Phyllis Smith

For other people named Phyllis Smith, see Phyllis Smith (disambiguation).

Phyllis Smith (born August 15, 1949) is an American actress and casting director. She is best known for playing Phyllis Vance in the television series The Office and her voice role as Sadness in Pixar's animated franchise Inside Out.

Phyllis Smith
Smith in 2014
Born	(1949-08-15) August 15, 1949 (age 75)[1] St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Missouri–St. Louis
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1994–present

Early life and education

Smith was born on August 15, 1949, in St. Louis, Missouri.^[1] She graduated from Cleveland High School.^[2]

Smith graduated from the University of Missouri–St. Louis in 1972 with a degree in elementary education.^[3] In the 1970s and 1980s, she was a dancer, a cheerleader for the St. Louis Cardinals football team, and a burlesque performer.^[4] She said that there was "no stripping, but I did wear feathers."^[5] She was forced to quit dancing after suffering a knee injury. She later worked in Hollywood, California as an actress and in casting.

Career

Smith was working as a casting associate under the direction of Allison Jones on the television series The Office, when she was offered the role of Phyllis Lapin, a character created specifically for her, a soft-spoken saleswoman who tended to disagree with pompous office manager Michael Scott.^[4] She received Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2006 and 2007 for her performance in The Office in the category "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series". In June 2008, she appeared with the cast of The Office on Celebrity Family Feud.^{[citation needed]}

In 2011, Smith played a supporting role in the film Bad Teacher. In 2015, she voiced the character Sadness in the Pixar film Inside Out, receiving high critical praise for her performance. In 2016, she starred as Betty Broderick-Allen in the Netflix series The OA.^[6] She reprised her role as Sadness in Inside Out 2 in 2024.^[7]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With	Marsha
2011	Bad Teacher	Lynn
	Butter	Nancy
	Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked	Flight Attendant
2015	Inside Out	Sadness (voice)	Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in a Feature Production
	Riley's First Date?		Short film
2021	Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar	Delores
2024	Inside Out 2	Sadness (voice)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Arrested Development	Carla	Episode: "The Immaculate Election"
2005–2013	The Office	Phyllis Vance	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2007–2008) Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2009–2013)
2006	The Office: The Accountants		Episode: "Phyllis"
2008	The Office: The Outburst		Episode: "The Explanation"
2013	Trophy Wife	Mrs. Patty Steinberg	3 episodes
2014	The Middle	Mrs. Huff	Episode: "The Sinkhole"
2016–2019	The OA	Betty Broderick-Allen	12 episodes
2024	Chad	Herself	Episode: "Class President"
	Dream Productions	Sadness (voice)	4 episodes

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2015	Disney Infinity 3.0	Sadness	Voice[8]
2024	Disney Speedstorm		Voice

Production work

Year	Title	Position	Notes
1994–1997	Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman	Casting associate	88 episodes
1999	Roswell		1 episode
2000–2002	Spin City		45 episodes
2005	Curb Your Enthusiasm		10 episodes
	The Office	Assistant Casting Director	6 episodes