| Megan Cavanagh | |
| Birth Date: | 1960 11, mf=yes |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Years Active: | 1984–present |
Megan Cavanagh (born November 8, 1960) is an American actress.
Cavanagh was born November 8, 1960, in Chicago, the daughter of Jim and Rita. Raised in River Forest along with her four siblings, Cavanagh went to Oak Park and River Forest High School, graduating at 16 in 1977. She attended Rosary College in River Forest (now Dominican University), graduating in January 1982.[1]
Cavanagh made her film debut in Penny Marshall's A League of Their Own (1992), co-starring with Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell and Lori Petty. Film critic Vincent Canby of The New York Times praised the film, writing: "A League of Their Own is one of the year's most cheerful, most relaxed, most easily enjoyable comedies. It's a serious film that's lighter than air, a very funny movie that manages to score a few points for feminism in passing."[2] He went on to list Cavanagh as among "the excellent supporting players" of the movie,[2] as did film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader.[3]
Following her silver screen debut, Cavanagh was cast in supporting roles in two Mel Brooks comedies, as Broomhilde in (1993) and as Essie in (1995). Other films include supporting roles in For Richer or Poorer (1997), starring Tim Allen, Kirstie Alley, and Jay O. Sanders, and Disney's That Darn Cat (1997) starring Christina Ricci and Doug E. Doug.
She voiced Judy Neutron and Sasha Vortex in the 2001 Oscar-nominated animated feature Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.
Cavanagh was featured in the short-lived second season of Bob (1993), and appeared in the recurring role of Trudy McHale (from 1998-99), who marries Al Borland in the series' finale of the sitcom Home Improvement (1991-99) starring Tim Allen, Patricia Richardson and Earl Hindman.
Openly lesbian, Cavanagh starred in Exes and Ohs (2007), a lesbian comedy on Logo TV.
She reprised the role of Judy Neutron in The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius and several TV movies including The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour, Jimmy Neutron: Win, Lose and Kaboom, The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 2: When Nerds Collide and The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 3: The Jerkinators. She also voiced Slog in Tak and the Power of Juju and Hilary Higgenbottom in The Mighty B!.
She appears in one episode of the American sitcom Friends as Luisa the ex-classmate of Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) and Monica (Courteney Cox) who works for animal control.
Cavanagh makes an appearance in the fourth episode of the third season of Will & Grace ("Girl Trouble") as Terry.
Cavanagh returned to the stage in 2004 as Earth Mother in . Theater critic Patricia Reardon wrote: "...you won't find a funnier, more satisfying way to spend an evening than with the four rollicking ladies of Menopause[:] The Musical."[4]
In 2009, Cavanagh portrayed the medium Madame Arcati in High Spirits, a musical with book, lyrics, and music by Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray, based on the play Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward. 42nd Street Moon's production was staged at the Eureka Theater (215 Jackson St.) in San Francisco, which was well-received.[5] San Francisco theater critic Chad Jones wrote: "On Broadway, [Angela] Lansbury is said to be divine in the role, but 42nd Street Moon has a real secret weapon here: Megan Cavanagh...Cavanagh is hilarious and heartfelt."[6]
Cavanagh was an original member (1984–1987) of the professional theatre troupe New Age Vaudeville (formerly the Comedy Cabaret) founded by Richard O'Donnell and Amy McKenzie. An Actor's Equity (AEA) theatre troupe, the Comedy Cabaret landed a summer residence at Peninsula Players in Fish Creek, Wisconsin, where it developed works for a predominantly tourist trade and then relocated to their winter home in Chicago at CrossCurrents. Throughout her tenure, Megan Cavanagh (who thus earned her Actors' Equity union card) starred in numerous productions including the cult-hits An Evening with Elmore & Gwendolyn Putts - The Neighbors Next Door and The TV Dinner Hour (the latter featured IO Theater founder Del Close). Rick Kogan of the Chicago Tribune hailed both productions as "Among the most polished and clever productions of the season, a pair of devilishly inventive and challenging shows that won over critics and audiences".
