary Gross (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 19, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.

External links

• Mary Gross at IMDb

• 1953 births
• Actresses from Chicago
• American film actresses
• American television actresses
• American voice actresses
• Living people
• American women comedians
• American sketch comedians
• Comedians from Chicago
• Loyola University Chicago alumni