# Julie Hagerty
**Julie Hagerty** (Julie Beth Hagerty; born 1955 in [Cincinnati](https://www.edgepedia.org/cincinnati), Ohio) is an American actress, comedian, and former model best known as flight attendant Elaine Dickinson in the 1980 comedy *Airplane!*[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0353546/bio) • [2](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/244423-Julie-Hagerty?isMiscCredit=False). Over a career spanning more than four decades, she has worked in film, Broadway and off-Broadway theater, and television, with later roles in *Marriage Story* (2019) and the Disney+ holiday film *Noelle* (2019).[3](https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/documents/noelle_final_presskit_6c486b22.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1955, Cincinnati, Ohio; birth name Julie Beth Hagerty[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0353546/bio) |
| Modeling start | Signed with the Ford Modeling Agency at age 15; moved to New York to model full-time[3](https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/documents/noelle_final_presskit_6c486b22.pdf) |
| Breakthrough | Film debut as Elaine Dickinson in *Airplane!* (1980), which grossed more than $170 million and entered the National Film Registry[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/244423-Julie-Hagerty?isMiscCredit=False) • [4](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/spoof-legend-david-zucker-is-still-mad-airplane-2-shot-down-francis-ford-coppola) • [5](https://apnews.com/article/624295db9e760e115ba85cd2249ff4fd) |
| Stage honors | Theatre World Award, 1986, as outstanding new performer for *The House of Blue Leaves*; Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, c. 1996, for *Raised in Captivity*[6](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/julie-hagerty-71742) • [7](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/hagerty-julie-1955) |
| Signature film roles | Elaine Dickinson in *Airplane!* and *Airplane II: The Sequel*; Linda Howard in *Lost in America* (1985)[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/244423-Julie-Hagerty?isMiscCredit=False) |
| Television | Voice of Carol on *Family Guy* from 2011; recurring roles on *Malcolm in the Middle* and *Happy Endings*[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0353546/bio) • [8](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/julie-hagerty/) |
| Marriage and family | Married Peter Burki in 1986 (divorced 1991); married composer Richard Kagan in 1999; no children[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0353546/bio) |
## Early life and modeling
Hagerty was born in Cincinnati to Jerry Hagerty, a musician, and Harriet Yuellig, a model and singer; her brother Michael Hagerty became an actor and stage producer.[7](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/hagerty-julie-1955) She signed with the Ford Modeling Agency at age 15 and moved to New York City, at 17, to pursue modeling full-time, dividing her time between the city and Ohio before relocating permanently.[3](https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/documents/noelle_final_presskit_6c486b22.pdf) • [9](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/julie-hagerty/bio/3030203918/) She studied acting as a child and continued her studies at the Juilliard drama school, joining The Production Company, an off-off-Broadway company founded by her brother Michael and director Norman René.[7](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/hagerty-julie-1955) • [10](https://www.tribute.ca/people/julie-hagerty/2494/)
Her first audition, for [Robert Patrick](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-patrick)'s *Mutual Benefit Life*, was meant only as practice; she was cast after a single reading and made her [Off-Broadway](https://www.edgepedia.org/off-broadway) debut in the play in 1979.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0353546/bio) A small part in [Bob Fosse](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-fosse)'s *All That Jazz* (1979) was cut from the final edit, leaving *Airplane!* as her actual screen debut.[9](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/julie-hagerty/bio/3030203918/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0353546/bio)
## Airplane! and stardom
After appearing in one of her brother's plays, Hagerty was asked to audition for *Airplane!* and won the role of Elaine Dickinson, a ditzy stewardess opposite [Robert Hays](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-hays).[10](https://www.tribute.ca/people/julie-hagerty/2494/) The film, directed and written by [David Zucker](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-zucker), Jerry Zucker, and [Jim Abrahams](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-abrahams), parodied the disaster-movie genre and became one of the biggest comedy hits of 1980, earning more than $170 million at the box office.[4](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/spoof-legend-david-zucker-is-still-mad-airplane-2-shot-down-francis-ford-coppola) • [11](https://www.ohiomagazine.com/ohio-life/article/3-questions-julie-hagerty) Its success boosted both new and veteran cast members, including Leslie Nielsen, Lloyd Bridges, and Peter Graves, and helped establish a self-referential spoof genre.[8](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/julie-hagerty/)
Hagerty's helium-voiced delivery and blithe obliviousness to the chaos around her supplied many of the film's biggest laughs, and the role came to define her career.[8](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/julie-hagerty/) In 2020, the Library of Congress selected *Airplane!* for the [National Film Registry](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-film-registry) as a significant work.[5](https://apnews.com/article/624295db9e760e115ba85cd2249ff4fd) On set, she recalled, producer Howard Koch Sr. was present every day and the production ran tightly on a low budget; the only cut-up was Nielsen, who brought a whoopee cushion to the set each day.[12](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2019-11-30/julie-hagerty-singing-dancing-marriage-story-airplane) She reprised Elaine in *Airplane II: The Sequel* (1982).[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/244423-Julie-Hagerty?isMiscCredit=False)
