Maggie Baird

Maggie May Baird (born March 29, 1959) is an American actress, voice artist and screenwriter. She is the mother of musicians Finneas and Billie Eilish.

Maggie Baird
Baird in an interview in 2014
Born	Maggie May Baird[1][2] March 29, 1959 Fruita, Colorado, U.S.
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Utah (BFA)
Occupation	Actress voice artist screenwriter
Years active	1981–present
Spouse(s)	Patrick O'Connell ​ (m. 1995)​
Children	Finneas O'Connell Billie Eilish

Baird grew up in Colorado performing music, and studied theater and dance at the University of Utah, before moving to New York City where she performed on Broadway. She made her television debut in 1981 in the soap opera Another World and her film debut in An Innocent Man (1989). Baird continued to act in television and film after moving to Los Angeles in 1991, and became a member and teacher at The Groundlings, a troupe and Improvisational theatre school. She acted in 2000s television series such as Bones, The X-Files and Six Feet Under. In 2009, Baird released her debut studio album, We Sail. In 2013, Baird wrote and starred in her own film, Life Inside Out. In 2016, she edited the music video for "Six Feet Under" for her daughter, Billie Eilish.

Life and career

Baird was born and raised in Fruita, Colorado where she learned the piano and guitar as a teenager.[3][4][5] She graduated from Fruita Monument High School in 1977.[3] She studied theater and dance at University of Utah before later moving to New York City where she performed in the 1985 revival of The Iceman Cometh on Broadway, and several Off-Broadway shows.[6][4] She made her debut television appearance in 1981, playing a supporting role in the American soap opera Another World,[7] before spending nine months touring with The Heidi Chronicles in 1990, where she played the role of one of Heidi's friends.[8][9] She played a bigger role of Taylor Baldwin in the soap opera As the World Turns in 1987 before making her film debut as the role of Stacy in An Innocent Man in 1989.[10]

In 1991, Baird moved to Los Angeles, California, where she acted in television and film productions such as L.A. Law, Murphy Brown, Walker, Texas Ranger and Picket Fences.[4] From 1994 to 2000, Baird was a member and teacher at The Groundlings, an Improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school in Los Angeles.[11] While at The Groundlings, Baird taught and performed with actors such as Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, becoming McCarthy's first improv teacher.[12]

Baird has been a voice actress in video games such as the Mass Effect series, the Saints Row series, the EverQuest II series, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Rogue Galaxy and Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption. Some of her notable acting roles during the 2000s are Sandra Hicks in Bones in 2009, Sharon Pearl in The X-Files in 2000 and Andrea Kuhn in Six Feet Under in 2005.[13]

In March 2009, Baird released her debut studio album We Sail, an eleven-track country record.[7][14] Baird wrote, co-produced, acted and provided the soundtrack for the film Life Inside Out which was released in October 2013. The film, which explores the relationship between a mother and son through music, features Baird's real-life son Finneas. Gary Goldstein from Los Angeles Times wrote "A beautiful demonstration of a mother's love concludes this special little film on a hugely touching note."[15]

In 2016, Baird edited the music video for the US gold-certified song "Six Feet Under" by her daughter, Billie Eilish.[16]

Personal life

Baird and her daughter Billie Eilish in Atlanta in November 2018

In 1995, she married American actor Patrick O'Connell, whom she had met while performing in Alaska [4][17] and welcomed her son Finneas two years later.[4]

Baird later welcomed daughter, Billie Eilish in Highland Park, Los Angeles in December 2001, where they currently live as of January 2021.[17][18] She and her husband decided to homeschool their children, with Baird stating: "Homeschooling allows us to let them do the things that they really love to do and not have a giant academic schedule on top of it.[4][7]

In 2019, she joined her daughter Billie Eilish on her international When We All Fall Asleep arena tour.[19]

Filmography

Baird (left) with her son Finneas O'Connell at the 2014 Palm Beach International Film Festival

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Another World	Rhonda Sadowski	3 episodes
1987	As The World Turns	Taylor Baldwin	Episode dated December 24, 1987
1992	L.A. Law	Rachel Malone	Episode: "Back to the Suture"
1994	Walker, Texas Ranger	Jessica Ann Pritchard	Episode: "The Reunion"
	Picket Fences	Marjorie Engrams	3 episodes
1996	The Naked Truth	French Filmmaker's Wife	Episode: "Hollywood Honours Male Prostitute"
	Chicago Hope	Gloria Neal	Episode: "A Day in the Life"
1998	Buddy Faro		Episode: "Get Me Cody Swift"
	L.A. Doctors		Episode: "Leap of Faith"
1999	Crashbox	Verity	Voice
	Friends	Casting Director No. 2	Episode: "The One Where Joey Loses His Insurance"
	Jack & Jill	Donna	Episode: "Fear and Loathing in Gotham"
2000	JAG	Vera Duke	Episode: "Surface Warfare"
	Cover Me	Christy Ann Harnick	Episode: "In Plain Sight"
	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Couple #1	Episode: "AAMCO"
	The X-Files	Sharon Pearl	Episode: "Invocation"
2001	The West Wing	Ms. Carney, Network News President #3	Episode: "The Black Vera Wang"
2002	Birds of Prey	Mother	2 episodes
2003	Charmed	Doctor	Episode: "The Day The Magic Died"
	The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire		Episode: "Little Girl Lost"
2005	Six Feet Under	Andrea Kuhn	Episode: "A Coat of White Primer"
	Everwood	Mrs. Harcourt	Episode: "Put on a Happy Face"
2008	The Starter Wife	Blair	Episode: "The Remains of the Snow Day"
2009	Bones	Sandra Hicks	Episode: "Double Trouble in the Panhandle"
2011	Days of Our Lives	Female T.V. Voice	Episode #1.11586
2013	See Dad Run	Hippie Mom	Episode: "See Dad Host a Play Group"

