Beth Grant

Renowned for playing a whole host of love-to-hate characters, Beth Grant began her screen career in her late 30s, but became one of the most prolific character actresses of her generation. Born in Gadsden, AL, Grant graduated from East Carolina University with a degree in acting and directing and spent most of her early years treading the boards. In 1979, she made her TV debut in trucker comedy "B.J. and the Bear" (NBC 1979-1981) but with the exception of the odd daytime TV appearance, continued to focus on her theater work during the following decade. But Grant's priorities changed after she appeared in "Rain Man" (1988), the first of three Oscar-winning Best Pictures on her resume, and by the mid-90s, she'd racked up performances in horrors "Child's Play 2" (1990) and "The Dark Half" (1993), dramas "Eating" (1990) and "Love Field" (1992) and comedies "The Wizard" (1989) and "The Boyfriend School" (1990) as well as recurring roles on sitcoms "Coach" (ABC 1989-1997) and "Delta" (ABC 1992-93). Following an unforgettable cameo in the action thriller "Speed" (1994), Grant continued to combine guest parts on TV shows such as "Friends" (NBC 1994-2004), "Sabrina, The Teenage Witch" (ABC 1996-2000) and "Angel" (The WB 1999-2004) with minor but memorable big-screen roles in the likes of "To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar" (1995), "A Time To Kill" (1996) and "Lawn Dogs" (1997). Grant then landed one of her defining roles when she was cast as the highly-strung Sparkle Motion mom in cult classic "Donnie Darko" (2001), and after adding to her extensive and eclectic filmography with small parts in blockbuster "Pearl Harbor" (2001), baseball flick "The Rookie" (2002) and black comedy "Daltry Calhoun" (2005), made a similar lasting impression as uptight Pageant Official Jenkins in "Little Miss Sunshine" (2006). In the same year of her career, she had a memorable guest spot on the cult favorite sitcom "My Name Is Earl" (NBC 2005-08), played Dr. Inga Von Westphalen in another Richard Kelly mindbender, "Southland Tales" (2006) and portrayed Andy Warhol's mother Julia in Edie Sedgwick biopic "Factory Girl" (2006). Following a ten-episode stint as opinionated grocery store owner Gracie Leigh in "Jericho" (CBS, 2006-08), Grant went onto play Carla Jean's mother in the Coen Brothers' Academy Award-winning "No Country For Old Men" (2007) and Mrs. Horowitz in the Razzie-winning "All About Steve" (2009), and star alongside her husband Michael Chieffo in the quirky comedy she also produced, "Herpes Boy" (2009). After appearing as Peppy's maid in silent movie homage "The Artist" (2011) and starring opposite James Franco in "As I Lay Dying" (2013), Grant was promoted to series regular on "The Mindy Project" (Fox 2012-) as abrasive nurse Beverly.