Rondi Reed

Rondi Anne Reed, born October 26, 1952, in Dixon, Illinois, is an American actress whose career has spanned stage, television, and film. A graduate of Illinois State University, where she completed her studies in 1977, Reed built her professional foundation at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, with which she has appeared in 51 productions over the course of her career.

Reed's Broadway work spans from 1990 to 2007, beginning with The Grapes of Wrath in 1990 and continuing with The Rise and Fall of Little Voice in 1994. Her most celebrated Broadway credit came in 2007, when she originated the role of Mattie Fae Aiken in August: Osage County. The performance earned her the 2008 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play. She subsequently reprised the role in the London production of August: Osage County and later in the Australian production, which ran in Sydney from August 13 to September 25, 2010.

Reed's association with the musical Wicked has been extensive. On July 13, 2005, she originated the role of Madame Morrible in the Chicago production. She returned to that production beginning June 27, 2008, with her second Chicago run concluding on November 18, 2008. Reed then brought the role to Broadway, beginning performances as Madame Morrible on March 17, 2009, replacing Jayne Houdyshell, and remaining in the production through June 27, 2010. She returned to the Broadway production of Wicked again from July 31, 2017, to January 28, 2018.

On television, Reed is known for playing Peggy Biggs, the mother of the lead character, on the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly, a role she held from 2010 to 2016. Earlier television appearances include a guest role on Seinfeld in the episode "The Kiss Hello," which originally aired on February 16, 1995, and a recurring appearance on Roseanne as Jackie's therapist. She also appeared in Monster: The Ed Gein Story, playing Mary Hogan.

Reed met theatrical producer Stephen Eich in 1976 during her time at Steppenwolf Theatre and married him in 1982. The two divorced in 2016 after 34 years of marriage.