Mary Jo Catlett

Mary Jo Catlett is an American actress, comedian, and voice performer born on September 2, 1938, in Denver, Colorado, to Cornelia M. (née Callaghan) and Robert J. Catlett. She has a sister, Patricia Marie, who is a nun with the Dominican Order, and Catlett is Catholic. Her Broadway career spanned from 1964 to 1994, encompassing productions including Lysistrata, Hello, Dolly!, Different Times, Play Me a Country Song, and The Sleeping Beauty and the Beast. She is perhaps most widely recognized for voicing Mrs. Puff on the Nickelodeon animated series SpongeBob SquarePants, a role she has held since 1998.

Catlett began her performing career in Denver, appearing in local productions and at Elitch Theatre, where her credits included What Every Woman Knows, Say, Darling, Jenny Kissed Me, Auntie Mame, and The Best Man, the latter three in 1962. She also directed a company of Pirates of Penzance in Denver. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, she worked in both Off-Broadway and Broadway productions, frequently in humorous, character-driven roles. Her Broadway debut came in 1964 with Hello, Dolly!, in which she originated the role of Ernestina. She went on to appear in Lysistrata, Different Times, Play Me a Country Song, and The Sleeping Beauty and the Beast, among other productions.

In 1974, Catlett originated the role of Mrs. Tiffany in Fashion: or, Life in New York. New York Times critic Clive Barnes described Catlett and co-star Henrietta Valor as "exceptional ... both particular delights," and New York Post critic Jerry Tallmer cited the casting as "top-notch," singling out Catlett for particular praise. She reprised the role in the 1994 revival of Fashion. During the 1990s she performed in Los Angeles theater productions including Lend Me a Tenor, Beauty and the Beast, and The Music Man. Her role as Madame de la Grande Bouche in Beauty and the Beast earned her a nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical at the 1995 Ovation Awards. In 1989 she appeared in a regional revival of The Pajama Game in Pasadena, California, and in 2011 she portrayed Rosie in a stage adaptation of The Wedding Singer in Los Angeles.

Catlett received Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards in 1976 and 1980 for her performances in Come Back, Little Sheba and Philadelphia, Here I Come!, respectively. In 1987, she directed and performed in a production of Dan Goggin's Nunsense at the Mark Two Dinner Theatre in Orlando, Florida, playing Sister Mary Regina. She had discussed the character directly with Goggin before taking on the dual role of director and performer. She also returned to Elitch Theatre for productions of Harvey in 1985 and Nunsense in 1987.

On television, Catlett joined the cast of Diff'rent Strokes in its fifth season, playing Pearl Gallagher, the series' third housekeeper. She appeared in multiple episodes of M*A*S*H and on General Hospital, for which she received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination in 1990. Additional television credits include The Dukes of Hazzard, Modern Family, American Dad!, Kim Possible, Days of Our Lives, 2 Broke Girls, That's So Raven, Rugrats, Glee, and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. In film, she played Rosemary Ackerman in John Waters' Serial Mom (1994) and appeared in The Benchwarmers and Let's Be Cops. She also voiced a character in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) and all subsequent SpongeBob theatrical films.

In 1998, SpongeBob SquarePants creator Stephen Hillenburg, having seen Catlett perform on stage, sought her out specifically to voice Mrs. Puff, SpongeBob's driving school teacher. Catlett accepted and attended early practice sessions with the voice cast. Her first official recording in the role took place on August 24, 1998, at Nickelodeon Animation Studio, where she recorded dialogue with Tom Kenny and Bill Fagerbakke for the episode "Boating School." She has since voiced Mrs. Puff in every season of the series, as well as in the spinoffs Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years and The Patrick Star Show. In 2001, she received an Annie Award nomination for Best Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Production for the role, making her and Kenny the first two SpongeBob cast members to be nominated for an award. In 2013, she and the rest of the cast received a Behind the Voice Actors Award nomination for Best Vocal Ensemble in a Television Series — Children's/Educational. Mrs. Puff has become Catlett's longest-running and most recognized role.

Catlett has described herself as a character actress, noting in a 1988 interview with the Orlando Sentinel that being one "has been a plus." She has also performed novelty songs at charity fundraisers and musical benefits, with a particular focus on organizations related to AIDS and Broadway-oriented causes, including multiple appearances at the annual Help Is on the Way concert series.