Annette O'Toole | |
|---|---|
 O'Toole in a 2020 episode of the seriesKidding | |
| Born | Annette Toole (1952-04-01)April 1, 1952 (age 73) |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1967–present |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
Annette O'Toole (bornAnnette Toole; April 1, 1952)[1] is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She has received nominations for anAcademy Award, aGolden Globe Award, and aPrimetime Emmy Award.
She is known for portraying Lisa Bridges in the television seriesNash Bridges, adultBeverly Marsh in the1990 television mini-series adaptation ofStephen King's epic horror novelIt,Lana Lang inSuperman III, Kathy in the romantic-comedy filmCross My Heart, andMartha Kent (the adoptive mother ofClark Kent) on the television seriesSmallville.
O'Toole was born in Houston, the daughter of Dorothy Geraldine (née Niland) and William West Toole Jr. Her mother taught dance, which O'Toole herself began learning at the age of three.[2] She started taking acting lessons after her family moved to Los Angeles when she was 13.
O'Toole's first television appearance was in 1967 onThe Danny Kaye Show,[2] followed over the next few years with guest appearances in shows such asMy Three Sons,The Virginian,Gunsmoke,Hawaii Five-O, andThe Partridge Family.[3]
Her first major film role was as a jaded beauty pageant contestant in the 1975 satireSmile; she got the role after doing an impression of a "dead cockroach" at the audition.[2] She also appeared as the tutor and girlfriend ofRobby Benson's character in the college basketball storyOne on One in 1977.[4] She co-starred oppositeGary Busey in the 1980 filmFoolin' Around.[5] In 1981, she starred in theHBO onstage production ofVanities, as well as in the TV movieStand By Your Man, which detailed the life of country music legendTammy Wynette.[2] Later on in 1982, she appeared briefly asNick Nolte's girlfriend in48 Hrs. That same year, she played Alice Perrin inCat People, and then in 1983 she playedLana Lang (love interest toClark Kent/Superman), and single mother of Ricky inSuperman III.[6]
In 1985, she co-starred withBarry Manilow in the CBS television movieCopacabana playing Lola La Mar to Manilow's Tony Starr. Also in 1985, she had a starring role as Ms. Edmunds in the originalBridge to Terabithia, and appeared in the TV adaptation ofStrong Medicine the following year. In 1987'sCross My Heart, a romantic comedy, O'Toole had a leading role oppositeMartin Short.
In 1990, O'Toole had roles in twoABC television mini-series. She played the adultBeverly Marsh in thetelevision mini-series adaptation ofStephen King's epic horror novelIt.[7][8] She also portrayedRose Fitzgerald Kennedy inThe Kennedys of Massachusetts, a role that earned her anEmmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress.[9] She next starred in the 1992NBC mini-seriesJewels, based on theDanielle Steelnovel of the same name.[10]
In 1993, O'Toole starred inDesperate Justice as Ellen Wells. In 1995, she starred asCheryl Keeton in the 1995Lifetime television film based onAnn Rule'strue crime novelDead by Sunset.[11] She had a recurring role on the television showNash Bridges (1996)[12] and starred in her own seriesThe Huntress (2000) as a femalebounty hunter. In 1997 O'Toole starred in the TV movieKeeping the Promise.
In 2001, 18 years after portraying Lana Lang inSuperman III, O'Toole returned to theSuperman mythos in the role ofMartha Kent, Superman's adoptive mother, in the television seriesSmallville. She remained part of the show's main cast, though at times in the background,[13] until the end ofits sixth season. She made guest appearances in the final two seasons, reprising her role, while also portrayingThe Red Queen.[14]
In 2010, O'Toole played the role of Veronica, a middle-aged woman with a severe case of Alzheimer's, in the television seriesLie to Me.[15] In 2013 she appeared inGrey's Anatomy as a school teacher who finds out, after surgery, that she will die from cancer.
