Moira Kelly

Biography:

Moira Kelly  is an American actress known for her roles in various films and TV shows. She gained recognition for portraying Kate Moseley in The Cutting Edge (1992) and Karen Roe in the teen drama One Tree Hill. Kelly also played Donna Hayward in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, replacing Lara Flynn Boyle, and appeared as Dorothy Day in Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story. Additionally, she voiced Nala in Disney’s The Lion King and its direct-to-video sequels. She also portrayed Hetty Kelly and Oona O’Neill in Chaplin.

Kelly was born in Queens, New York, to Irish immigrant parents. Raised in Ronkonkoma, New York, she attended Connetquot Senior High School and later studied at Marymount Manhattan College. Initially interested in acting after a role in her high school play Annie, Kelly had to choose between acting and becoming a nun, a decision influenced by her strong Catholic faith.

Kelly made her acting debut in the TV movie Love, Lies and Murder before landing significant roles in films like The Boy Who Cried Bitch and Billy Bathgate. She starred as Donna Hayward in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me and also featured in The Cutting Edge opposite D. B. Sweeney. Despite a broken ankle during filming, Kelly went on to play significant roles in various films and TV series, including her notable role as Mandy Hampton in The West Wing and Karen Roe in One Tree Hill.

She has also appeared in shows like Heroes, Law & Order, and Numb3rs, as well as in films like Remember the Daze and A Smile as Big as the Moon. In 2023, she reprised her role as Nala in the video game Disney Dreamlight Valley.

Kelly married businessman Steve Hewitt in 2000, and they have two children. She previously lived in Wilmington, North Carolina, for eleven years.