Name	Kathy Najimy
Height	5' 6"
Naionality	Amerian
Date of Birth	6 February 1957
Place of Birth	San Diego, California, USA
Famous for

Before entering TV and film, Kathy Najimy already had an extensive stage experience and has continued adding her stage credits until recently. She was a member of the feminist theater group Sisters On Stage for five years and soloed in “It's My Party,” her one-woman show. She also was a four year resident of director of the Emmy Award-winning New Image Teen Theater, and has directed the Off-Off Broadway plays “Don't Get Me Started” and “I Can Put My Fist in My Mouth” as well as the Off-Broadway productions of the critically hit “Back to Bacharach and David.”

In 1988, Najimy for the first time performed “The Kathy and Mo Show” on Off-Broadway, which she co-penned and co-starred with Maureen 'Mo' Gaffney. For her outstanding acting, she was handed an Obie Award. Led by this success, she reprised her award-winning performance for the HBO comedy special “The Kathy and Mo Show: Parallel Lives” in 1991, based on her 1988 Off-Broadway show. Najimy and Gaffney jointly nabbed a CableACE for Performance in a Comedy Special and a nomination for Writing an Entertainment Special. “The Kathy and Mo Show: Parallel Lives” marked Najimy's TV debut performance.

Shortly afterwards, Najimy made her feature film debut when she landed the part of Michael J. Fox's girl Friday on the action movie “The Hard Way” (1991), which also starred James Woods. She went on to have off-beat minor roles in films like the Sally Field vehicle “Soapdish” (1991, as an observing costume mistress named Tawny Miller), Terry Gilliam's “The Fisher King” (1991, as a crazed video store customer) and the based-on-novel “This Is My Life” (1992), but she did not enjoy international recognition until she was cast in the supporting role of the rounded, maniacally sunny-bouncing Sister Mary Patrick on the surprise blockbuster hit “Sister Act” (1992), starring Whoopi Goldberg. The role brought Najimy an American Comedy for Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture and a nomination at the MTV Movie awards for Best Breakthrough Performance.

After the breakthrough performance, Najimy was tapped to star along side Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker as the Sanderson sisters on Disney's comedy “Hocus Pocus” (1993) and was nominated for a Saturn for Best Supporting Actress for her fine acting in the film. Later that same year, she recreating her coveted role of Sister Mary Patrick for the inevitable sequel, “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.” Reportedly, Najimy demanded and earned $1 million for the installment. Nevertheless, she found difficulty in finding other film roles and was entirely disappeared from the wide screen until “Jeffrey” (1995), in which she had a cameo turn as Acolyte, and the independent drama “Nevada” (1997), opposite Amy Brenneman and Kirstie Alley.

When her film career stalled, Najimy turned to television. She starred as Kathy Lane in the Emmy award winning TNT musical special “In Search of Dr. Seuss” (1994) and again worked with Mo Gaffney co-starring and co-writing the HBO special “The Kathy and Mo Show: The Dark Side” (1995). In 1996, she offered a memorable recurring role as Barbara 'Bix' Konstadt, a precarious psychiatrist battling manic depression, on three episode of the CBS popular medical drama “Chicago Hope,” for which she had to sheet some 100 pounds. She also made guest appearances in shows like “Clueless” (1996), “Early Edition” (1997) and the hit sitcom “Ellen” (1994-1997).

The next year, Najimy began her long-running gig on the Michael Judge animated series “King of the Hill” (Fox, 1997-present), providing the voice of the long-suffering wife, Peggy Hill. Her efforts paid off when she finally won one out of two Annie nominations in the category of Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Television Production (2001). It was also in 1997 that Najimy landed the regular role of Olive Massery on the NBC sitcom “Veronica's Closet,” starring her “Nevada” co-star Kirstie Alley. She left the show in 2000 to focus on her film career.

Back to the big screen, Najimy found herself appearing with Sandra Bullock, Harry Connick Jr. and Gena Rowlands in the Forest Whitaker-directed drama “Hope Floats,” portrayed Mrs. Simpson on the indie-comedy “Zack and Reba,”starring Sean Patrick Flanery and Brittany Murphy, and appeared as a Motel Maid in the horror “Bride of Chucky” (all 1998). Following a series of TV assignments during 1999, including voicing Mother Duck 1 in the HBO animated film “The Sissy Duckling” and playing the stepmother of Elmo on Fox’s special “Cinderelmo,” she had a supporting role in the independent film “Attention Shoppers” (2000) and was cast as Sharon Stones' gynecologist on the HBO film “If These Walls Could Talk 2” (also 2000), helmed and penned by Anne Heche. Still in 2000, she also assumed the starring role of Mae West in the Broadway hit “Dirty Blonde,” from which she earned positive reviews.

Najimy next could be seen playing supporting roles in films like the hit “The Wedding Planner” (2001), with Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey, the ensemble comedy “Rat Race” (2001), “Say Uncle” (2005), opposite Peter Paigi, “Bam Bam and Celeste” (2005), and “Getting Played” (2005), starring Vivica A. Fox. In November 2006, she joined the cast of the CBS crime series “Numbers” in the recurring role of Dr. Mildred French, a role she held until April 2007. On August of 2007, she guested as Mrs. Militich on the “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” episode of “First Day of High School.”

The 50-year-old multi-faceted performer will have a part in the animated film “Tinker Bell” (2008), directed by Bradley Raymond. She is also set to costar with Kal Penn, Elaine Hendrix, Yunjin Kim and Tamlyn Tomita in the upcoming made-for-TV film “Two Sisters” (2008).