Shannon was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 16, 1964, to an Irish-American Catholic family.[2][3] Her maternal grandparents were born in Ireland, with her grandfather being from Cloghmore, Achill, Mayo.[4] When Molly was four years old, she and her older sister survived when their drunk driving father caused a car crash that killed her mother, younger sister, and a cousin; she and her sister were raised by an aunt while their father went through a lengthy recovery from his self-inflicted injuries.[5][6]
Before Saturday Night Live, Shannon worked as a hostess at Cravings restaurant on Sunset Boulevard and as a food demo girl at Gelson's super market in Marina Del Rey. She auditioned for her first big film role and was cast, playing the supporting part of Meg in the 1989 horror film remake of The Phantom of the Opera, with Robert Englund. In 1991, she had a brief appearance in the second season of Twin Peaks as "the happy helping hand lady", and in 1993, she appeared with minor roles in three episodes of In Living Color, the first in a fake TV commercial with Shawn Wayans playing Chris Rock, the second in a sketch with Jim Carrey, playing LAPD Sergeant Stacey Koon, and third being a parody of Star Trek.
Shannon's major break came in February 1995, when she was hired as a featured player on Saturday Night Live to replace Janeane Garofalo after Garofalo left mid-season, reason being that the experience left her "anxious and depressed", and that she believed a sexist attitude pervaded the show. Shannon was one of the few cast members to be kept (along with David Spade, Norm Macdonald, Mark McKinney and Tim Meadows) when Lorne Michaels overhauled his cast and writers for season 21 (1995–96).
She appeared in a 1997 episode of Seinfeld titled "The Summer of George", where she played Sam, the co-worker who drove Elaine Benes crazy because she did not swing her arms while walking. She also appeared in Sheryl Crow's video for the song "A Change (Will Do You Good)" and played the recurring role of loony neighbor Val Bassett, Grace Adler's nemesis, on Will & Grace, appearing in five episodes over the sitcom's eight-season run. In 1998, she played the role of Emily Sanderson in the film A Night at the Roxbury, featuring Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan who were also cast members of SNL at the time. She also appeared in Sex and the City in a number of episodes.
In 1999, Shannon starred in Superstar, a feature film based on her most famous SNL character, Mary Katherine Gallagher, the awkward Catholic school student who aspires to be a musical superstar.
In 2004, she starred in a short-lived Fox network television seriesCracking Up with actor Jason Schwartzman created by Mike White. That same year, she guest starred in an episode of Scrubs and starred as Mrs. Baker in the film Good Boy! In 2006, Shannon was featured in the Sofia Coppola-directed movie Marie Antoinette as Aunt Victoire. The next year, Shannon guest-starred on ABC's Pushing Daisies, and appeared in the film Evan Almighty. Shannon also made a rare move to drama, appearing in Mike White's film Year of the Dog in 2007. In 2013, Shannon joined White again, playing his love interest Eileen in the HBO show Enlightened, for which she was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding guest actress.
Shannon hosted Saturday Night Live on May 12, 2007, making her the second former female cast member to host (after Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and the first one to have been a cast member for Lorne Michaels (Louis-Dreyfus was a cast member under Dick Ebersol).
Shannon at the Orange County, California, Children's Book Festival on October 2, 2011, promoting her first children's book, Tilly the Trickster.
In 2008, Shannon starred as Kath in the American version of the hit Australian sitcom Kath & Kim.
In early 2010, Shannon was cast in a recurring role on the Fox television series Glee as Brenda Castle, an astronomy and badminton teacher who has a rivalry with main character Sue Sylvester.[8]
She returned to Saturday Night Live for a special Mother's Day episode on May 8, 2010,[9] and also the October 2010 reunion special "Women of SNL".
In 2018, Shannon co-hosted the Rose Parade with Will Ferrell on Amazon Prime Video in character as fictional local television personalities, Tish and Cord. In 2018, Shannon and Ferrell co-hosted HBO's broadcast of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as their characters Tish and Cord.[12]
In 2024, it was announced Shannon would join the upcoming fourth season of the Hulu comedy series Only Murders in the Building in a recurring role.[18]
Personal life
Shannon married artist Fritz Chesnut on May 29, 2004.[19] Together, they have two children.[20][21]
Mary Katherine Gallagher: Shannon's best known character. An odd, outcast student at a Catholic school who enjoyed performing in the choir and school plays. Shannon starred in the 1999 feature film Superstar based on the character.
Sally O'Malley: a proud 50-year-old dancer ("I'm FIFTY!") with a bouffant hairdo, who wore tight red pants and proclaimed how much she loved to "kick, stretch and kick!"
Helen Madden: an overly exuberant self-proclaimed "Joyologist", who appeared on talk shows with the trademark catchphrase "I love it, I love it, I love it!"
Veronica Kilvere: an airhead fashion model who hosts the "Veronica & Co." talk show.
Margaret Healy: a woman who enjoys doing many voices and accents.
Jeannie Darcy: an unfunny mullet-haired stand-up comedian, who ended almost every joke with the phrase "Don't get me started, don't even get me started!"
^"2016 IFJA Film Awards". Indiana Film Journalists Association. December 16, 2016. Archived from the original on April 11, 2023. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
