Kaitlin Olson, also known as Kaitlin Willow McElhenney, is an American actress, comedian, and producer who started her career through The Sunday Company at The Groundlings in Los Angeles, California.
Before being cast as Deandra ‘Sweet Dee’ Reynolds in the long-running FX television show “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia”, she had appeared in several films and TV shows. For her performance in the Quibi comedy “Flipped”, she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series.
She has also appeared in several films, including “Leap Year” (2010), “The Heat” (2013), “Vacation” (2015), “Finding Dory” (2016), and “Arizona” (2018).
Olson is a huge fan of Sacha Baron Cohen and Will Ferrell and is known for always having a smile on her face. Well, here are several other things you probably didn’t know her.
Top 10 facts about Kaitlin Olson
- Kaitlin Olson was born on 18 August 1975 and is now 46 years old in 2021.
- Kaitlin Olson’s height is recorded as 172 cm or 5 feet, seven inches, and three-quarter inches (5’7 3/4″).
- When she was 12, Olson was involved in a bicycle accident that severely fractured her skull, and she needed reconstructive surgery.
- Olson graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Oregon.
- She moved around a lot with her family, but they eventually settled down on a farm in Oregon, where she grew up.
- Olson started her acting career as a part of the improvisational LA group, The Groundlings.
- Kaitlin Olson is currently married to Rob McElhenney, and they have two children together.
- She is worth an estimated 18 million dollars ($18 million) in 2021.
- Olson’s husband, Rob McElhenney, described her as the funniest woman on television.
- She was the one who approached her now-husband at a party hosted by Fox and asked him out.
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Early life
Kaitlin Willow Olson was born on 18 July 1985 in Portland, Oregon, to Donald Lee Olson, a publisher, and Melinda Leora, a nurse. Shortly after she was born, Olson and her family moved to Spokane, Washington, then to Vashon Island, Washington, where she lived until she was eight years old.
Her family eventually moved to Tualatin in Portland, where she grew up on a farm. Her father worked as the publisher of the Portland Tribune from 2000 to 2001.
Olson attended Tigard High School and graduated in 1993. When she was 12, Olson was involved in a bicycle accident that involved a car. It was severe—it fractures Olson’s skull so badly that she needed reconstructive surgery. She decided pretty early in her life that she wanted to become an actress, so after graduating from high school, she immediately got to work trying to achieve her dream.
She enrolled at the University of Oregon to study Theatre Arts and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in 1997. After college, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a professional career as an actress.
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Career
After Olson moved to Los Angeles, she immediately hit the ground running. She secured a spot as a member of the improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school, The Groundlings. The school has previously been home to comedy greats Phil Hartman and Will Ferrell, of whom she said: “I’m just a giant fan of Will Ferrell and Sacha Baron Cohen. They make me laugh so hard, I make hideous noises, and that’s a good sign.”
She toured with the United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) to Norway, Bosnia, and Kosovo. In 2000, she had a minor role in the film “Coyote Ugly” after which she was cast in the television shows “Curb Your Enthusiasm”, “The Drew Carey Show”, “The Jamie Kennedy Experiment”, “Out of Practice”, “Miss Match”, “Family Guy”, and “Punk’d”.
In 2003, she played a role in the short film “Scapegoats”. Two years later, she started to appear in the FX sitcom “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia”, where she was cast as Deandra ‘Sweet dee’ Reynolds.
She also voiced the character of Ethel in the Comedy Central series “Brickleberry”. Olson has discussed how much she dedicates to carefully picking every movie that she appears in, saying about her career:
“I wasn’t in a hurry to take everything that came along. It’s pretty important to me to be proud of the work I do. I didn’t want to just be cute and on TV. I wanted to be funny.”
To that end, she took minor roles in the Mellisa McCarthy and Anne Hathaway starter “The Heat”. She also played a recurring role in the FX series “The Riches”.
