Parker Posey is an American actress. She was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Lynda, a chef, and Chris Posey, who owned a Chevrolet dealership. Posey's unisex first name was a tribute by her father to 1950s supermodel Suzy Parker. After Posey's birth, the family moved to Laurel, Mississippi where her mother worked as a chef and culinary instructor for the Viking Range Corporation in Greenwood, MS, and her father opened a dealership named Posey Chevrolet in Laurel, Mississippi. Posey was raised in the Catholic religion.

Posey attended the State University of New York at Purchase, where she roomed with actress Sherry Stringfield. Fellow entertainment professionals in her SUNY Purchase acting company (Class of 1991) included actor Adam Trese, actor Reno Wilson, and producer Todd Baker.

Posey's first break was in television, when she won the role of Tess Shelby on the daytime soap opera As the World Turns. Her first major role in a feature film was in Dazed and Confused (1993).

Throughout the late 1990s, Posey starred in a large number of independent films and was named Queen of the Indies by Time Magazine, which cited 32 independent films to her credit, including Personal Velocity, Clockwatchers, Party Girl, and The House of Yes, for which she received especially positive reviews for her portrayal of a delusional woman in love with her own brother. She is part of the acting ensemble that appears in director Christopher Guest's films, including four of his mock documentaries: Waiting for Guffman in 1996, Best in Show in 2000, A Mighty Wind in 2003, and For Your Consideration in 2006. Posey is also a favorite of director Hal Hartley. She appeared in Henry Fool (1998), two of his shorts, Opera No. 1 (1994), Sisters of Mercy (2004), and his most recent film, Fay Grim (2006). Posey received acclaim for her performance in Zoe Cassavetes's directorial debut Broken English in 2007.

Though well known for her work in independent cinema, Posey has also had supporting roles in several big budget studio films, including Scream 3 (2000), You've Got Mail (1998), Josie and the Pussycats (2001), Laws of Attraction (2004), and Blade: Trinity (2004). She also had a small but notable performance in Superman Returns, playing Kitty Kowalski, an assistant to villain Lex Luthor.