McKinnon was born and raised on Long Island in the town of Sea Cliff, New York,[1][4] to Laura Campbell, a parent educator, and Michael Thomas Berthold, an architect.[5][6] She has a younger sister, comedian Emily Lynne, with whom she has collaborated on the Audible series Heads Will Roll,[7] as well as the digital series Notary Publix.[1][6] Their father died when McKinnon was 18 years old.[1][5]
As a child, McKinnon played several instruments. She started playing the piano when she was five years old, the cello at age 12, and taught herself how to play the guitar at 15.[8]
McKinnon's knack for accents began when she was in fifth grade. She auditioned to be "the queen of reading week" and used an English accent. In an interview with Rolling Stone, she says, "I think the genesis of my entire life, probably, was the smiles I elicited doing this British accent. I've been chasing that dragon ever since."[9]
McKinnon joined the cast of Saturday Night Live as a featured player on April 7, 2012, following a March 28, 2012 report of her being hired.[24][25] She was promoted to repertory status in season 39 in 2013.[26][27]
McKinnon began appearing as Hillary Clinton on the series leading up to the 2016 presidential election. The real Clinton appeared alongside her in a sketch during the show's season 41 premiere.[33] McKinnon has said that her impression of Hillary Clinton comes from a deep admiration, and that she "unequivocally want[ed] her to win" the 2016 presidential election.[34] On November 12, 2016, which was the first show after Clinton's loss in the election, she reprised the role to open the show with a solo performance of "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen, whose death was announced two days before her performance.[35] After the election, McKinnon began to impersonate Kellyanne Conway alongside Alec BaldwinasDonald Trump. On February 11, 2017, she debuted her impression of Elizabeth Warren during Weekend Update and Jeff Sessions in the cold open.
McKinnon's return to season 46 officially made her the show's longest tenured female cast member, surpassing her cast mates Cecily Strong and Aidy Bryant by five episodes.[37][38] Both Bryant and McKinnon departed the series after season 47.[39] Strong passed McKinnon's record with the December 17, 2022 episode of season 48.[40][41]
Olya Povlatsky, a Russian woman who voices her opinions on current events, comparing them to the outrageous struggles she faces in her village. She also appeared in a cold open with Beck BennettasVladimir Putin reading a prepared statement against her will.
Sheila Sovage, a heavily intoxicated woman at a bar who meets and hooks up with a heavily intoxicated man or woman, played by the host, at closing time.
Jodi Cork, The Art of the Encounter and Women in the Workplace co-host with Donna Fingerneck (played by Cecily Strong).
Barbara DeDrew, a lesbian volunteer at the cat shelter Whiskers R We.
Deenie, a.k.a. "Somebody's Mom", a middle-aged woman who attempts to recap shows she's been watching, but only knows the characters by self-applied nicknames, such as "Big Boobs" and "Mustache". She is always eating some foul concoction out of Tupperware, such as Brussels sprouts and imitation crab, which generally both revolts and breaks up Weekend Update anchor Colin Jost. The character is based on longtime SNL writer Paula Pell's mother.
Mrs. Santini, an apartment dweller who writes passive-aggressive notes to her neighbors. Originally performed as Effie Villalopolus on Comedy Bang! Bang!
Colleen Rafferty, a 27-year-old woman (despite looking middle-aged, implicitly due to her repeated traumas) who appears in panels with two of her friends (played by Cecily Strong as a hippie named Sharon, alongside the episode's host). The three friends recount their experience of a shared paranormal event (such as being abducted by aliens, having a near-death experience, discovering that Santa Claus is real, being visited by ghosts, and discovering that time travel is possible). The other two friends always have an idyllic experience, while Rafferty instead goes through a different, traumatic experience during the event and invariably loses her pants.
Les Dykawitz, a lesbian cop from the 1970s who works for the Chicago Police Department along with her partner Chubina Fatzarelli (played by Aidy Bryant) in "Dyke & Fats".
Debette Goldry, a senile elderly actress whose harsh experiences with being an actress in old Hollywood (including the issues of equal pay, sexual harassment and abuse, racial diversity in film roles, and actresses getting involved behind the camera as directors and writers) are more outrageous than what modern actresses have gone through.
