Nicole Sullivan was one of the original cast members of the sketch comedy show Mad TV but she graduated from the show in 2001. Since leaving, she has since gone on to become one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood, especially when it comes to sitcoms. Throughout her career, she has acted in some of the most popular sitcoms, been in a couple of movies, and has done voice-over work for several cartoons and video games.
Prior to landing her gig on Mad TV, Nicole Sullivan got by doing bit parts for television shows like Diagnosis Murder, Party of Five, and Models Inc. To date, she has over 150 credits on IMDb, 130 of which are just for acting, and has a net worth of $4 million. She’s acted alongside comedy legends like Jerry Stiller and worked with Patton Oswalt early in his career. She’s starred in a major motion picture from Disney. She’s even voiced some of the Disney Channel’s most popular cartoon villains. Let’s take a look at the career of this beloved Mad TV alum and sitcom star and see what she’s been up to and how she earned her $4 million.
8 Nicole Sullivan's Tenure On ‘MadTV’
Mad TV debuted in 1995 and aired for 150 episodes. Along with Sullivan, the original cast featured a laundry list of future stars, including Mary Sheer who went on to act in the Nickelodeon show iCarly, Phil Lamarr who is now one of the most prolific voice actors in Hollywood history, David Herman who starred in Office Space, and Bryan Callen who went on to act in shows like The Goldbergs and movies like The Hangover.
Sullivan was also a writer for the show, and she gave fans some of the show's most beloved characters like the potty-mouthed Vancome Lady, Antonia, right-wing country star Darlene McBride (which is especially funny since Sullivan is an outspoken liberal,) and several impressions like Barbra Walters, Hillary Clinton, and Meg Ryan.
7 Nicole Sullivan Starred On ‘The King Of Queens’
After leaving Mad TV, Nicole Sullivan found immediate work on Kevin James’s hit sitcom The King of Queens, which aired on CBS for 9 seasons. While on the show she got to work with comedy stars like Patton Oswalt and the legendary Jerry Stiller. In 2021, during a wave of COVID social distancing, Sullivan reunited with her castmates to do a script reading of an episode to pay tribute to Stiller, who passed away in 2020.
6 Nicole Sullivan Had A Popular Recurring Character On ‘Scrubs’
While she was a regular supporting character on The King of Queens most of her characters since leaving the sketch comedy show have been guest roles or characters with a shorter story arc. Sullivan also mostly works on sitcoms. A fan-favorite role was her performance as Jill Tracy, a down on her luck woman who comes to Sacred Heart hospital after a suicide attempt.
5 Nicole Sullivan Played A Therapist On ‘Cougar Town’
Another popular role of Sullivan's was when she acted opposite Courtney Cox in Cougar Town, which was the second show created by Scrubs’ showrunners. Sullivan played Lynn Mettler, Courtney Cox’s psychiatrist. Sullivan appeared in seven episodes.
4 Nicole Sullivan Voiced The Villain Shego For Disney’s ‘Kim Possible’
Nicole Sullivan also works prominently as a voice actor and she has some iconic performances to her name. Kim Possible was one of the most popular Disney Channel cartoons ever produced and Sullivan voiced one of the show’s primary villains. Sullivan is the voice of Shego, the green and black goth who is the second in command to Kim Possible’s worst enemy, Dr. Drakken. Sullivan has done a few other Disney projects, including the very popular Buzz Lightyear Star Command cartoons.
3 Nicole Sullivan played Franny In Pixar’s ‘Meet The Robinsons’
Sullivan has done a few films as well and one of the most profitable was probably her performance in Disney Pixar’s Meet The Robinsons. She played Franny in both the film and video game versions. While it is not the most popular of Disney or Pixar films, in fact, some consider it a flop, it still grossed over $150 million.
2 Nicole Sullivan’s Other Voice Over Projects
Sullivan has not been short on work ever since leaving Mad TV and her voice acting resume is too long to summarize into one article. That said, in addition to Kim Possible and Meet The Robinsons, she has loaned her voice to Family Guy for over 20 characters. Fun fact: she got work on Family Guy because the show is co-produced by Sullivan’s fellow Mad TV alum Alex Borstein. She can also be heard in shows like American Dad, Clone High, The Penguins of Madagascar, Teen Titans Go, Harley Quinn, and Bojack Horseman.
1 Nicole Sullivan’s Other Sitcom Projects
The same can be said for her extensive work in sitcoms. In addition to King of Queens, Scrubs, and Cougar Town, she has been in shows like Mom, Disjointed, The Mindy Project, Girlboss, The Exes, Whitney, Sh*t My Dad Says, and The Suite Life of Zach and Cody. A few attempts to give her her own sitcom have been made, like 2005's Hot Properties and 2008's Lifetime series Rita Rocks, however, both were cancelled after their first season. Presently, Nicole Sullivan has a recurring role as Janine on Black-ish. She also plays Carol Finkle in The Sex Lives of College Girls.