Age, Biography, and Wiki
Melissa McCarthy was born on September 26, 1970, in Plainfield, Illinois, to Sandra and Michael McCarthy. She grew up in a family of Irish descent and has two sisters and a brother. McCarthy's early life was marked by her passion for comedy and performance, which led her to pursue a career in acting. She is known for her versatility and has been active in the entertainment industry for over two decades.
| Occupation | Film Producer |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 26 August 1970 |
| Age | 54 Years |
| Birth Place | Plainfield, Illinois, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Virgo |
| Country | U.S |
Height, Weight & Measurements
- Height: 5 feet 2 inches (157 cm)
- Weight: Approximately 75 kg (165 lbs)
- Measurements: 38-30-40 inches (97-76-102 cm)
In 2010, McCarthy was cast in a leading role on the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly. Television critic Lucy Mangan from the Guardian commended McCarthy and her co-star Billy Gardell on some “unfeasibly delicate and charming work”, while decrying the show itself for hanging every one of its gags on the subject of their weight. In 2011, McCarthy had a breakout performance in the comedy film Bridesmaids alongside Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper. She received wide critical acclaim and press coverage for her performance. McCarthy received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. She received BAFTA, Critics' Choice and Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations, as well as won Boston Society of Film Critics Award, New York Film Critics Online Award for Best Supporting Actress, Women Film Critics Circle Award for Best Comedic Actress, and MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance. One of McCarthy's most memorable scenes in Bridesmaids was improvised, according to director Paul Feig. In fall 2011, after achieving fame from Bridesmaids, she received her first Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role on Mike & Molly.
| Height | 5 feet 2 inches |
| Weight | 165 lbs |
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Dating & Relationship Status
Melissa McCarthy is married to actor and director Ben Falcone. The couple met in a comedy writing class and got married in 2005. They have two daughters, Vivian and Georgette, born in 2007 and 2010, respectively.
McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone are the founders of the production company On the Day Productions, under which they have collaborated on several comedy films including Super Intelligence (2020), and Thunder Force (2021). In 2015, she launched her own clothing line for plus-sized women, named Melissa McCarthy Seven7, and she received a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
She is a cousin of actress and model Jenny McCarthy. McCarthy was raised on a farm in a large Catholic family. Her father is of Irish descent, while her mother is of English, German, and Irish ancestry. Some of her forebears were from County Cork. She graduated from St. Francis Academy (now Joliet Catholic Academy) in Joliet, Illinois, and attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
In June 2011, she hosted the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards. She was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in June 2012 along with 175 others. McCarthy hosted Saturday Night Live on October 1, 2011, April 6, 2013, February 1, 2014, February 13, 2016, and May 12, 2017. She was nominated five times for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her appearances on the television show from 2011 to 2017, winning in 2017. In 2011, McCarthy produced a CBS pilot which starred her husband, Ben Falcone. After her Bridesmaids breakout, McCarthy had supporting roles in the comedy films This Is 40 (2012), the spinoff to Judd Apatow's film Knocked Up, and The Hangover Part III (2013).
In 2013, McCarthy founded the production company On the Day Productions with her husband Ben Falcone. Tammy was the company's first project. The film cost $20 million. McCarthy co-wrote the script for the road comedy film, which was released in 2014. McCarthy's character loses her job and her car, and then learns that her husband has been unfaithful. To get away, she is forced to rely on her alcoholic grandmother (Susan Sarandon) for transportation as they embark on a journey of self-discovery. Although a box office success, grossing over $100 million from a $20 million budget, it received highly negative reviews from critics with McCarthy received Razzie nomination for Worst Actress. On Rotten Tomatoes, the site's critical consensus reads, "Melissa McCarthy remains an engaging screen presence, but her efforts aren't enough to keep the jumbled Tammy on track." Later in 2014, McCarthy played the female lead, opposite Bill Murray, in the comedy-drama film St. Vincent, directed and written by Theodore Melfi. The film received positive reviews from critics and her performance as an overworked single mom was noted. At the 20th Critics' Choice Awards, she received Best Actress in a Comedy Movie nomination.
McCarthy married her longtime boyfriend Ben Falcone, an actor and member of The Groundlings, on October 8, 2005. The couple have two daughters, Vivian and Georgette. McCarthy's pregnancy with Vivian was written into the last season of Gilmore Girls. Vivian and Georgette both made an appearance in the 2016 film The Boss, with the former playing a younger version of her mother's character.
| Parents | |
| Husband | Ben Falcone (m. October 8, 2005) |
| Sibling | |
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Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, Melissa McCarthy's net worth is estimated at $90 million. Her annual earnings have varied significantly over the years, with notable highs in 2015 when she earned over $33 million and between 2019 and 2020 when she earned approximately $25 million. While some sources report her annual salary in Indian Rupees, these figures are not universally agreed upon and may vary based on the source.
In May 2015, McCarthy received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In August 2015, Forbes ranked her as the third highest-paid actress of 2015, with earnings of $23 million. Also in 2015, McCarthy played the lead in frequent collaborator Paul Feig's spy comedy Spy, a role that earned McCarthy her first Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed $235 million worldwide against a $65 million budget. McCarthy's performance was praised by critics. Richard Roeper of The Chicago Sun Times called her "as funny and as winning as anyone in the movies these days". Tom Russo of The Boston Globe credited the film's success to McCarthy, writing, "part of what makes the action comedy such a loopy blast is the identity shifts she pulls on the audience." Bill Goodykoontz of Arizona Republic called the film McCarthy's return to form, writing "Finally, after the promise shown in Bridesmaids, but sold short since by weak scripts in films like Tammy and Identity Thief, Melissa McCarthy gets a movie vehicle worthy of her talents."