A member of Woodbridge High School's theatre troupe who make their performances obsessively and solely about social justice issues that they know very little about.
Noelle LeSoup, the co-host of the French show "America's Funniest Cats" who appears on the American version of the show along with Joelle LaRue (played by Cecily Strong).
Shud, a crass mermaid who is based on a blobfish, and makes sexual advances on an unfortunate marooned sailor.
Dr. Wayne Wenowdis, a strangely accented middle-aged medical doctor, who debuted in 2020, as part of the Weekend Update segment with Colin Jost.[42]
Madame Vivelda, a fortune teller who predicts people's 2020 experiences.
Aside from SNL, McKinnon also co-created and co-stars in the web series Notary Publix with her sister Emily Lynne.[45][46] In addition to Aidy Bryant (who stars in the series), McKinnon's SNL co-stars Beck Bennett, Jay Pharoah and SNL writer Paula Pell all guest-starred in the six-episode first season of the web series.[45]
In 2019, she played a supporting role in the film Yesterday.[50]
Her absence from the first seven episodes of Saturday Night Live's47th season was due to her filming the Peacock miniseries Joe vs. Carole, where she stars as Carole Baskin. It premiered March 3, 2022.[51]
In February 2024, McKinnon announced the forthcoming release of a young adult novel, aimed at those in middle school, to be called The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science. The work would focus on events among three sisters from the Porch family and the mad scientist in the fictional town of Antiquarium. The release was scheduled for October 2024.[52][53][54]
McKinnon was in a relationship with photographer and actress Jackie Abbott from 2016 to 2019. While presenting Ellen DeGeneres with the Carol Burnett Award at the 2020 Golden Globe Awards, McKinnon opened up about being a lesbian and thanked DeGeneres for making it less scary for her to accept her sexual orientation while watching her TV sitcom Ellen.[55] While attending Columbia University, she dated future journalist Bari Weiss.[56]
McKinnon has a cat, Nino Positano—named after a pizza restaurant where he was found—whom she jokingly refers to as her son.[57][58] Nino appeared in a "Whiskers R We" sketch filmed from McKinnon's home in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, playing the role of all the cats up for adoption.[59]
She does not have any social media accounts, fearing that she will "misrepresent [her] real feelings".[60]
^ abcdefgShuster, Yelena (March–April 2007). "One Funny Voice at a Time". Columbia College Today. Archived from the original on December 19, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2012. Berthold (under the stage name of Kate McKinnon — her "gentler" middle name)...
^ ab"Long Island celebrity yearbook pictures: The 2000s". Newsday. July 19, 2014. Archived from the original on July 27, 2014. Retrieved April 3, 2016. 2002 North Shore High School grad Kathryn Berthold was voted "Funniest" and "Most Theatrical" by her fellow seniors{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^Matlow, Orli (November 19, 2014). "Spectrum investigates: The club graveyard". Columbia Daily Spectator. Archived from the original on October 10, 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2016. Also a former fixture of the comedy scene is the dearly departed Prangstgrüp, which staged pranks and performances, kind of like Improv Everywhere. Kate 'McKinnon' Berthold of SNL was a member.
^May 18 - Ben Affleck: S38 E21 05/18/13. Saturday Night Live. NBC. Event occurs at 04:42. Retrieved September 16, 2020. With Fred Armisen, Vanessa Bayer, Bill Hader, Taran Killam, Seth Meyers, Bobby Moynihan, Nasim Pedrad, Jay Pharoah, Jason Sudeikis, Kenan Thompson. Featuring Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon, Tim Robinson, Cecily Strong.
^September 28 - Tina Fey: S39 E1 09/28/13. Saturday Night Live. NBC. Event occurs at 07:10. With Vanessa Bayer, Aidy Bryant, Taran Killam, Kate McKinnon, Seth Meyers, Bobby Moynihan, Nasim Pedrad, Jay Pharoah, Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson. Featuring Beck Bennett, John Milhiser, Kyle Mooney…
^ abcdefghi"Kate McKinnon (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 7, 2023. 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 opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