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | A League of Their Own | Marla Hooch | |||
| 1993 | Broomhilde | ||||
| 1994 | Junior | Willow | |||
| I Love Trouble | Mrs. Delores Beekman | ||||
| 1995 | Essie | ||||
| Ripple | Gail | Short | |||
| 1997 | That Darn Cat | Lu | |||
| For Richer or Poorer | Levinia Yoder | ||||
| 1998 | Meet the Deedles | Mo | |||
| The Thin Pink Line | Mrs. Ledbetter | Joe Dietl & Michael Irpino | |||
| Ted | Girl Next Door | Gary Ellenberg | |||
| Runaway Rocketboy! | Judy Neutron/VOX (voices) | Short | |||
| 1999 | A Walk in the Park | Nurse | Alan Berger | ||
| 2000 | Thumbtanic | The Servant / Rich Woman / The Wife (voices) | Todd Portugal | Short | |
| 2001 | Judy Neutron/VOX (voices) | John A. Davis | |||
| Three Shots | Megan | Short | |||
| 2002 | Bug | Meter Maid | |||
| The Ten Rules | Chris One | Short | |||
| The Blair Thumb | Stressy | Todd Portugal | Short | ||
| The Godthumb | Bea / Conceited / Old Italian Woman | David Bourla | Short | ||
| 2003 | Wasabi Tuna | Megan | |||
| Give or Take an Inch | Virginia | Short | |||
| 2004 | Raising Genius | Charlene Hobbs | Linda Voorhees & Bess Wiley | ||
| 2005 | Shirley | John Pasquin | |||
| Getting to Know You | Samantha | Short | |||
| 2007 | Big Stan | Parole Board | Rob Schneider | ||
| 2008 | The Last Page | Crazy Jennifer | Kevin Acevedo | Short | |
| 2012 | Scrooge & Marley | Ghost of Christmas Present | Richard Knight Jr. & Peter Neville | ||
| 2014 | Officer Margie | Alexandra Kondracke | |||
| 2015 | The Birthday | Masked Woman #2 | Brenna Malloy | Short | |
| 2018 | Freelancers Anonymous | June | Sonia Sebastián | ||
| 2019 | Thumb Wars Episode IX: The Thighs of Skywalker | General Bunhead | Steve Oedekerk | ||
| TBA | The Adventures of Pinocchio | Additional Voices | Viktor Lakisov |
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Condition: Critical | Helene | Jerrold Freedman | TV movie | |
| 1993 | Murder of Innocence | Bonnie Stevens | TV movie | ||
| A League of Their Own | Marla Hooch | Ted Bessell, Tom Hanks | 6 episodes | ||
| Bob | Chris Szelinski | 8 episodes | |||
| 1994 | Tales from the Crypt | Sister Mary What's Her Name | Roland Mesa | Episode: "Operation Friendship" | |
| 1995 | Friends | Luisa Gianetti | Peter Bonerz | Episode: "The One Where the Monkey Gets Away" | |
| Brotherly Love | Lotus | Episode: "The Comic Con" | |||
| 1996 | Roseanne | Party Guest | Episode: "Becky Houser, M.D. | ||
| 1996–1997 | The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest | Julia / Kelly (voices) | 6 episodes | ||
| 1997 | ER | Darlene | Richard Thorpe | Episode: "Obstruction of Justice" | |
| Life's Work | Officer Colleen McManus | Episode: "Ride Along" | |||
| 1998 | Maggie | Yoli | Episode: "Just Shoot Him" | ||
| 1998–1999 | Home Improvement | Trudy McHale | Andrew Tsao, Peter Bonerz | 5 episodes | |
| 1999 | Thumb Wars | Fighter Pilot #2 (voice) | Steve Oedekerk | TV Short | |
| Smart Guy | Coach Frayda | Episode: "I Was a Teenage Sports Wife" | |||
| 2000 | Will & Grace | Terry | Episode: "Girl Trouble" | ||
| The Expendables | Prison Warden | Janet Meyers | TV movie | ||
| 2000–2001 | Judy Neutron/VOX (voices) | John A. Davis | 4 episodes | ||
| 2002 | The West Wing | Voting Shortcut | Episode: "Election Night" | ||
| The Bold and the Beautiful | Caller #2 | 1 episode | |||
| Boston Public | Episode: "Chapter Forty-Six" | ||||
| 2002–2006 | The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius | Judy Neutron/VOX (voices) | John A. Davis, Keith Alcorn | 43 episodes | |
| 2003 | John Doe | Madeline | Episode: "Family Man" | ||
| Just Shoot Me! | Marjorie | Episode: "My Fair Finchy" | |||
| 2004 | Win, Lose and Kaboom | Judy Neutron/Mrs. Vortex (voices) | Mike Gasaway | TV movie | |
| 2004–2006 | The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour | Judy Neutron (voice) | TV Mini-Series | ||
| 2004 | Attack of the Twonkies | Judy Neutron (voice) | Keith Alcorn | TV movie | |
| 2007–2008 | Tak and the Power of Juju | Slog (voice) | Jim Schumann, Heiko Von Drengenberg | 6 episodes | |
| 2007–2011 | Exes and Ohs | Chris | Gary Harvey, James Genn | 14 episodes | |
| 2008–2010 | The Mighty B! | Hilary Higgenbottom (voice) | Larry Leichliter, Erik Wiese | 9 episodes | |
| 2009 | Back at the Barnyard | Brunhilda (voice) | Todd Grimes & T.J. Sullivan | Episode: "Pig Amok/Sun Cow" | |
| 2013–2014 | Winx Club | Queen Luna (voice) | Iginio Straffi | 6 episodes | |
| 2015 | Harvard Court | Juliet | Alexis J. Estevez | Episode: "The Keys" | |
| 2019 | Drunk History | Penny Marshall | Derek Waters | Episode: "Baseball" | |
| 2020 | The Loud House | Stern Fan/Hockey Fan (voices) | Episode: "On Thin Ice/Room and Hoard" | ||
| 2022 | Cars on the Road | Mae Pillar-Durev / Bella Cadavre (voices) | 2 episodes |
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius | Judy Neutron/VOX/Benny | Mark Bradshaw | ||
| 2002 | Jimmy Neutron vs. Jimmy Negatron | Judy Neutron/VOX | Mark Bradshaw | ||
| 2004 | EverQuest II | Feodra Iceslayer / Blacksmith Hegrenn / Gretta Steinbeard | James D. Mortellaro | ||
| Judy Neutron | |||||
| 2012 | Additional voices | Tore Blystad & Peter Fleckenstein | |||
| 2013 | Star Trek | Additional voices |