O'Toole portrayed Susan Emerson in six episodes of the first two seasons ofHalt and Catch Fire. In 2016, O'Toole returned to the Stephen King realm as boarding house owner Edna Price in "The Kill Floor" episode of the King miniseries11.22.63.[16] She and formerSmallville co-starJohn Glover reunited for the 2016 horror filmWe Go On.[17][18]
In 2019, O'Toole filled the role of Hope McCrea in the Netflix seriesVirgin River. She still currently plays the role, with season six being released in December 2024.[19][20]
O'Toole can date the beginning of her songwriting career to events during a car ride after theSeptember 11 attacks; as her husbandMichael McKean describes it, "On September 11, 2001, Annette found herself without an airline to carry her back down to Los Angeles from Vancouver, where she filmsSmallville. So she drove a rental car down. The two of us drove it back up together, and on the long drive up there, somewhere between Portland and Seattle, she told me she had a tune in her head."[21] The "tune in her head" became "Potato's in the Paddy Wagon", one of three songs the couple wrote forA Mighty Wind,[21] including theOscar-nominated song "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow".[22]
O'Toole sang "What Could Be Better?"—a song she and her husband co-wrote – for the 2004Disney children's albumA World of Happiness.[21][23]
In 2005, the couple did acabaret act for "Feinstein's at the Regency" in New York City.[24]
In 2007, O'Toole appeared as a backing singer for her husband's fictional bandSpinal Tap at the London leg of theLive Earth concerts. She has also performed on the band's 2009Unwigged and Unplugged tour, and contributed lyrics to "Short and Sweet" on the 2009 Spinal Tap albumBack from the Dead.[citation needed]
In 2011 she starred in CAP21's production of the new musicalSouthern Comfort, based on the Sundance award-winning documentary, by Dan Collins and Julianne Wick Davis.
Actor Bruce Kirby and O'Toole were in a relationship together in the 1970[25][26]
O'Toole married actor Bill Geisslinger on April 8, 1983; they divorced in 1993.[2] The couple had two daughters.[27][28]
O'Toole met fellow actorMichael McKean while working together on the 1998 television movieFinal Justice. The two began bonding over McKean reading the bookDead by Sunset, for which O'Toole had starred in the miniseries adaption. They married on March 20, 1999, becoming the stepmother to his two sons from a previous marriage.[29] She and McKean share a musical career.[21]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Little Big Man | Passerby | Uncredited |
| 1975 | Smile | Doria – Young American Miss | |
| 1977 | One on One | Janet Hays | |
| 1978 | King of the Gypsies | Sharon | |
| 1980 | Foolin' Around | Susan | |
| 1981 | Stand By Your Man | Tammy Wynette | |
| 1982 | Cat People | Alice Perrin | |
| 48 Hrs. | Elaine Marshall | ||
| 1983 | Superman III | Lana Lang | |
| 1987 | Cross My Heart | Kathy | |
| 1990 | Love at Large | Mrs. King | |
| A Girl Of The Limberlost | Kate Comstock | ||
| 1994 | Andre | Adult Toni (voice) | |
| On Hope | Hope | Short subject | |
| Imaginary Crimes | Ginny Rucklehaus | ||
| 2000 | Here on Earth | Jo Cavanaugh | |
| 2003 | Temptation | Nora | |
| 2009 | Falling Up | Grace O' Shea | |
| 2013 | Stuff | Mother | Short subject |
| 2014 | Beach Pillows | Rita Midwood | |
| 2016 | We Go On | Charlotte | |
| Women Who Kill | Lila | ||
| 2018 | A Futile and Stupid Gesture | Stephanie Kenney | |
| 2018 | The Incoherents | Mrs. Graham | |
