STEVENS POINT, WI (WSAU) — A high profile alumnus of UW-Stevens Point is back in her hometown for the weekend.
Actress, comedienne, and writer Kathy Kinney rose to prominence playing Mimi, the arch-rival of Drew Carey on the Drew Carey Show in the mid-90s. Kinney has had a prolific career working in television, movies, theater, and improv comedy since she left Stevens Point in the mid-70s.
Kinney returned to her alma mater for the weekend for Homecoming weekend. While on campus, Kinney spoke with theatre and dance majors on Friday afternoon. Speaking after the class, Kinney says that she tried to tell the students to not be afraid to be yourself and show up.
“Get out of your own way and just show up. Walkthrough the fear and be yourself, don’t be afraid to be yourself. I mean it doesn’t sound like things you really need to know for an audition but they are. Because any kind of creative career has a way of just tapping into you and sapping any self-esteem that you had.
“If you start out with a full tank of self-esteem, it could drain yourself down to 0 quicker than you’d imagine. And if you’re starting out with any kind of ‘oh I’m not good’ you could find yourself lying on your back.
“I think that finding a way to keep busy and build your self-esteem in any profession it’s a lifelong choice. It’s the holy grail of living. Find a way to accept who you are and embrace it.”
Along with speaking to the class, Kinney is in Stevens Point to accept one of UWSP’s 2019 Distinguished Alumni Awards on Saturday. Kinney says she’s grateful to receive the award as she only took the classes she wanted while at school in the 70s and didn’t graduate until 2016.
Kinney mentions that she wants to make accepting the award be more than just about herself. “I hope that by being here and talking to some students that I can show that I wasn’t more special than anyone else.
“It just happened to me and I’m going to share it the way it happened. And maybe it’ll give you the courage to not be frightened to go out and make your own adventure.”
Speaking of her diploma, Kinney explains that she technically graduated in 2016 after helping her friend Cindy Ratzlaff get her diploma that wasn’t awarded to her in the 70s. “Someone at the University called me later and said, we looked up Cindy’s records, we want to help her get that diploma.
“And I said, I’m on it and we surprised her. She came here and Chancellor Bernie came and called her up. We had a little luncheon and gave her diploma, we all wept. And then he turned to me and he said, and we checked your records too.
“And I thought oh god because I thought it’d just be a string of parking tickets. They didn’t give me a full degree, I think I got an Associate degree. Then both Cindy and I immediately went out to the campus store and bought Class of 2016 t-shirts.”
Since 2016 and officially graduating, Kinney has worked on a web series focused on children’s education. And she even had a reunion with her former Drew Carey Show cast members on the ABC sitcom American Housewife.
Kinney said she wasn’t surprised the reunion came together as the cast has remained close friends following the end of the show. “I stayed friends with everyone. You become a family after 9 years. And Diedrich, who was on the show, he had wanted the reunion for a long time.
“And he’d been pitching it to ABC, which was the network that we were on. And so he emailed Ryan Stiles and Drew and I and said I really want this, would you do this? And for me, I was like if your there I’m there.”
Kinney explains that once the four were back together filming the episode, it was like they had never left the Drew Carey Show set. “Well, we all just settled back into it as if no time had passed at all. Which is what happens because we are like family.
“And for me, it was so much fun. I had one scene where I just got to just sit and watch Diedrich and Ryan work together. … And I kept saying that being mean to Drew Carey was just like riding a bike. It just came right back like that. So we had a really good time.”
While much of Kinney’s talk to the students focused on how to navigate life as a performer after college, she feels some of her advice can also apply to those outside of the performing profession. In particular, Kinney has found that life is all about choices when it comes to happiness and believing in oneself.
“Why is it so much easier for us to believe the loser stories we tell ourselves than I am enough the way I am and I have so much to offer. Life is a series of choices. Happiness is a choice. You make it and you practice it every day. Gratitude and happiness are things that you have to practice.”
Kinney will be receiving one of three distinguished alumni awards for 2019 at the 125th Pointers Gala. The other recipients are Judy Goldsmith president of the National Organization for Women, and Cheryl A. Schreier a long-time employee of the National Park Service. Fellow theater and dance major alum Laura Osnes will be performing at the 125th Pointers Gala.
