Actor Biography

Actress Lisa Ann Walter is currently co-starring in Quinta Brunson's ensemble workplace comedy, "Abbott Elementary" on ABC, and is thrilled to join the stellar cast in an homage to our nation's hardworking teachers/staff, which includes Walter's mother, a former Washington, D.C., public school teacher.

Walter's film career highlights include stand-out performances as Chessy in "The Parent Trap" with Dennis Quaid and Bobbie in "Shall We Dance" opposite Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez. Other blockbuster films include "Bruce Almighty" with Jim Carrey and Jennifer Aniston, Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" with Tom Cruise and the Lionsgate action comedy "Killers" with Ashton Kutcher. Among her other film credits are "Drillbit Taylor" with Owen Wilson, "Eddie" with Whoopi Goldberg and "The Trouble With Dee Dee," which garnered her six Festival Best Actress Awards.

Based on her years as a national touring stand-up comedy headliner, Walter co-created, produced and starred in several network sitcoms; Fox's "My Wildest Dreams" and ABC's "Life's Work," the highest-rated new show on ABC for the season averaging 19 million viewers per week. She is currently creator/writer and executive producer of her new half-hour single-camera series, "Bitter." She's very proud of co-starring in "The More Things Change," an everyday trans woman half-hour comedy, where she also served as executive producer – debuting at Outfest 2019. She recently directed and starred in the comedic short, "Jersey."

Walter was honored to appear on the Netflix special "Laugh-In: The Stars Celebrate" as Lily Tomlin and the cast formed her early love of comedy. She is recurring in the longest-running medical drama on TV, "Grey's Anatomy," and has enjoyed many guest and recurring TV roles over the years including Fox's "9-1-1" starring Angela Bassett and Netflix's "GLOW" as Betty Gilpin's mother.

Behind the camera, Walter has worked as creative executive producer and showrunner on innovative formats with top companies 495 Productions, Magical Elves, Esquire TV (formerly HDNET) and Propagate. Her hit dance/weight-loss competition series, "Dance Your Ass Off," where she served as creator, executive producer and head judge, originally the highest-rated premiere for any Oxygen series, was produced in 15 foreign formats. She also executive produced and wrote the stand-up special "The Naughty Show" as well as co-created, executive produced and directed "Gonzo Girlz" in 2005, a groundbreaking female stunt/comedy web series which aired on Time Warner, Comcast and Adelphia on-demand networks garnering 6 million unique views per episode and was the No. 1 show on the Sprint Network. She co-created the series "Tour Dates" which celebrates the world of female national touring stand-up comedians and is currently in development at a major cable network.

Walter's comedic memoir, "The Best Thing About My Ass Is That It's Behind Me" (Harper Collins/Harper One), is a comedic look at a chronic self-loather and former "chubby" girl trying to make it in the glamorous world of "size 0 Hollywood." The book was No. 13 on The New York Times Comedic Essays Bestseller List and on Amazon. But Walter is most proud of being a working mom of four with "One foot on the Red Carpet … The other at Costco" – and that her stomach is still reasonably flat after being the clown car they all came out of.