• Baylor alum concludes nine seasons on ‘The Office’ with series finale tonight

    Angela Kinsey

    Eight years ago this spring — while this fall’s incoming college freshmen were finishing up fourth grade — NBC debuted a new sitcom based on a British hit. Tonight, The Office signs off with its series finale, finishing its run as one of the signature comedies of the last decade.

    With it, we say goodbye to Angela Martin, portrayed for all nine seasons of The Office by 1993 Baylor graduate Angela Kinsey. Her character’s relationship with Rainn Wilson’s Dwight Schrute was a central storyline for much of the show’s run, and tonight’s finale reportedly covers their long-awaited wedding. But don’t get the impression that Angela Martin and Angela Kinsey are the same person.

    “She’s nothing like that,” says Baylor professor Robert Darden, BSED ’76, who taught Kinsey as a student. “Angela was a perky, outgoing, spontaneous person, not a grim control freak. Her nickname was ‘Junior Mint,’ and her screenplay characters were always funny and irrepressible.”

    Back in 2007, Kinsey was the subject of a Baylor Magazine cover story in which she told the writer she still gets “real excited” to meet Baylor folks. As a student at Baylor, Kinsey was a member of Chi Omega, took theater classes and performed in All University Sing. Her memories of Baylor include “the millions of squirrels” and Carroll Science Hall, her home as an English major. “I love the beautiful wooden staircase in it. And the professors’ offices are like little rooms tucked away in a big mansion.”

    What’s next for Kinsey? She’s shot a couple of pilots for new shows, including one called The Gabriels with Saturday Night Live veterans Rob Riggle and Tim Meadows, but for now, it’s wait and see.

    Sic ’em, Angela!