Kathy Najimy
photo credit: Getty Images
photo credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
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Katherine Ann Najimy

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Kathy Najimy

Kathy Najimy

Active - 1991 - 2022  |   Born - Feb 6, 1957 in San Diego, California, United States  |   Genres - Comedy, Drama, Thriller

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Biography by AllMovie

American character actress Kathy Najimy specializes in offbeat, theatrical characters. A substantial and energetic woman with distinctive curly hair and exotic features, Najimy has appeared on-stage, in feature films, and on television. She has also voiced cartoons. Film credits include The Fisher King, Soapdish (both 1991), Sister Act (1992), and Jeffrey (1996). In 1996, she appeared -- over 100 pounds thinner -- for a brief but memorable recurring role as a manic-depressive psychiatrist on the CBS TV series Chicago Hope. In 1997, she became a regular on the Kirstie Alley sitcom Veronica's Closet. Beginning in 1997 she spent thirteen seasons voicing Peggy Hill, the wife to tried and true Texan Hank Hill on the animated series King of the Hill. During the run of the show she appeared in a variety of big-screen projects including Bride of Chucky, Rat Race, Scream Team, and Say Uncle. She landed a recurring role on the TV series Numb3rs, and joined the Pixar family when she lent her vocal talents to WALL-E in 2008.

Movie Highlights

WALL-E
The Fisher King
Rat Race
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Factsheet

  • Was a member of the Sisters on Stage, a feminist theater group based in San Diego.
  • Cowrote and directed The Kathy and Mo Show, which ran off-Broadway and won an Obie Award; it was later produced as an HBO special.
  • Contributed to the book The Choices We Made: 25 Women and Men Speak Out About Abortion (1991), and was a contributing writer for the play Words of Choice II (2008), a pro-choice theater performance.
  • Was named Ms Magazine's "Woman of the Year" in 2005.
  • Husband Dan Finnerty is the lead singer of the Dan Band, the lewd wedding band featured in Old School.
  • Appeared with her family as contestants on Family Feud in 1981; in 2006, she was a contestant on CBS' Gameshow Marathon, on which Family Feud was played in the season-finale episode.
  • Participates in celebrity poker tournaments.
  • Created the shapewear collection Ch'Arms, which she debuted on HSN in 2010.
  • Is involved in numerous humanitarian efforts, including Project Angel Food and PETA; has been a keynote speaker at many humanitarian organizations.
  • Is an AIDS activist and a gay and lesbian rights activist.
  • Is a vegetarian.