Kate Flannery (born June 10, 1964) is an American actress. Following her early theatre work, Flannery had her screen breakthrough playing Meredith Palmer on the NBC series The Office, which won her two Screen Actors Guild Awards. She went on to guest star on CBS shows Magnum P.I. and Young Sheldon. She competed on the 28th season of Dancing with the Stars and voiced Barb on the animated series Steven Universe. She also appeared on the American version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? with Jimmy Kimmel, where on September 25, 2025 she won the top prize of $1 million.
Early life Flannery was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, daughter of Tom and Joan Flannery, and was raised in the suburb Ardmore, Pennsylvania. She studied for two years at Shenandoah Conservatory in Virginia and then transferred to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She has five sisters and a brother, and is three minutes younger than her twin sister, who is a social worker.Tuesday June 19, 2012 episode of The Wendy Williams Show
Career A former member of The Second City's National Touring Company, Flannery is an original member of Chicago's Annoyance Theatre, where she appeared in over 15 shows including The Miss Vagina Pageant and The Real Live Brady Bunch.
The Lampshades, a cult comedy lounge act consisting of Flannery and veteran improviser Scot Robinson, has been running in Hollywood and in comedy festivals since 2001 and was seen at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado. The Lampshades was New York magazine's "LA Pick" for 2006, and was declared "Best Saturday Comedy Show of the Year" by LA Weekly.
Flannery appeared as the alcoholic, divorced, single mother Meredith Palmer on the television comedy The Office, following appearances on The Bernie Mac Show, Boomtown, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. The Office earned her and the rest of its cast acclaim, along with several accolades, such as winning two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, with an additional five nominations for the same award. In 2008, Flannery was a talent scout on Last Comic Standing with her Office costar Brian Baumgartner, and she appeared with the cast of The Office on Celebrity Family Feud.
In 2010, Flannery played Harper's mom on the Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place as Elaine Finkle. Flannery also appeared as a judge in a 2009 episode of Iron Chef America. Flannery has been touring with Jane Lynch as her sidekick on stage since 2013 in her show See Jane Sing with Tim Davis and the Tony Guerrero Quintet, playing the Kennedy Center, Joe's Pub, the Borgata and 30 cities.
Flannery was in the long running New York hit, Nora Ephron's Love, Loss, and What I Wore. She also played Neely O'Hara in the 1996 off-Broadway musical Valley of the Dolls, an adaptation of the 1967 film, at the Circle in the Square Theatre in New York City and Los Angeles. Also in Los Angeles, she played the teen prostitute and Blair's sister in The Phacts of Life at the Renberg Theatre and in the Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner production of Three Feet Under at The Evidence Room. Jane Lynch's Christmas album A Swingin' Little Christmas features Kate Flannery, and reached #8 on the Billboard top 100 charts.
Flannery also appeared on The Jay Leno Show portraying Wendy in a skit at the time of the burger chain's 40th anniversary. She was a contestant on 19 episodes of Celebrity Name Game, two episodes of Hollywood Game Night with Jane Lynch. Flannery also appeared on Don't Forget the Lyrics and hosted Standup in Stilettos for two seasons on the TV Guide network. She is the former musical director of the Los Angeles Drama Club, teaching Shakespeare to children and young adults.
In 2016, she had a recurring role on ABC's American Housewife as Crossing Guard Sandy, played a janitor in an episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, appeared on FOX's New Girl and MTV's Mary + Jane, and in 2017, recurred on Cartoon Network's Steven Universe as Barbara "Barb" Miller. Flannery was a member of the band Mono Puff under the stage name "Lady Puff". She toured with the band and sang on their second album, It's Fun to Steal.
In 2019, Flannery was announced as one of the celebrities to compete on season 28 of Dancing with the Stars. She was partnered with first-time professional Pasha Pashkov and was eliminated fifth. She joined the show's live tour in 2020, but it was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2022, it was announced that Flannery would star in the comedy film Plan B alongside Jon Heder, Tom Berenger, and Shannon Elizabeth.
In 2024, Flannery competed in season eleven of The Masked Singer as "Starfish". She was eliminated on "Queen Night" alongside Charlie Wilson as "Ugly Sweater".
In 2025, Flannery appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire alongside her co-star from The Office, Oscar Nuñez. She and Nuñez went on to win the million-dollar top prize, becoming only the fourth celebrities and the seventeenth overall to do so, splitting $500,000 each for their respective charities, Philabundance and Planned Parenthood.