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Roe vs. Wade
	An Innocent Man	Stacy
1995	Siringo	Blanche
	White Dwarf	Scarred Cultist
1999	Michael Jordan: An American Hero
	The Big Split	Tracy's Mom
2000	Dropping Out	Waitress
	Running Mates	Newscaster #2
2001	Maniac	Rebecca
2004	Sake Bottle Battle	Cathy Gaffney	Short film
2005	Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School	Linda Sue
2006	Eragon	Addtional voices
2011	Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas	Additional voices	Short film
2013	Life Inside Out	Laura	Written, co-produced, soundtrack
2016	I Am Be	Demeter	Short film

Video games

Year	Title	Role
1999	Battlezone II: Combat Commander	Female Ensemble
2000	Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption	Anezka
2004	EverQuest II
2005	Rogue Galaxy	Amni Rhyza
	EverQuest II: Desert of Flames
2006	Saints Row	Stilwater's Resident
2008	Saints Row 2	Various
2010	Mass Effect 2	Samara
2012	Mass Effect 3
2013	Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII	Additional voices

Discography

Title	Album details
We Sail	Released: March 30, 2009[14] Label: Self-released Formats: CD, digital download, streaming

Awards and nominations

Year	Organization	Award	Work	Result	Ref.
2013	Heartland International Film Festival	Chrystal Heart Award for Dramatic Feature	Life Inside Out	Won	[20]
		Chrystal Heart Award for Best Premiere
2014	Phoenix Film Festival	Cox Audience Award			[21][22]
		Best Picture		Nominated
	San Luis Obispo International Film Festival	Best Narrative Feature		Won	[23]

References

1. Baird, Maggie May. "ASCAP Ace Search". American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). Retrieved November 2, 2019.
2. "Maggie May Baird (@maggiembaird) • Instagram photos and videos". maggiembaird [confirmed account]. Instagram. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
3. Mawdsley, Melinda (May 15, 2015). "Fruita grad's indy film garners acclaim". Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
4. Paeff, Colleen (June 22, 2012). "Meet Maggie Baird". How Many Homeschoolers Does it Take to Make a Movie?. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
5. "Maggie Baird: Folk from Los Angeles, CA". ReverbNation. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
6. "Maggie Baird Theatre Credits, News, Bio and Photos". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
7. Gomez, Jasmine (September 16, 2019). "Here's Everything You Need to Know About Billie Eilish's Parents and Brother, Finneas". Seventeen. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
8. Allman, Kevin (October 16, 1990). "The Party Chronicles: a First-Night Fete". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
9. Rose, Lloyd (March 22, 1991). "STAGE REVIEW : Ladies of the '80s". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
10. "Maggie Baird". TV Guide. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
11. "Maggie Baird". The Groundlings Theatre & School. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
12. Marine, Brooke (July 31, 2019). "Billie Eilish Isn't Allowed to Drink Soda". W Magazine. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
13. Cirisano, Tatiana (March 27, 2019). "Sibling Revelry: Finneas, Billie Eilish's Brother & Co-Writer, Steps Out". Billboard. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
14. "We Sail by Maggie Baird", Apple Music, retrieved December 2, 2019
15. Goldstein, Gary (October 17, 2014). "Review: When it's 'Life Inside Out,' they turn to music". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
16. "Billie Eilish - Six Feet Under", Billie Eilish [confirmed account], YouTube, June 30, 2016, retrieved December 3, 2019
17. Eells, Josh (July 31, 2019). "Billie Eilish and the Triumph of the Weird". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
18. Barlow, Eve (September 5, 2019). "The Highs and Lows of Being Billie Eilish". ELLE. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
19. Borison, Susan (September 23, 2019). "Q & A with Maggie Baird: Now You're Known As "Billie Eilish's Mom"". Your Teen Magazine. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
20. "2013 Heartland Film Festival Concludes with Special Presentation of "The Book Thief," Announces Audience Choice & Best Premiere Award Winners". Heartandfilm.org. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
21. "2014 Award Winners Announced!". Phoenix Film Festival. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
22. "Maggie Baird: Awards". IMDb. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
23. Linn, Sarah (March 8, 2014). "Jeff Bridges accepts King Vidor award at SLO Film Festival". The Tribune. Retrieved December 3, 2019.

External links

• Maggie Baird at IMDb
• Maggie Baird on Twitter