Kathy Najimy is an American actress and activist. She was first nationally known for her feminist play The Kathy and Mo Show, which she wrote and performed with Mo Gaffney.

Early life

Najimy was born on February 6, 1957, in San Diego, California, the daughter of Lebanese American parents Samia (néeMassery) and Fred Najimy, a postal worker. She was raised Roman Catholic[4] and attended Crawford High School.

Career

Najimy’s film career began in the early 1990s, with a number of off-beat minor roles, but her first major role was in the 1992 comedy Sister Act, in the role of Sister Mary Patrick. She reprised this role in 1993 in Sister Act 2. She also starred in Hocus Pocus with Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker as the Sanderson sisters. In 1997, she lent her voice to Warner Bros. Family Entertainment as Tilly the Hippo in the film Cats Don’t Dance, alongside actors Scott Bakula, Jasmine Guy, John Rhys-Davies and Don Knotts, and has also played a role on the Nightmare Ned video game. In 1998, she made a cameo in Bride of Chucky as the maid who discovers Diane and Russ’ bodies. In 1999, she played the Stepmother in “CinderElmo” a primetime special for Sesame Street. In 2001, she co-starred in the hit comedy film Rat Race alongside John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Whoopi Goldberg, Jon Lovitz and Seth Green. She guest starred in That’s So Raven. She has done four movies with Goldberg, (Soapdish, Sister Act 1 and 2, and Rat Race).

Personal life

Najimy married comedic actor/singer Dan Finnerty on August 8, 1995, and together they have one daughter named Samia born in 1996.