Maya Rudolph Biography

Maya Khabira Rudolph (born July 27, 1972) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. After becoming a member of The Groundlings improv troupe in the late 1990s, Rudolph joined the NBC television series Saturday Night Live, on which she was a cast member from 2000 to 2007. She then ventured into film, appearing in 50 First Dates (2004) and A Prairie Home Companion (2006).

Since leaving Saturday Night Live, Rudolph has appeared in Grown Ups (2010), Bridesmaids (2011), Grown Ups 2 (2013) and Sisters (2015). She has lent her voice to the animated films Shrek the Third (2007) and Big Hero 6 (2014). In addition to her film appearances, Rudolph starred as Ava Alexander on the NBC sitcom Up All Night from 2011 to 2012, and co-hosted her own variety show Maya & Marty.

Early life

Rudolph was born in Gainesville, Florida, the daughter of soul singer-songwriter Minnie Riperton and composer, songwriter, and producer Richard Rudolph. Her father is an Ashkenazi Jew, and her mother was African-American. Her paternal grandfather was Sidney Rudolph, a philanthropist who once owned all of the Wendy's and Rudy's restaurants in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Her great-grandfather was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, changed his surname from "Rudashevsky" to "Rudolph", and was one of the founding members of Congregation Beth Shalom, a Conservative Jewish synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Rudolph's parents moved to Los Angeles, California when she and her brother Marc were very young, and they grew up primarily in the Westwood neighborhood. Near the end of the song "Lovin' You", Riperton can be heard singing "Maya" over and over again. Riperton incorporated this into her performance of the song on The Midnight Special. Riperton died on July 12, 1979, at age 31, from breast cancer. Rudolph's godmother was R&B singer Teena Marie. In 1990, Rudolph graduated from Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California, where she became friendly with fellow students Gwyneth Paltrow and Jack Black, and continued her education at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in photography from Porter College.

Career

Saturday Night Live

In May 2000, Rudolph joined the cast of Saturday Night Live as a featured player for the final three episodes of the 1999-2000 season, after a stint as a member of The Groundlings improv troupe, where she met future Saturday Night Live cast member Will Forte. Rudolph's musical talents were frequently employed on Saturday Night Live. She sang as Beyonc Knowles in the Prince Show sketches, as the "Space Creature" in the Gays in Space sketches, except for the one on the season 31 episode hosted by Peter Sarsgaard, because it aired around the time Rudolph was on maternity leave. Friend Will Forte substituted for her during that episode. Her ability to change her looks and her command of many accents also led to her playing an unusually wide range of ethnicities on the show, often with only a change of wigs. As "Nooni Schoener," Rudolph, along with Fred Armisen, created a couple from an unspecified Scandinavian country, who have unplaceable accents and bewilderingly foreign manners. Rudolph was also able to play male characters such as Scott Joplin, Justin Guarini, and Mario Vazquez.

Her final episode as a cast member was on November 3, 2007, with host Brian Williams and musical guest Feist, the last episode before the writers' strike. She returned on October 25, 2008, in a featured guest appearance as Michelle Obama and sang a duet with Kenan Thompson about Amy Poehler's newborn. She then also appeared in the 2008 Christmas episode, where she reprised her role in the sketch Bronx Beat, with Amy Poehler. She also appeared in two sketches in the 2008-09 season finale with Will Ferrell. She appeared in a Weekend Update Thursday sketch during the fall 2009-10 season as Oprah Winfrey speaking on behalf of Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics. She also appeared on the show in May 2010 to perform in skits including "The Manuel Ortiz Show" with Betty White. She returned to Saturday Night Live for the season 36 premiere, hosted by Amy Poehler, performing the "Bronx Beat" sketch and that same season for episode 700, hosted by Tina Fey. On February 18, 2012 she returned to Saturday Night Live as a host for the first time and reprised her roles in sketches such as "Bronx Beat". She once again returned to SNL on December 19, 2015 for the Christmas episode hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to reprise her role in the "Bronx Beat" sketch. She appeared once more on the 41st season finale (hosted by Fred Armisen) as Dilma Rousseff on Weekend Update.

