Today, August 26th, is Melissa McCarthy‘s birthday.  The actress/comedian became a household name with her bombastic role in 2011’s Bridesmaids.  She would further grace our screens on the Chicago-based TV series Mike and Molly that aired from 2010 through 2016.  So, what all do you know about this actress/comedian?

• For one, just as the title of this article suggests, she is a Chicagoland native.  She grew up in the southwest suburb, Plainfield.
• Her older cousin grew up in Evergreen Park, Illinois and also became a famous actress: Melissa McCarthy is Jenny McCarthy‘s cousin.
• While ‘Bridesmaids’ was her introduction to many, McCarthy actually landed her first notable role as chef Sookie St. James and best friend of lead character Lorelai Gilmore on TV series, Gilmore Girls.
• Bridesmaids also introduced many of us to her husband!  In the airplane scene, we see McCarthy’s character, Megan, harassing a passenger that she believes to be an Air Marshall.  It turns out she was right, and this Air Marshall was played by her husband, Ben Falcone.  The two really must have clicked over both having been born in Illinois, Ben Falcone is from Carbondale.
• The two not only work together in raising their two daughters, but also write movies together.  And, Falcone has directed three movies starring Melissa McCarthy: The Boss, Life of the Party and Tammy.  Their next collaborations will be the films, Superintelligence and Thunder Force.
• But, their very first project together was actually a sketch about Classic Hits artist, Bob Seger, they talk all about it in an interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show.  

• McCarthy also has a good working relationship with the director of Bridesmaids, Paul Feig.  The two have made 4 movies together, including Spy, The Heat and Ghostbusters (2016).
• Back in 2016, Forbes named Melissa McCarthy the highest paid actress.
• In ‘The Heat,’ Melissa McCarthy starred with Sandra Bullock and the two are now best friends.
• McCarthy has won several awards for her work in TV and film.  She has two Emmy’s, a couple of MTV Movie & TV Awards, several People’s Choice Awards, a Teen Choice Award, a couple of Golden Raspberry Awards and she’s even earned her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Useless Daily / Ton Of Facts /Heavy