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United States Phyllis Smith transitioned from a professional dancer and casting associate to an acclaimed actress and voice artist.
Joann launched a three-part, documentary-style web series, “Working from Home with Phyllis,” featuring Phyllis Smith, the actress, for their holiday campaign.
Panera hired Phyllis Vance from The Office, also known as actress Phyllis Smith, as a fictitious social media coordinator to read off comments to combat social media negativity.
Phyllis Smith was born on August 15, 1949, in St. Louis, Missouri. She graduated from Cleveland High School and earned a degree in elementary education from the University of Missouri–St. Louis in 1972. In the 1970s and 1980s, Smith pursued a career as a dancer, including roles as a cheerleader for the St. Louis Cardinals football team and a burlesque performer. Her dancing career concluded due to a knee injury, after which she moved into casting in Hollywood, California.
Smith’s acting career began unexpectedly while working as a casting associate for the television series “The Office”. She was offered the role of Phyllis Lapin, a character specifically developed for her. She played this role from 2005 to 2013, which brought her widespread recognition and two Screen Actors Guild Awards for “Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series” in 2006 and 2007. Her performance in “The Office” established her as a comedic actress known for her deadpan delivery.
Following her success on “The Office,” Smith diversified her acting roles. In 2015, she gained further critical acclaim for her voice work as Sadness in the Pixar animated film “Inside Out,” for which she received an Annie Award. She reprised this role in “Inside Out 2” in 2024. Smith also took on a more dramatic role as Betty Broderick-Allen in the Netflix series “The OA” from 2016 to 2019, showcasing her versatility as an actress.
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