Ms. Sullivan, a member of the "MAD TV" cast since 1995, has received critical accolades for her wicked parodies of "Felicity," Celine Dion, fictitious country singer Darlene McBride, "Vancome Lady," Baby Spice, Alicia Silverstone and Lucille Ball as Lucy Ricardo. In fact, TV Guide, in its recent "50 Funniest Moments" issue, called her "Felicity" satire, entitled "Intensity," "sharper than a drawerful of Ginsu knives" and continued to rave that the sketch was "the most mercilessly acute TV parody of the decade, perhaps even of all time!"

In addition to recently hosting a week of NBC's late night show, "Later," in November 1999, which proved to be the highest-rated of the season to that point, Ms. Sullivan also will be lending her voice to WB's upcoming new animated series, "Baby Blues," as Bizzy, and to another new syndicated animated series, "Star Command," as Princess Mira Nova. She has guest starred on ABC's "The Drew Carey Show," "Party of Five," "Golden Girls," "Diagnosis: Murder," "Herman's Head," "Madman of the People" and "Models Inc."

Ms. Sullivan, a native New Yorker, grew up in Manhattan, taking modern dance classes at seven and performing on and off-Broadway with the First All Children's Theater. However, her mother, Madonna, a successful antique dealer, and her father, Ed Sullivan, a New York State assemblyman, wanted a more peaceful environment in which to bring up Ms. Sullivan and her sister, Jennifer, and moved the family to the rural town of Middleburgh, an hour away from the state capital, Albany, New York.

Her desire to perform undiminished, Ms. Sullivan attended Northwestern University, majoring in theater. There she concentrated on studying the classics, Greek tragedies and plays by Shakespeare, Harold Pinter, Anton Chekov and Henrik Ibsen, and became a member of the Greenwich Shakespeare Company. Although she was working two jobs to pay her way through college, Ms. Sullivan also found time to write plays for the student theater. She spent her junior year abroad in London studying theater at the British American Dramatic Academy.

After graduating Northwestern on the dean's list, Ms. Sullivan moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of being an actress. She began by concentrating on comedy, performing her own material around town at various comedy clubs and theaters in sketch groups. She then moved to television, with occasional guest starring roles before becoming a regular on "MAD TV."

Ms. Sullivan resides in Los Angeles.

Need to write? Here's where to send mail to Nicole Sullivan.