Detailed Biography

Joan Mary Cusack is an American actress and comedian.

Personal life

Joan Cusack was born in New York City to an Irish American Catholic family. She was raised in Evanston, Illinois. Her mother, Nancy, is a former mathematics teacher and political activist. Her father, Dick Cusack, as well as her siblings Ann, Bill, John and Susie, have also been actors.

Cusack is an alumna of the University of Wisconsin - Madison. She is married to Chicago attorney Dick Burke, with whom she has two sons, Dylan John and Miles. She also owns a home in Three Oaks Township, MI.

Career

Cusack has twice been nominated for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her work in Working Girl and In & Out. She appeared with her brother John in the movies Sixteen Candles, Grandview, U.S.A., Class, High Fidelity, Grosse Pointe Blank, Say Anything..., Cradle Will Rock, Martian Child, and most recently, War, Inc. She also starred in the short-lived ABC sitcom What About Joan? in 2001-02.

For many years, Cusack was also the commercial spokeswoman for U.S. Cellular.

Cusack was a cast member on the NBC sketch show, Saturday Night Live, from 1985 to 1986. Her recurring characters on Saturday Night Live included, "Salena," a socially inept girl who tries to ask out her boyfriend, "Biff" , who is also socially inept. In addition, she did celebrity impersonations of Brooke Shields, Jane Fonda and Queen Elizabeth II.

She currently narrates the public TV animated series Peep and the Big Wide World.

In 2003, both Joan and her brother John signed the "Not in My Name" resolution opposing the invasion of Iraq.