Before Saturday Night Live, Shannon had a struggling career in movies, her most notable being a supporting role as 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, and in 1993, she appeared with minor roles in three episodes of In Living Color, the first in a fake TV commercials with Chris Rock (played by Shawn Wayans), 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 due to creative differences. Shannon left SNL in 2001, surpassing Victoria Jackson as the show’s longest-serving female cast member. Since SNL, Molly Shannon not only continued acting, but she also began writing children’s books and became an advocate for Life Insurance as a way to remember and honor her family.
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Podcasts
Behind the Laughter: Molly Shannon Shares Her Brush With Tragedy
April 18, 2016
Who better to help you explain the importance of insurance than celebrities telling their own real life stories! Actress and Comedian Molly Shannon joins our show to…
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