Bonnie Lynne Hunt is an American actress, voice actress, comedian, director, producer, writer, and host. She is perhaps best known for being the main host of her self-titled syndicated talk show The Bonnie Hunt Show. She is also well-known for playing Alice Newton in the Beethoven franchise, an adult Sarah Whittle in the 1995TriStar fantasy adventure film Jumanji, and Kate Baker in the Cheaper by the Dozenfilms.
Hunt was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Robert Edward Hunt, an electrician, and Alice E. Hunt (née Jatczak). Her father was of Irish and Belgian ancestry and her mother is of Polish descent. She has three older brothers named Patrick, Kevin, and Tom, two older sisters named Cathy and Carol, and a younger sister named Mary. She was educated in Catholic schools, attending St. Ferdinand Grammar School and Notre Dame High School for Girls in Chicago, and worked part-time as a nurse's aide.
In 1982, Hunt worked as an oncology nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. In 1984, she co-founded an improvisational comedy troupe called An Impulsive Thing. Hunt also performed as a member of Chicago's world-famous the Second City, joining in 1986. In 1988, while a nurse, Hunt auditioned on her lunch break for the role of waitress Sally Dibbs in Rain Man and won it.