Lisa Ann Walter

Early life and education

Walter was born on August 3, 1963, in Silver Spring, Maryland. She and her older sister, Laura, are the children of a British geophysicist father who was born in France of Alsatian descent and a substitute-teacher mother of Sicilian descent. Walter's maternal great-grandparents immigrated to New York City from Italy.{{cite news|url=https://www.audacy.com/b101philly/latest/lisa-ann-walter-on-abbott-elementary-and-her-philly-accent|title=Lisa Ann Walter on 'Abbott Elementary,' her South Philly accent, and more

Career

After five years of standup comedy, Walter starred in her own Fox Network comedy series, My Wildest Dreams (1995), followed by an ABC sitcom, Life's Work (1996–1997), which she both created and starred in. Walter also co-starred in the Bravo series Breaking News and in the NBC sitcom Emeril. She played Whoopi Goldberg's tarty sidekick Claudine in Eddie (1996).

Walter co-starred in the Disney film The Parent Trap (1998); in the remake of the original film, she appeared as Chessy, the nanny to Dennis Quaid's character's daughter, who was played by a young Lindsay Lohan. Since then, she played supporting roles in the comedy Bruce Almighty (2003) and the romantic comedy Shall We Dance (2004).

In early 2007, Walter had a supporting role as Mabel, the bartender in the MyNetworkTV soap opera Watch Over Me. Later that May, she served as a judge on the ABC reality TV show The Next Best Thing, which searched for the best celebrity impersonators in America. In early 2008, Walter was in the comedy film Drillbit Taylor, and also starred in the VH1 reality series Celebracadabra, in which celebrities competed to see who was the best magician among them. She made it to the final three but was eliminated in the sixth episode. She has developed a series for the Oxygen network called Dance Your Ass Off. On December 19, 2011, she played a dramatic role on the TNT series Rizzoli & Isles as a ballet coach.

Her comic memoir, The Best Thing About My Ass Is That It's Behind Me, was published in May 2011. Beginning in May 2011, Walter hosted The Fabulous Lisa Ann Walter Show, a talk show on the Los Angeles radio station KFI. The program aired for three hours each Saturday and Sunday. In August 2014, Walter quit to focus on her acting career.

Since 2021, Walter has appeared in the ABC comedy Abbott Elementary as second grade teacher Melissa Schemmenti. Walter, alongside the show's ensemble cast, won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series at the 2023 ceremony and was nominated again the following year.

On October 20, 2022, Walter received the Virtuoso Award at the San Diego International Film Festival. In 2024, she won the second season of Celebrity Jeopardy!, defeating Mo Rocca and Katie Nolan in the finals. She won $1 million for the Entertainment Community Fund.

On October 14, 2025, Walter reunited with her best friend and former The Parent Trap co-star Elaine Hendrix on the 34th season of * Dancing with the Stars*. To celebrate the season's Dedication Night episode, Walter, Hendrix, and Dancing with the Stars pro dancer Alan Bersten performed a foxtrot to This Will Be by Natalie Cole.

Personal life

In 1983, she married fellow actor Sam Baum. They had a son, Jordan (1988), and a daughter, Delia (1992), before divorcing in 1999. She has twin sons, Spencer and Simon Walter (born October 11, 2000).

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. (August 7, 2011). "KFI's Lisa Ann Walter: Self-esteem begins with accepting the derriere you have". [[Los Angeles Daily News]].
2. "Walter, Lisa Ann 1963–". [[Cengage]].
3. "Lisa Ann Walter on Abbott Elementary, Working with Quinta Brunson & Growing Up Italian".
4. Knutzen, Eirik. (October 20, 1996). "Pennsylvanians Collaborate on 'Life's Work'". [[The Morning Call]].
5. Walter, Lisa Ann. (July 23, 2014). "I'M part German, but not FROM there.".
6. (22 March 2022). "Like Abbott Elementary's Melissa, Lisa Ann Walter Has a Guy for Everything". Vulture.
7. (May 16, 2011). "Actress recalls her Italian family's love of food". TODAY.com.
8. (3 September 2014). "Maggie McKay shares memories of KFWB". Daily News.
9. (15 March 2022). "Abbott Elementary's Lisa Ann Walter: 'Miracle' to Land a Show Like This". Us Weekly.
10. Pedersen, Erik. (February 26, 2023). "SAG Awards: 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' Wins Top Film Prize; Michelle Yeoh & Brendan Fraser Take Lead Acting Honors; 'White Lotus' a Double Winner – Full List". [[Deadline Hollywood]].
11. (January 10, 2024). "Nominations Announced for the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®". [[Screen Actors Guild]].
12. Milkowski, Jenny. (2022-10-07). "The San Diego International Film Festival Oct. 19-23 -".
13. "Night Of The Stars Tribute".
14. (January 25, 2024). "'Abbott Elementary' star Lisa Ann Walter aces Philly clue during 'Celebrity Jeopardy!' victory".
15. Esquibias, Liza. (8 October 2025). "Elaine Hendrix Reveals Lisa Ann Walter, A.K.A. Chessy, Is Joining Her on 'DWTS' to Perform 'a Song from The Parent Trap' (Exclusive)".
16. [https://archive.today/20200719200533/https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-1996-10-20-3122796-story.html# Pennsylvanians Collaborate on 'Life's Work'] mcall.com October 20, 1996
17. "Lisa Ann Walter".
18. (April 7, 2023). "Lisa Ann Walter says her twin sons have 'weird' similarity to 'Parent Trap' twins".
19. (February 16, 2022). "Lisa Ann Walter is a Mother of 4 Children Including Identical Twins - Meet Her Family".
20. (6 April 2023). "Lisa Ann Walter's identical twins were born on same day as 'Parent Trap' twins".
21. (January 23, 2024). "Celebrity Jeopardy! Game Recap - Tuesday, January 23, 2024".
22. "Lisa Ann Walter – Awards".