Characters

Rudolph's characters on the show have included "Attorney Glenda Goodwin" and "Megan" from the "Wake Up, Wakefield!" sketches. Rudolph has done a number of celebrity impressions on Saturday Night Live during her tenure, including Amanda Byram, Ananda Lewis, Barbra Streisand, Bern Nadette Stanis (as Thelma Evans on Good Times), Beyonc, Charo, Christina Aguilera, Condoleezza Rice, Darcel Wynne, Diana Ross, Dilma Rousseff, Donatella Versace, Donna Fargo, Emily Robison, Fredricka Whitfield, Free, Gayle King, Griselda Blanco, Halle Berry, Ivanka Trump, Ja'net Du Bois (as Willona Woods on Good Times), Jennifer Lopez, Joyce "Fenderella" Irby, Justin Guarini, Kara Saun, La Toya Jackson, Lisa Kudrow, Lisa Ling, Liza Minnelli, Lucy Liu, Lynda Lopez, Macy Gray, Mario Vasquez, Mary Roach, Maya Angelou, Melinda Doolittle, Melissa Stark, Michelle Obama, Ma, Nelly Furtado, Omarosa, Oprah Winfrey, Paris Hilton, Patti LaBelle, Phylicia Rashad (as Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show), Rocsi, Scott Joplin, Teresa Heinz, Terra Patrick, Tina Turner, Tyra Banks, Valerie Simpson, Vanessa Hudgens (as Gabriella Montez from High School Musical 3), Wanda Sykes and Whitney Houston.

Recurring characters

• Appreciante
• Beertje Van Beers
• Britanica of Gemini's Twin
• Casey
• Charli Coffee
• Cocktail Waitress
• Donatella Versace
• Glenda Goodwin
• Jackie
• Jodi Deitz (one of the co-hosts of "Bronx Beat")
• Leilani Burke
• Megan (one of the co-hosts of "Wake Up, Wakefield!")
• Mrs. Denmont
• Nuni Schoener
• Patti Sylviac
• Rebecca
• Space Creature

Television and film

In addition to her work on Saturday Night Live, Rudolph has appeared on other television shows, including the CBS medical drama series City of Angels and Chicago Hope. She had small parts in Chuck & Buck, Gattaca, As Good as It Gets, Duplex and Duets; she was also a music supervisor for Duets. Her first prominent film role came in 2006 with A Prairie Home Companion. Earlier, she had costarred with Luke Wilson in the 2005 Mike Judge sci-fi comedy Idiocracy, although that film was shelved until September 2006 and then only given a limited release. She also guest-starred as Rapunzel in the DreamWorks animated film Shrek the Third. She guest-starred as Julia in The Simpsons episode "The Homer of Seville". Rudolph guest-starred as character Athena Scooberman in NBC's Kath & Kim, and starred in the film Away We Go with The Office star John Krasinski. In 2010, she appeared in Grown Ups starring Adam Sandler, where she played the wife of Chris Rock's character. In 2011, she appeared in Bridesmaids with Saturday Night Live colleague Kristen Wiig, and in 2013 she played a supporting role in The Way, Way Back as the girlfriend of Sam Rockwell's character. She co-starred in the NBC sitcom Up All Night, with Christina Applegate and Will Arnett. Rudolph's self-titled variety show television pilot aired on May 19, 2014, but the show did not go beyond that. It was later announced that she would star in an NBC variety series Maya & Marty with Martin Short, which debuted on May 31, 2016.

Music

Prior to joining Saturday Night Live, Rudolph was backing singer (1995-99) and briefly a keyboardist in the band The Rentals, with whom she toured for a short time. She also appears in the music videos of the songs "Waiting" and "Please Let That Be You". She sang backing vocals for "Barcelona" and "My Head Is in the Sun," both from the album Seven More Minutes. In 2004, she recorded a track with The Rentals frontman Matt Sharp, including a cover of Tegan and Sara's "Not Tonight." Rudolph also performed "Together In Pooping" and "Little Roundworm" with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog (Robert Smigel) on his album Come Poop With Me. She is in a Prince cover band called Princess with her friend Gretchen Lieberum.

Personal life

Rudolph has been in a relationship with director Paul Thomas Anderson since 2001. They live together with their children: Pearl (born 2005), Lucille (born 2009), Jack (born July 3, 2011) and Minnie (born 2013).

