Mary McDonnell

Biography

Mary Eileen McDonnell (born April 28, 1952) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She received Academy Award nominations for her roles as Stands With A Fist in Dances With Wolves and May-Alice Culhane in Passion Fish. McDonnell is well known for her performances as President Laura Roslin in Battlestar Galactica, First Lady Marilyn Whitmore in Independence Day, and Rose in Donnie Darko. She was featured as Captain Sharon Raydor during seasons 5–7 of the TNT series The Closer and starred as Commander Sharon Raydor in the spin-off series Major Crimes on the same network. In 2023, she played Madeleine Usher in the miniseries The Fall of the House of Usher on Netflix. Description above from the Wikipedia article Mary McDonnell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Most Known For

Grey's Anatomy

as Virginia Dixon

Fargo

as Ruby Goldfarb

The Closer

as Sharon Raydor

The Closer

as Captain Sharon Raydor

The Closer

as Sharon Raydor (archive footage) (uncredited)

ER

as Eleanor Carter

Veronica Mars

as Jane

Battlestar Galactica

as Laura Roslin

Golden Globe Awards

as Self

American Experience

as Narrator (voice)

Major Crimes

as Captain Sharon Raydor

Touched by an Angel

as Sister Theodore Claire

The Oscars

as Self

Donnie Darko

as Rose Darko

Scream 4

as Kate Roberts

Independence Day

as Marilyn Whitmore

The Fall of the House of Usher

as Madeline Usher

Battlestar Galactica

as President Laura Roslin

Sneakers

as Liz

Dances with Wolves

as Stands With A Fist