In 2016, McCarthy starred in the comedy film The Boss, a film based on a character which McCarthy had created in the Los Angeles Groundlings – a wealthy businesswoman "who goes to jail for insider trading, and struggles to reinvent herself as America's new sweetheart when she's released". Although it received generally negative reviews from critics, it grossed over $78 million worldwide on a budget of $29 million. Also that year, she played an author and scientist in the all-female reboot of Ghostbusters, directed by Paul Feig. The film grossed $229.1 million worldwide against its $144 million budget, making it a box office bomb with losses of over $70 million following theaters taking their revenue cut. At the 43rd People's Choice Awards, McCarthy won Award for Favorite Comedic Movie Actress.
Career, Business and Investments
Melissa McCarthy's career has been marked by her success in both film and television. She gained widespread recognition for her roles in "Bridesmaids," "The Heat," and the TV series "Mike & Molly." McCarthy and her husband co-founded On the Day Productions, which has produced several of her films, including "The Boss" and "Life of the Party." This production company has been instrumental in diversifying her income streams beyond acting.
Her career started with stand-up comedy in Los Angeles, and later in New York City. McCarthy is an alumna of The Groundlings, an improvisational and sketch comedy troupe based in Los Angeles, California. She also performed in New York City as a drag queen under the moniker Miss Y, including at the Wigstock festival.
McCarthy made her first television appearance in an episode of the NBC comedy series Jenny, opposite her cousin Jenny McCarthy. She made her feature film debut in a minor role in the 1999 comedy Go, and later had roles in the films Drowning Mona, Disney's The Kid, Charlie's Angels, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Third Wheel and The Life of David Gale. She also worked in three episodes of Kim Possible, voicing DNAmy. In 2000, McCarthy was cast as Sookie St. James, the upbeat and klutzy best friend of Lorelai Gilmore, on The WB television series Gilmore Girls. Throughout the series, Sookie is Lorelai's business partner and cheerleader. On April 7, 2016, McCarthy announced on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that she would be returning for the show's revival, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, on Netflix. The series was released November 25, 2016 and McCarthy appeared in one of its four episodes.
McCarthy starred and produced another comedy film directed by Ben Falcone, Life of the Party. The film was released on May 11, 2018. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $65 million. She also starred in The Happytime Murders, an adult puppet buddy cop crime comedy film directed by Brian Henson. The film was released on August 24, 2018, and received mostly negative reviews and was a box-office bomb, grossing $27.5 million worldwide against a $40–47 million budget. It went on to debut to $9.5 million, marking the lowest opening of McCarthy's career as a lead.
McCarthy studied textiles at Southern Illinois University and was interested in a fashion career before she pursued her interests in acting. When she moved to New York City, it was to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology. One of her closest friends is the shoe designer Brian Atwood. McCarthy also spent time working as a costumer for a dance company.
Over her career, McCarthy has received two Primetime Emmy Awards (out of 8 nominations) winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2011 for playing Molly Flynn on the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly (2010–2016), and Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2017 for hosting the NBC sketch series Saturday Night Live (2011–2017). She also has earned nominations for two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Social Network
Melissa McCarthy is active on social media platforms like Instagram, where she engages with her fans and shares updates about her personal and professional life. However, her presence is not as prominent as some other celebrities, reflecting her focus on her career and family.
In 2019, McCarthy played the lead in the crime film The Kitchen. It received mostly negative reviews from critics and was a box-office bomb. Variety's Owen Gleiberman described the film as "just like Widows, except not as good." Gleiberman was critical of the script but praised McCarthy's fierce performance. The following year, she returned to comedy with the leading role in the Superintelligence. In 2021, she starred in the superhero comedy film Thunder Force, and the comedy-drama film The Starling; both were released on Netflix.
On June 28, 2019, it was announced that McCarthy was in talks to play Ursula in Disney's film The Little Mermaid, set to be directed by Rob Marshall. On February 18, 2020, McCarthy confirmed her casting as the villainess during an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The film was released in 2023 and grossed over $569 million worldwide against a total production budget of $250 million. Peter Debruge from the Variety wrote: "If Bailey is the film’s big discovery, then McCarthy is its no-brainer. Dolled up to look like Divine’s evil-stepsister in her glowing green lair, the comic star’s just delicious as the movie’s deep-sea villain. Her timing is impeccable, and though the part is virtually identical to the one Pat Carroll originated, she aces what’s demanded of these tricky remakes: Basically, McCarthy manages to hit every beat the super fans expect, while surprising with every pause and inflection."
In the April 2021 issue of Instyle, McCarthy said that, with regard to politics, "It's very polarizing, but, I mean, I'm on the left for sure, though I'm not an extremist. And I think just saying like, "Can't we all just be kind to each other?" and that gets a "F— you, lady," I don't know what to do."
In 2015, McCarthy announced her first clothing collection, Melissa McCarthy Seven7, for plus-size women. The line includes clothes up to size 28. In an interview with More, McCarthy stated that "people don't stop at size 12. I feel like there's a big thing missing where you can't dress to your mood above a certain number. Malls segregate "plus-size" clothes stores and hide these stores away from other sections of the mall." Seven7, which was developed alongside Sunrise Brands, debuted in August 2015 on the Home Shopping Network.
Education
McCarthy attended Joliet Catholic Academy and later enrolled at Southern Illinois University, where she studied theater. However, she did not graduate and instead moved to New York City to pursue a career in comedy and acting.
In summary, Melissa McCarthy has carved out a successful career in the entertainment industry through her talent, perseverance, and strategic business ventures. Her net worth and earnings reflect her status as one of the most successful comedians and actresses of her generation.