| 2019 | Blow the Man Down | Gail Maguire |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | My Three Sons | Tina | Episode: "The Chaperones" |
| This Is the Life | Debbie | Episode: "Debbie" | |
| 1969 | Bright Promise | Gypsy | Unknown episodes |
| 1970 | Dan August | Robbie Wagner | Episode: "Love Is a Nickel Bag" |
| The Virginian | Lark Walters | Episode: "The Mysterious Mr. Tate" | |
| Gunsmoke | Edda Sprague | Episode: "The Witness" | |
| 1971 | The Mod Squad | Lorrie Coleman | Episode: "A Bummer for R.J." |
| The Partridge Family | Carol | Episode: "Partridge Up a Pear Tree" | |
| Hawaii Five-O | Sue | Episode: "...And I Want Some Candy and a Gun That Shoots" | |
| 1973 | Search | Terry Bain | Episode: "The 24 Carat Hit" |
| The Girl Most Likely to... | Jenny | TV movie | |
| The Rookies | Pregnant Woman | Episode: "Frozen Smoke" | |
| Bank Teller | Episode: "Lots of Trees and a Running Stream" | ||
| 1974 | The F.B.I. | Brenda Porter | Episode: "The Lost Man" |
| Dirty Sally | George | Episode: "My Fair Laddie" | |
| Police Woman | Donna Hess | Episode: "Shoefly" | |
| 1975 | S.W.A.T. | Rita Bonelli | Episode: "The Killing Ground" |
| Petrocelli | Tina | Episode: "Terror on Wheels" | |
| The Entertainer | Bambi Pasko | TV movie | |
| 1976 | Serpico | Heather | Episode: "The Indian" |
| Barnaby Jones | Cas Carter | Episode: "Band of Evil" | |
| 1977 | The War Between the Tates | Wendy Geoghegan | TV movie |
| What Really Happened to the Class of '65? | Kathy Adams Miller | Episode: "Everybody's Girl" | |
| 1977–1978 | The Tony Randall Show | Melissa | 2 episodes |
| 1979 | Visions | Sandy | Episode: "Ladies in Waiting" |
| 1979 | Love for Rent | Carol Martin | TV movie |
| 1981 | Standing Room Only | Kathy | Episode: "Vanities" |
| Stand by Your Man | Tammy Wynette | TV movie | |
| 1984 | The Best Legs in the Eighth Grade | Rachel Blackstone | |
| 1985 | Bridge to Terabithia | Miss Edmunds | |
| 1985 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Stella | Pilot (segment: "An Unlocked Window") |
| Copacabana | Lola Lamar | TV movie | |
| 1987 | Broken Vows | Nana Marie 'Nim' Fitzpatrick | |
| 1986 | Strong Medicine | Jessica Weitz | |
| 1989 | Guts and Glory: The Rise and Fall of Oliver North | Betsy North | |
| 1990 | The Kennedys of Massachusetts | Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy | TV mini-series; Main cast |
| It | Beverly Marsh | ||
| The Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story | Maud Gage Baum | TV movie | |
| A Girl of the Limberlost | Kate Comstock | ||
| 1991 | General Motors Playwrights Theater | Carol | Episode: "Unpublished Letters" |
| White Lie | Helen Lester | TV movie | |
| 1992 | Jewels | Sarah Thompson Whitfield | TV mini-series; Main cast |
| 1993 | Kiss of a Killer | Kate Wilson | TV movie |
| Love Matters | Julie | ||
| Desperate Justice | Ellen Wells | TV movie; A.K.A.A Mother's Revenge | |
| 1995 | My Brother's Keeper | Joann Bradley | TV movie |
| The Outer Limits | Commander Lydia Manning | Episode: "Dark Matters" | |
| Dream On | Bess Justin | Episode: "Bess You Is Not My Woman Now" | |
| Dead By Sunset | Cheryl Keeton Cunningham | TV mini-series; Main cast | |
| The Christmas Box | Keri Evans | TV movie | |
| Lonesome Dove: The Series | Claudia Harrell | Episode: "Traveller" | |
| 1996 | The Man Next Door | Annie Hodges | TV movie |
| 1996–1998 | Nash Bridges | Lisa Bridges | Main cast (season 1–2) Guest (season 4) |
| 1997 | Keeping the Promise | Anne Hallowell | TV movie |
| Final Descent | Connie Phipps | ||
| 1998 | Final Justice | Gwen Saticoy | |
| 1999 | Boy Meets World | Rhiannon Lawrence | Episode: "State of the Unions" |
