The Biography

Julie Beth Hagerty (born June 15, 1955) is an American actress. She starred as Elaine Dickinson in the films Airplane! (1980) and Airplane II: The Sequel (1982). Her other film roles include A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982), Lost in America (1985), What About Bob? (1991), She's the Man (2006), A Master Builder (2014),[3] Instant Family (2018), Noelle, Marriage Story (both 2019), and A Christmas Story Christmas (2022). Hagerty was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the daughter of Harriet Yuellig (née Bishop), a model and singer, and Jerald William "Jerry" Hagerty, Jr., a musician. Her brother Michael Hagerty was also an actor. Her parents later divorced. Hagerty attended Indian Hill High School. She was signed as a model for Ford Models at 15, and spent summers modeling in New York City. She moved there in 1972 and worked at her brother's theater group; she also studied with actor William Hickey. Hagerty made her off-Broadway debut in 1979, starring in Mutual Benefit Life at her brother's theater, The Production Company. In 1983 she appeared Off-Broadway at the Vandam Theatre in Shel Silverstein's 'Wild Life' directed by Art Wolff. It was an ensemble theatre piece co-starring Christopher Murney, W.H. Macy, Henderson Forsythe, Conard Fowkes, Jody Gelb, Howard Lee Sherman and Raynor Scheine. She continued appearing on stage, including starring in a Broadway version of The House of Blue Leaves. Her first film role was in All That Jazz, but her small part was cut out of the finished film. She was subsequently cast opposite Robert Hays in the parody film, Airplane! It was released in June 1980 and became the third-highest grossing comedy in box office history at that time, behind Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and National Lampoon's Animal House (1978). Airplane! established Hagerty as a noted comedic actress. Hagerty spent the 1980s starring in a number of theatrical films, ranging from the well-reviewed Albert Brooks film Lost in America and Woody Allen's A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy to the badly received Beyond Therapy. Her roles often involved a naive or spaced-out character who seems to be unaware of whatever chaos was surrounding her, as exemplified in Airplane! and Airplane II: The Sequel. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Hagerty mostly appeared in television films or supporting roles in Hollywood films, including the '90s comedies What About Bob? and Noises Off, as well as a part in the 2005 film Just Friends and 2006's She's the Man. In 2021, she was cast in the action-comedy film The Out-Laws directed by Tyler Spindel and in the romantic comedy Somebody I Used to Know, which were released in 2023. In 2022, Hagerty played Mrs. Parker, the mother of Ralphie in a sequel to the 1983 film A Christmas Story titled A Christmas Story Christmas, replacing Melinda Dillon, who originated the role in the original film but had retired from acting in 2007.