Molly Conole has appeared as a professional actor on stages from NYC to Martha's Vineyard, Walt Disney World to the Orlando International Fringe Festival. Her work in comedies, dramas and musical theater alike has earned such praise as "a seasoned performer with a nightingale voice" and "always charming and a joy to watch." But Molly is inspiration for all those late bloomers among us...she was petrified of any public performance for most of her growing-up years, preferring to play violin, flute or french horn in "the pit." Her first real role on-stage (besides playing Mary in the 2nd Grade Christmas Pageant at Street School) was as Belinda in Marlboro College's performance of Purcell's opera "Dido and Aeneas," and there was no turning back! She went on to play many leading roles, including Eliza in "My Fair Lady," Gigi in both the play and musical versions of "Gigi," and Mabel in "The Pirates of Penzance," pictured here. Other favorite roles were as Sarah in "Guys and Dolls," Rosemary in "How To Succeed In Business...," Female in "Side By Side By Sondheim," and...well, they were all favorites, actually, so you'll just have to click on the BIO link and read about them all!

STANDOUT MOMENTS

• Performing as "Helen Highwater" for Princess Di in The Brown Derby Restaurant at Disney/MGM Studios with fellow 1940's "Derby Dames" characters Kitty LaBrea and Mona Loud (Michele Greenwood Bettinger and Rhonda Day). As Rhonda tells it, Princess Di turned around and listened, smiled and clapped enthusiastically at the end of our song, "then we decided to push our luck and do two." I remember her loving it all, even though she was halfway across the room and we were under strict orders not to go anywhere near her...she had incredibly tight security. What a beautiful smile she had, and it was obvious she was enjoying her vacation with her boys immensely.

• Michael Eisner was on Disney property, and that was big! Everybody pulled out all the stops, so Stella Graham the Singing Telegram girl decided this was her big moment, and burst into song in front of him and his entourage as they were whisking him around. Actually, it was a musical proposal written by and from Stella, and she poured her 105 pounds of gumption and heart into it (actually she said she'd even settle for his rich stockbroker). Mr. Eisner put his mark on the event with the witty and original "don't call us, we'll call you," which brought manic hilarity from the posse. Stella, never to be deterred, rejoiced with the ever-optimistic, "He's gonna call me!!!"...which brought hilarity from the crowd.

YES, I AM A MOVIE STAR! ...I was in "Jaws!" Okay, I was an Extra, but still...I was regularly about 4 feet away from unknown Stephen Spielberg every day for a week! He would lie down for a frequent rain break in the Gazebo on the Beach where I was playing the flute. It was summer vacation between 10th and 11th grade, and I got a call from a local talent recruiter who wanted to know if I would be available to be in the Band. Band is a relative term, and in this case I believe we had a saxophone, a glockenspiel, a trombone, no trumpet, a flute, tuba...and a baritone? You can see by the caption of this picture exactly what the cast and crew thought of the vast repertoire we were capable of playing with this combo! My screen debut was a great success...in an early cut of the movie, on the far left of the screen, you could see me and fellow band member Rob Hewett standing in our uniforms at the water's edge, laughing and pointing at the screaming people attempting to flee from the shark and the freezing June New England water. What can I say...we were bored of being rained out for a week...and the shark wasn't even there, after all. Now you can look for the girl with the '70's 'fro as the camera pans the 4th of July pre-shark festivities on the beach--that's me! photograph and caption by Edith Blake from her book "On Location.....On Martha's Vineyard (the making of the movie "Jaws") copyright 1975, by Edith Blake.

...I was in "Matinée" with John Goodman! Really moving up, I was no longer an Extra...I was a SAG performer...a "Screamer!" Here is a picture of me, in the movie within a movie. I'm the one on screen left, behind the Main Screamer and Protector (Colette Colangelo and Jeffrey Breslauer). There's another close-up shot of me in the movie...from my nose to my chin...I think you can actually see my tonsils in it! And yes, I met John Goodman on my way to Make-up. I told him I thought he was great...or something truly original and memorable like that! My favorite part of this role was getting to have Mary Tyler Moore / Marlo Thomas "That Girl" hair for a day! photograph from "Matinée," a 1993 Universal Pictures film, directed by Joe Dante.

...I was in "Sabrina" with Harrison Ford!

A SAG Extra this time! That meant I got a special parking space! Even though I ended up on the cutting room floor, Harrison and I had a fascinating conversation about the weather. It was supposed to be summer in the movie, but it was one of those nippy Spring days on Martha's Vineyard, and I had to wear shorts. I was a real looker in my all-over-goosebumps. My favorite memory of this film was of my usually-shy niece starting a Harrison Ford stampede by rushing out to get his autograph when his bodyguard turned his back for a moment...she got me his autograph on my #1 "Raiders of the Lost Ark" trading card--Cool! (When I find it, I'll show you!)

For more information please contact Molly at molly@mollyconole.com