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	As Good As It Gets	Policewoman
1997	Gattaca	Delivery Nurse
2000	Chuck & Buck	Jamilla
2000	Duets	Karaoke Hostess
2003	Duplex	Tara
2004	Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie	Kanshasha X
2004	50 First Dates	Stacy
2006	A Prairie Home Companion	Molly	Nominated"?Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble Nominated"?Gotham Awards for Best Ensemble Performance
2006	Idiocracy	Rita
2007	Shrek the Third	Rapunzel	Voice
2009	Away We Go	Verona De Tessant	Nominated"?Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress Nominated"?Black Reel Award for Best Actress Nominated"?Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association for Best Actress
2010	MacGruber	Casey Fitzpatrick
2010	Grown Ups	Deanne McKenzie
2011	Bridesmaids	Lillian Donovan	MTV Movie Awards for Best Gut-Wrenching Performance Nominated"?Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress Nominated"?Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated"?Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble Nominated"?NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Nominated"?MTV Movie Awards for Best Cast Nominated"?Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2011	Zookeeper	Mollie	Voice
2011	Friends with Kids	Leslie
2013	The Way, Way Back	Caitlyn	Nominated"?San Diego Film Critics Society for Best Ensemble Performance Nominated"?Washington D.C. Area Film Critics for Best Acting Ensemble
2013	Grown Ups 2	Deanne McKenzie	Nominated"?Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple/Ensemble
2013	Turbo	Burn	Voice Nominated"?Black Reel Award for Outstanding Voice Performance
2014	The Nut Job	Precious	Voice
2014	Inherent Vice	Petunia Leeway
2014	Big Hero 6	Aunt Cass	Voice Nominated"?Black Reel Award for Outstanding Voice Performance
2015	Strange Magic	Griselda	Voice Black Reel Award for Outstanding Voice Performance
2015	Maggie's Plan	Felicia
2015	A Very Murray Christmas	Lounge Singer
2015	Sisters	Brinda
2016	Mr. Pig	Eunice	Pending"?Ariel Award for Best Actress
2016	The Angry Birds Movie	Matilda	Voice
2016	Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping	Deborah
2016	My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea	Verti	Voice
2017	CHiPs	Sgt. Gail Hernandez
2017	We Don't Belong Here	Joanne
2017	The Emoji Movie	Smiler	Voice
2017	The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature	Precious	Post-production; Voice
2018	Life of the Party	Christine	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996-1997	Chicago Hope	Nurse Leah Martine	5 episodes
1997	The Devil's Child	Holly	Television film
2000	Action	Phina	Episode: "Dead Man Floating"
2000	City of Angels	Nurse Grace Patterson	15 episodes
2000-2007	Saturday Night Live	Various roles	143 episodes
2006	Campus Ladies	Professor Theresa Winslow Fabre	Episode: "All Nighter"
2007	The Simpsons	Julia (voice)	Episode: "Homer of Seville"
2008-2009	Kath & Kim	Athena Scooberman	5 episodes
2009	The Mighty B!	Cherry (voice)	Episode: "The Dragonflies"
2011-2012	Up All Night	Ava Alexander	35 episodes Nominated"?Satellite Award for Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy (2011-2012)
2012	Saturday Night Live	Herself (host)	Episode: "Maya Rudolph/Sleigh Bells" Nominated"?Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
2014	Portlandia	Anita	Episode: "Bahama Knights"
2014	The Maya Rudolph Show	Herself	Variety special; also producer
2014	The Awesomes	Mrs. Malocchio (voice)	5 episodes
2014	Family Guy	Chloe (voice)	Episode: "The Book of Joe"
2015	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Herself	Episode: "Maya Rudolph Wears a Black Skirt and Strappy Sandals"
2015	The Spoils Before Dying	Fresno Foxglove	4 episodes
2015	Drunk History	Griselda Blanco	Episode: "Miami"
2016	The Grinder	Jillian	3 episodes
2016	Mike Tyson Mysteries	Dilma Rousseff (voice)	Episode: "Yves Klein Blues"
2016	Angie Tribeca	Jackie Wilder	Episode: "Organ Trail"
2016	Maya & Marty	Herself (co-host)	6 episodes; also writer and producer Nominated-Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy/Variety - Sketch Series
2016	Brooklyn Nine-Nine	U.S. Marshal Karen Haas	2 episodes
2016	Documentary Now!	Anita	Episode: "Final Transmission"
2017	Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special	Herself	Variety special
2017	Nobodies	Herself	Episode: "Mr. First Lady"
2017	Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt	Dionne Warwick	Episode: "Kimmy Does a Puzzle!"
2017	Tour de Pharmacy	Lucy Flerng	Television film
2017	The Gong Show	Herself (judge)	Episode: "Megan Fox/Andy Samberg/Maya Rudolph"
2017	Big Mouth	(voice)

Awards and nominations

For TV performances

Year	Association	Category	Series	Result
2004	Satellite Awards	Best Actress in a TV Series - Comedy or Musical	Saturday Night Live
2007	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
2011	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series, Mini Series or TV Movie	Up All Night
2012	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series	Saturday Night Live
	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Up All Night
	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series, Mini Series or TV Movie