American voice actress (born 1953)

Mary Martha 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. Her credits also include minor roles on Animaniacs, Boston Legal, That's So Raven, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and ‘’Six Feet Under’’.

Contents

• 1 Early life
• 2 Career
  • 2.1 Early career
  • 2.2 Saturday Night Live (1981–1985)
    • 2.2.1 Recurring characters
    • 2.2.2 Celebrity impersonations
• 3 Filmography
  • 3.1 Film
  • 3.2 Television
• 4 References
• 5 External links

Early life

Gross was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of William Oscar Gross, a tool designer, and Virginia Ruth (née Cahill), a telephone operator. She is the younger sister of actor Michael Gross, who starred in the 1980s sitcom Family Ties. The siblings are first cousins to actor Ron Masak.

Career

Early career

She is an alumna of the Second City comedy troupe. Prior to being cast she was a secretary with the American Dental *ociation.

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 almost canceled. Gross became co-anchor of SNL's Weekend Update segment during her first season. Gross left in 1985 along with the rest of the cast, 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).
• 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
• Dr. 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

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

• Mary Gross at IMDb