## Film career after Airplane!
The 1980s brought leading roles with prominent directors: she played Dulcy in [Woody Allen](https://www.edgepedia.org/woody-allen)'s *A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy* (1982) and Linda Howard, opposite [Albert Brooks](https://www.edgepedia.org/albert-brooks), in *Lost in America* (1985), a comedy about a married couple chasing the American dream.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/244423-Julie-Hagerty?isMiscCredit=False) • [8](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/julie-hagerty/) She also starred in *Goodbye, New York* (1985), *Bad Medicine* (1985) with [Steve Guttenberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-guttenberg), and Robert Altman's *Beyond Therapy* (1987) with Jeff Goldblum.[8](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/julie-hagerty/)
From the 1990s onward she moved into character work. She played Fay Marvin, wife of [Richard Dreyfuss](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-dreyfuss)'s therapist, in the hit comedy *What About Bob?* (1991), and Poppy Taylor in *Noises Off* (1992).[8](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/julie-hagerty/) Later films include *Freddy Got Fingered* (2001), *A Guy Thing* (2003), *Just Friends* (2005) as [Ryan Reynolds](https://www.edgepedia.org/ryan-reynolds)'s mother, *She's the Man* (2006), *Confessions of a Shopaholic* (2009), [Jonathan Demme](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonathan-demme)'s *A Master Builder* (2013), and *Instant Family* (2018) with Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne.[8](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/julie-hagerty/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0353546/bio)
## Stage career
Theater has been a constant alongside her film work. Hagerty starred on Broadway in John Guare's *The House of Blue Leaves* (1986-87) as Corrinna Stroller, winning the 1986 Theatre World Award for outstanding new performer.[6](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/julie-hagerty-71742) Her other Broadway credits include *The Front Page* (1986-87) as Peggy Grant, *Three Men on a Horse* (1993), and the 2002 revival of *Morning's at Seven*, for which she received an Outer Critics Award.[6](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/julie-hagerty-71742) • [3](https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/documents/noelle_final_presskit_6c486b22.pdf) Off-Broadway, she won a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award around 1996 for *Raised in Captivity* and appeared in [Shel Silverstein](https://www.edgepedia.org/shel-silverstein)'s *Wild Life* (1983).[7](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/hagerty-julie-1955)
Playwright and actor Wallace Shawn, who worked with her in Tom Noonan's *Wifey* in the early 1990s and later saw her in his plays *Grasses of a Thousand Colors* and his adaptation of *The Master Builder*, described her as one of the most completely spontaneous actors he had met, yet one with a precise control over what makes an audience laugh.[12](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2019-11-30/julie-hagerty-singing-dancing-marriage-story-airplane)
## Television and later work
On television, Hagerty starred with Fran Drescher and Twiggy in the short-lived CBS sitcom *Princesses* (1991) and recurred on *Malcolm in the Middle*, *Girlfriends*, and *Happy Endings*, where she played the food-obsessed mother of the Kerkovich sisters.[8](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/julie-hagerty/) Starting in 2011 she took over as the voice of Carol, Lois's sister, on *Family Guy*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0353546/bio)