Filmography Film YearTitleRole Notes1999Can't Stop DancingToniaTrickRidiculous Writer2000Amy Stiller's BreastReporterShort film2002Life Without DickCrampy Legs Partygoer2003CarolinaCafé Waitress2005HeidiShort filmI'm Not GaySecretaryShort film2006Danny Roane: First Time DirectorMarla2007Jesus PeopleSharon NyenhuisShort filmWild Girls GoneReading Circle #42009Coco Lipshitz: Behind the LaughterReporterShort filmYouAirline Counter Girl2010Finger BabiesTeacherVideo short2012Love or WhateverRosemary2014At the Devil's DoorRosemaryBreak PointCommonwealth RepHelicopter MomNormaCootiesCharman2015Emergency ContactCarolShort filmDial a PrayerCora's coworkerSlow LearnersPrincipal Miller20164th Man OutKaren2017How to Get GirlsLinda Fox2018Fishbowl CaliforniaSusanStuckMs. Jenkins2020Golden ArmRandy2022The PrankLoretta 2024 Micro Budget Janine
Television YearTitleRoleNotes2001Spyder GamesBunnyRecurring role (5 episodes)2002Curb Your EnthusiasmCop #2Episode: "The Corpse-Sniffing Dog"Saturday Night LiveLucy (voice)Episode: "Al Gore/Phish"2003BoomtownTraceyEpisode: "Inadmissable"2004Crossballs: The Debate ShowEpisode: "Plastic Surgery: Nip-pocalypse?"Christopher's MomEpisode: "Stiff Upper Lip"2005–2013Meredith PalmerMain role (187 episodes)2006Meredith PalmerEpisode: "Meredith"2008Meredith PalmerEpisode: "The Explanation"Iron Chef AmericaHerself, judgeEpisode: "Morimoto vs. Mason" 2009Rise and Fall of Tuck JohnsonNikki StrokumsMeredith PalmerWendy, Mrs. Claus2 episodes2010Wizards of Waverly PlaceElaine FinkleEpisode: "Wizards vs. Finkles"Meredith Palmer2 episodes2011BrennaEpisode: "The Soup Awards"Beverly SimmonsTelevision filmIrene, Jean Gillis (voice)2 episodes2013JessieCorporal CookieEpisode: "G.I. Jessie"Lakewood Plaza TurboCarol, Gertie (voice)Pilot for OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.2015–2018Steven UniverseBarb Miller (voice)5 episodesAnother PeriodAnne Sullivan2 episodes2016Brooklyn Nine-Nine"Mean" Marge BroniganEpisode: "Adrian Pimento"New GirlMary EllenEpisode: "Hubbedy Bubby"DisengagedChefSuper Deluxe web series; episode "Food and Wine"American HousewifeCrossing Guard Sandy2 episodes2017Kevin (Probably) Saves the WorldAnn RussoEpisode: "How to Be Good"2017–2019OK K.O.! Let's Be HeroesCarol (voice)Main cast2018All NightPrincipal Saperstein9 episodesLiza on DemandKaraoke WomanEpisode: "MoJoe"2019Young SheldonNurse NoraEpisode: "A Tummy Ache and a Whale of a Metaphor"Dancing with the StarsContestant9 episodes2019–2020Summer Camp IslandGeorgina (voice)2 episodes2021That Girl Lay LayMitzyEpisode: "Lay Lay the Legendary"Magnum P.I.ErinEpisode: "Texas Wedge"2022PBCJessica2023; 2025KiffAgnes, Kion (voice)3 episodes2023 Is It Cake? Herself / Judge Episode: "S'more Cake Please" 2024 Hell's Kitchen Herself Guest diner; episode: "#HellishHangover" The Masked Singer Herself/Starfish Season 11 contestant2025Night Court MargeEpisode: "The Jakeout"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Herself Contestant2026Abbott Elementary Joy CrawfordEpisode: "Miami"
Video games YearTitleRoleNotes2018OK K.O.! Let's Play HeroesCarol
Dancing with the Stars performances Week #Dance/SongJudges' scoreResultInabaGoodmanTonioli1Cha-cha-cha / "She Works Hard for the Money"555No Elimination2Foxtrot / "Fly Me to the Moon"777Safe3Quickstep / "9 to 5"888Safe4Argentine Tango/ "Hands to Myself"771/66Safe5Jazz / "A Spoonful of Sugar"888No Elimination6Viennese waltz / "I Have Nothing"999Safe7Rumba /"Wicked Game"Team Freestyle / "Sweet Dreams"888888Bottom Two8Jive /""Heat Wave""Cha-Cha-Cha / "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)"8Won8Dance8OffEliminated 1 Score given by guest judge Leah Remini.
Awards and nominations +List of awards and nominations received by Kate FlanneryYearAwardCategoryWorkResult2018Behind the Voice Actors AwardsBest Female Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Guest RoleSteven UniverseBest Vocal Ensemble in a New Television SeriesOK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes2006Gold Derby AwardsEnsemble of the YearThe Office2007200820092007Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy SeriesThe Office2008200920102011201220132008TV Land AwardsFuture Classic AwardThe Office
References
External links
The Lampshades, Flannery's comedy lounge act