Emma Kenney

Emma Kenney
Born	Emma Rose Kenney (1999-09-14) September 14, 1999 (age 25) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2008–present

Emma Rose Kenney (born September 14, 1999) is an American actress. She has portrayed Debbie Gallagher on Shameless from 2011 to 2021, and Harris Conner-Healy in the tenth season of the family sitcom Roseanne and its spin-off continuation The Conners.

Early life

Kenney was born on September 14, 1999, in New York City. Her parents are Gillian Kenney, a criminal defense lawyer, and Kevin Kenney, a sports writer who formerly wrote for the New York Post and now works for Fox Sports.^[1][2][3][4] She has been a resident of Fanwood, New Jersey.^[5]

Career

Kenney made several appearances in short and made-for-television films. In 2009, at nine years old, she was the youngest filmmaker to be a finalist at the New Jersey International Film Festival at Rutgers University.^[6]

Kenney appeared as Debbie Gallagher, the on-air daughter of William H. Macy in the comedic drama Shameless. Kenney won the role at 10 years old, while attending Park Middle School in Scotch Plains, New Jersey.^[7]

In September 2017, it was announced that Kenney would appear in the 10th season of Roseanne, which served as a revival of the series and premiered on ABC on March 27, 2018. She portrays Harris Conner Healy, the granddaughter of the sitcom's titular character.^[8] Kenney appeared alongside many of the show's original cast members, including Roseanne Barr, John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, and Sara Gilbert, with Gilbert portraying her TV mother, Darlene Conner Healy.^[9] On May 29, 2018, ABC cancelled the revival after one season.^[10][11][12]

ABC subsequently ordered a Roseanne spin-off called The Conners, which would not include Roseanne Barr, but would retain the remaining main cast, including Kenney. The Conners premiered on October 16, 2018.^[13]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Lyre Liar	Daughter	Short film
	Bittersweet	Emma
2009	A (Not So) Civil Union	Young Jo	Short film
	Three Little Puppets	Nicole
2013	Epic	Marigold Girl (voice)
2019	Robert the Bruce	Briana
2022	Murder at Yellowstone City	Rebecca Davies
2022	My Love Affair with Marriage	Sarma (voice)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2009	Green Apples	Abigail	Television film
	Day Camp	Rosie Rivette
2011	Boardwalk Empire	Aylesh Rohan	Episode: "Peg of Old"
2011–2021	Shameless	Debbie Gallagher	Main role; 134 episodes
2018	Roseanne	Harris Conner-Healy	Main role (season 10); 9 episodes
2018–present	The Conners		Main role

References

1. lazy day q&a Archived July 24, 2018, at the Wayback Machine IGo Live. Emma Rose Kenney. 12:44 - 12:55 minute mark, "Oh, Emma Rose Kenney, that's me." September 7, 2017.
2. "Visit an Animal Sanctuary in California with Shameless Star Emma Kenney ⋆ South Side Fans". South Side Fans. July 26, 2017. Archived from the original on June 27, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
3. "'Shameless' Star Emma Kenney Juggles Acting and Middle School". Backstage.com. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
4. "Sweet success: Seventh grader lands role on HBO series". The Fanscotian. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
5. "Albert Nigrin, man with a movie projector", Inside Jersey, May 10, 2010. Accessed December 2, 2024. "Among the 39 films in competition was a 3-minute short about vampires called The New Girl in Town — directed by 8-year-old Emma Kenney of Fanwood."
6. "9-year-old filmmaker invited to play N.J. film festival at Rutgers". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
7. "Sweet success: Seventh grader lands role on HBO series". The Fanscotian. December 12, 2011. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
8. "'Shameless' Star Emma Kenney Cast in 'Roseanne', Revival". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
9. "Roseanne sets return date for ABC with most of original cast". The Disney Blog. December 19, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
10. Pallotta, Frank; Stelter, Brian (May 29, 2018). "ABC cancels 'Roseanne' after star's Twitter comments". CNN Money. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
11. Park, Andrea (May 29, 2018). "ABC cancels "Roseanne" after Barr's tweet". CBS News. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
12. Chandelis R. Duster (May 29, 2018). "ABC cancels "Roseanne" after show's star compared Obama adviser to 'ape'". NBC News. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
13. "Emma Kenney | The Conners". ABC. Retrieved December 10, 2019.

External links

• Emma Kenney at IMDb
• Debbie Gallagher on Showtime