Mary Eileen McDonnell is an American film, stage, and television actress who was born on April 28, 1952, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. McDonnell’s family relocated to Ithaca, New York when she was a child, where she spent the rest of her life.

Mary was nominated for an Academy Award for her performances in Dances with Wolves as Stands With A Fist and Passion Fish as May-Alice Culhane. McDonnell is most known for her roles as President Laura Roslin in Battlestar Galactica, First Lady Marilyn Whitmore in Independence Day, and Rose in Donnie Darko. She played Captain Sharon Raydor on TNT’s The Closer from seasons 5-7, and Commander Sharon Raydor on the network’s spin-off series Major Crimes.

Following the conclusion of the final season of The Closer in 2012, McDonnell remained as the lead in the spin-off, Major Crimes, which aired on August 13, 2012 and finished in January 2018. She appeared in Netflix’s horror limited series The Fall of the House of Usher in 2023.

Mary McDonnell parents: Meet John Jack McDonnell, Eileen McDonnell

Mary McDonnell’s parents are Eileen and John Jack McDonnell. Apart from her parents’ names, little is known about Mary McDonnell on the internet at the time of publication.