| 2000 | Law & Order | Valerie Grace | Episode: "Mega" |
| 2000–2001 | The Huntress | Dorothy 'Dottie' Thorson | Main cast |
| 2001–2011 | Smallville | Martha Kent | Main cast (season 1–6) Guest (season 9–10) |
| The Red Queen | 2 episodes | ||
| 2006 | Aquaman | Atlanna (voice) | Pilot |
| 2010 | Lie to Me | Veronica | Episode: "Veronica" |
| 2011 | Private Practice | Janet | Episode: "Blind Love" |
| 2012 | The Finder | Elaine Sherman | Episode: "The Boy with the Bucket" |
| 2013 | Grey's Anatomy | Madeleine Skurski | Episode: "Idle Hands" |
| 2014 | F to 7th | Diane | Web series; 2 episodes |
| 2014–2015 | Halt and Catch Fire | Susan Emerson | Recurring (season 1–2) |
| 2015 | Battle Creek | Amelia Zuransky | Episode: "Homecoming" |
| 2016 | 11.22.63 | Edna Price | Episode: "The Kill Floor" |
| 2019 | The Punisher | Eliza Schultz | Recurring role (Season 2); 4 episodes |
| 2019–present | Virgin River | Hope McCrea | Main role |
| 2020 | The Good Doctor | Caroline Reznik | Episode: "Sex and Death" |
| Kidding | Louise | Episode 7 Season 2" | |
| Search Party | Diana Fontaine | Episode: "In God We Trust" |
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Venue | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Third | Professor Laurie Jameson | Michael Cumpsty | Two River Theater, New Jersey | [30] |
| 2015 | Hamlet in Bed | Anna | Lisa Peterson | Rattlestick Playwrights Theater,Off-Broadway | [31] |
| 2016 | Southern Comfort | Robert | Thomas Caruso | Public Theater, New York | [32] |
| 2017 | Man From Nebraska | Nancy Carpenter | Tony Kiser Theatre, New York | [33] | |
| The Traveling Lady | Sitter Mavis | Austin Pendleton | Cherry Lane Theatre, Off- Broadway | [34] | |
| 2018 | A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur | Helena | Austin Pendleton | Theatre at St. Clement's, Off-Broadway | [35] |
| 2019 | The Good Book | Miriam | Lisa Peterson | Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California | [36] |
| 2022 | The Show-Off | Mrs. Fisher | Dan Wackerman | Theatre at St. Clement's, Off-Broadway | [37] |
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Venue | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | The Typist | Anne Jackson | Austin Pendleton | A play reading, benefiting Williamstown Theatre Festival | [38] | |
| 2024 | Let You Be You | Self | Meredith Sharkey | Mastercard Midnight Theatre | Variety performance | [39] |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Saturn Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Superman III | Nominated |
| 1990 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Special | The Kennedys of Massachusetts | Nominated |
| 1991 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actress – Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Nominated | |
| 2003 | Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards | Best Music | A Mighty Wind | Nominated |
| 2004 | Academy Awards | Best Original Song | A Mighty Wind(for "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow") | Nominated |
| Satellite Awards | Best Original Song | Nominated | ||
| 2005 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Parental Units | Smallville | Nominated |
Annette O'Toole feared Martha Kent would remain in the adventure's background, but that changed when Martha's husband, Jonathan (John Schneider), died shortly after his election to a Kansas senatorial seat. She has stepped up to fill his term, with ever-scheming Lionel Luthor (John Glover) taking a bit too much interest for her comfort.
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