In June 2016, after the Orlando nightclub shooting, the Human Rights Campaign released a tribute to the victims. Olson was part of the people who told the stories of the victims. The same year, she voiced the character of Destiny in the hit animation film “Finding Dory”, and she won the Blimp Award for her performance.
She also starred in the 2017 Fox sitcom “The Mick” and served as executive producer on the show. Additionally, she returned for the second season of the show before it was cancelled in 2018.
Kaitlin Olson in “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia”
Kaitlin Olson started to appear in the FX sitcom “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia” in 2005. The series follows the exploits of The Gang, a group of narcissistic friends running a bar in Philadelphia called Paddy’s Pub.
The series was renewed for a fifteenth season in May 2020, making it the longest-running TV show ever, displacing “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet”, which ran for 14 seasons between 1952 and 1966. In December 2020, the show was renewed for four more seasons.
Olson plays the character of Sweet Dee, one of the five misfit friends who form the gang and the only woman in the group. In the beginning, she is depicted as the most morally upright of the group, but she eventually becomes just as bad as everyone, eventually even becoming the most violent one of the gang.
She has said about her character: “I really like her insecurity. She definitely is despicable, and you can’t really argue with that. I don’t think she’s hateable because it all stems from her raging insecurity and they’re so mean to her. I think there is just something really funny about that to me.”
About being the only woman in the group, she added: “I feel happy to be the only girl on the show. We get along really well, we’re all really good friends now, I don’t feel left out. I think that they were surprised that a girl could hang out and have fun with them, and I was like, ‘Really? You guys don’t know any funny women? That’s too bad.'”
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Personal life
During the second season of the show “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia”, the star and show creator Rob McElhenney started dating his co-star, Kaitlin Olson. The couple reportedly met at a party hosted by Fox, and their relationship made co-star Glenn Howerton jealous, so much that it has been said about him:
“Glenn would come to work jealous and be like, ‘God, Rob is just like, he’s just out there at bars, just like, meeting people? ****ing every bar he goes to, he goes and spends the night at her house!'”.
What exactly attracted this couple to each other? Well, Olson has said that she fell in love with McElhenney at first sight while her husband admires her comedic talents, describing her as the funniest woman in television.
The actress also added that although the two work together on their show, it has never been a problem for either of them, and she has described her husband as a great boss and collaborator.
On 1 September 2010, the couple welcomed their first child, Axel Lee McElhenney. Olson’s pregnancy and birth were written into the show with one episode dedicated to their son. A picture of him was shared at the end of the episode alongside his name and his birth date.
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Their second son, Leo Grey McElhenney, was born on 12 April 2012 and did not receive quite the fanfare that his older brother did.
As far as plastic surgery is concerned, Kaitlin Olson has not responded to the rumors that started because of the difference in how she looks before and now. She might have gotten surgery when she was 12, but that’s all that the actress is willing to admit to right now.
Kaitlin Olson net worth
Kaitlin Olson has quite a number of investments with her husband. In 2009, they announced that they had bought Skinner’s Bar at 226 Market Street in Philadelphia, and they renamed it Mac’s Tavern.
In 2008, Olson and her husband bought a 4-bedroom home in Los Angeles for $2.1 million, and they sold it for $2.5 million in 2018.
Right now, Kaitlin Olson is worth an estimated 18 million dollars ($18 million). As she continues to appear in more shows and films, it is expected that her net worth will rise.
Conclusion
Kaitlin Olson is a talented actress who decided on her chosen path early in life and dedicated a lot of time and resources to get what she wants out of life. Although she suffered some setbacks, including the accident that happened when she was younger and required her to get reconstructive surgery, she has forged ahead in spite of that.
Kaitlin Olson can be said to have achieved a lot since the start of her career, starring in several comedies and being part of the main cast of the longest-running TV show in history.
She also met and married the love of her life and has two children with him. Olson seems to be living a wonderful life despite all of her earlier challenges.
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