Cheri Oteri Bio

Cheri Oteri

Die-hard fans of NBC’s famous and long-running T.V. program Saturday Night Live (more commonly known as SNL) will certainly recognize the face, voice, and name of actress and comedienne Cheri Oteri, who acted regularly on the program, showing up in about 100 episodes between 1995 and 2000.

Oteri was born on September 19, 1962 in Pennsylvania; Upper Darby to be exact, which also happens to be the hometown of another SNL alumnus, Tina Fey, who currently stars opposite Alec Baldwin in 30 Rock.

 

After working at A&M Records and then joining The Groundlings, a famous comedic acting group, Oteri was “discovered” by SNL and officially joined the show’s new cast for 1995 in an attempt to save it from its ultimate doom—which she did do, alongside the rest of her “SNL female power trio” comprising Molly Shannon and Ana Gasteyer as well as Darrell Hammond and Will Ferrell.

 

Oteri soon gained fame and recognition for not only repeatedly playing a diverse number of hyper and/or perky characters—from a pill popper and a cheerleader wannabe to an uber-hyper child bus passenger, bitchy Queens resident, and a lesbian cable T.V. host—but also for her stellar impressions of the likes of Barbara Walters, Judge Judy, and Mariah Carey.

 

Oteri quit SNL in 2000, but had already made appearances in a number of films before that, including Liar Liar (1997), starring Jim Carrey and Maura Tierney; Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), starring Mike Myers and Elizabeth Hurley; and Inspector Gadget (1999), with Matthew Broderick and Rupert Everett in the lead roles.

 

After her stint on SNL, Oteri went on to appear in such films as Love & Sex (2000), starring Famke Janssen; Scary Movie (2000); and Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003). Oteri even voiced Belle on 2007’s Shrek the Third, which starred Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas, Rupert Everett, and Justin Timberlake. She’s also appeared on a few T.V. shows, including Just Shoot Me!, Strangers With Candy, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and On the Spot.


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