**2019 brought two high-profile roles.** In Noah Baumbach's *Marriage Story*, she played Sandra, the mother of Scarlett Johansson's character, and sang Stephen Sondheim's "You Could Drive a Person Crazy" with Johansson and Merritt Wever. Hagerty, who says she does not sing or dance and once fainted during a high school choir solo, found the scene frightening but rehearsed it through, and Baumbach said he had no idea she was nervous.[12](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2019-11-30/julie-hagerty-singing-dancing-marriage-story-airplane) • [11](https://www.ohiomagazine.com/ohio-life/article/3-questions-julie-hagerty) The film was nominated for an Oscar, and she shared the 2020 Robert Altman Award with its ensemble.[13](https://www.ctpost.com/movies/article/40-years-of-Airplane-Then-and-now-14990494.php) • [9](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/julie-hagerty/bio/3030203918/) The same year, she played Mrs. Claus opposite Anna Kendrick, Bill Hader, and Shirley MacLaine in the Disney+ film *Noelle*.[3](https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/documents/noelle_final_presskit_6c486b22.pdf) Her later credits include *A Christmas Story Christmas* (2022), *The Out-Laws* (2023), and *Somebody I Used to Know* (2023).[14](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Julie-Hagerty/)
## Personal life
Hagerty married Peter Burki in 1986; the marriage ended in divorce in 1991. In 1999 she married composer and theatrical producer Richard Kagan, and the couple has no children.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0353546/bio) • [7](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/hagerty-julie-1955) She is dyslexic, and her first attempt at signing an autograph after *Airplane!* was returned to her because she misspelled it.[12](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2019-11-30/julie-hagerty-singing-dancing-marriage-story-airplane) She loves horses, which she could not have while growing up in Cincinnati, and now keeps three rescue horses, which she describes as having her childhood in reverse.[12](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2019-11-30/julie-hagerty-singing-dancing-marriage-story-airplane)
## References
1. [Julie Hagerty Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0353546/bio)
2. [Julie Hagerty filmography, AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/244423-Julie-Hagerty?isMiscCredit=False)
3. [Noelle final press kit, Disney (2019)](https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/documents/noelle_final_presskit_6c486b22.pdf)
4. [David Zucker on Airplane 2, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/spoof-legend-david-zucker-is-still-mad-airplane-2-shot-down-francis-ford-coppola)
5. [Surely, and truly: New book shares backstory of 'Airplane!', Associated Press (2023)](https://apnews.com/article/624295db9e760e115ba85cd2249ff4fd)
6. [Julie Hagerty, IBDB (Internet Broadway Database)](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/julie-hagerty-71742)
7. [Hagerty, Julie 1955-, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/hagerty-julie-1955)
8. [Julie Hagerty, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/julie-hagerty/)
9. [Julie Hagerty Biography, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/julie-hagerty/bio/3030203918/)
10. [Julie Hagerty Biography & Movies, Tribute.ca](https://www.tribute.ca/people/julie-hagerty/2494/)
11. [Actress Julie Hagerty on Becoming Disney's Mrs. Claus, Ohio Magazine (2019)](https://www.ohiomagazine.com/ohio-life/article/3-questions-julie-hagerty)
12. [Julie Hagerty reflects on her career, Los Angeles Times (2019)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2019-11-30/julie-hagerty-singing-dancing-marriage-story-airplane)
13. [40 years of 'Airplane!': Then and now, Connecticut Post/SFGATE (2020)](https://www.ctpost.com/movies/article/40-years-of-Airplane-Then-and-now-14990494.php)
14. [Julie Hagerty theatre credits, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Julie-Hagerty/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames H to Ha*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license