Kathryn McKinnon Berthold, popularly known as Kate McKinnon is an American actress, comedian, and voice artist. She is best known for her work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and The Big Gay Sketch Show. McKinnon is also applauded for her celebrity impressions, particularly that of the pop singer Justin Bieber and the television host Ellen DeGeneres.
Early Life
McKinnon was born to Michael Thomas Berthold, an architect, and Laura Campbell, a parent educator. She spent her childhood In Sea Cliff, New York, and has a younger sister, Emily. McKinnon was a creative child and learned to play the piano, cello, and guitar at an early age. She is a North Shore High School graduate and completed her major in theatre from the Columbia University in 2006. While she was pursuing her major, McKinnon co-founded a comedy group, Tea Party.
TV Career
McKinnon was a part of the cast of Logo TV`s The Big Gay Sketch Show from 2007 to 2010. Of the various characters she portrayed, Fitzwilliam, a British boy whose only wish is to have a vagina, was one of her best roles. McKinnon has been performing live sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City since 2008. She also won the logo NewNowNext Award for Best Rising Comic in the year 2009.
In 2012, McKinnon made her debut as a featured player on Saturday Night Live, making her the show`s first openly lesbian cast member. She went on the win the 2014 American Comedy Award for Best Supporting Actress for TV for her performance on Saturday Night Live. In the same year, she was also nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a comedy series. She was a voice over artist for characters on TV shows such as Family Guy, The Simpsons, The Nature Cat, Ugly Americans, Robotomy, and The Venture Brothers.
In 2016, McKinnon also appeared as Hillary Clinton on Saturday Night Live, while the real Clinton also appeared on the show during the premiere of the show`s 41st season.
Movie Career
McKinnon has been a part of various Hollywood movies such as Life Partners (2014), Balls Out (2014), and Sisters (2015). Apart from acting she has also voiced the character of Stella in The Angry Birds Movie (2016) and the character of wife fish in the movie Finding Dory (2016).
McKinnon`s 2016 release included the reboot of Ghostbusters directed by Paul Feig. The movie also starred Melissa Mccarthy, Leslie Jones, and Kristen Wiig. Her other notable works include Rough Night (2017), Irreplaceable You (2018), The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018), Yesterday (2019) and Bombshell (2019). She even voiced Inez in Finding Dory (2016), Stella in The Angry Birds Movie (2016), Lupe in Ferdinand (2017) and Miss Fiona Frizzle in The Magic School Bus Rides Again: Kids in Space (2020).
Other ventures
Apart from acting, McKinnon co-created a web series, Notary Publix, along with her sister Emily Lynne. The series starred Aidy Bryant, while a few of McKinnon`s co-stars on Saturday Night Live, Jay Pharoah, Beck Bennet and Paula Pell made guest appearances.