Maya Rudolph

Maya Khabira Rudolph (born July 27, 1972) is an American actress, comedienne, and singer known for her comedic roles as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2000–2007 and for appearing in films such as Away We Go, Bridesmaids, Grown Ups and MacGruber. She is the daughter of the late R&B and soul singer Minnie Riperton.

Maya Rudolph Talks Big Babies



BRIDESMAIDS - KRISTEN WIIG MAYA RUDOLPH AND FARTS



Maya Rudolph Sings the National Anthem - BEST QUALITY



Maya Rudolph at the "Bridesmaids" premiere





Personal life

[edit]Family
Rudolph was born in Gainesville, Florida. She is the daughter of soul singer Minnie Riperton and composer/songwriter/producer Richard Rudolph. Her father is Ashkenazi Jewish and her mother was African-American. Her paternal grandfather was Sidney Rudolph, a philanthropist.[3] Maya Rudolph was in the studio with her mother on the day Riperton recorded "Lovin' You",[citation needed] The listener can hear her mother sing "Maya, Maya, Maya" to her daughter near the end of the track. Riperton died on July 12, 1979, at age 31, from breast cancer, just shy of Rudolph's seventh birthday.[citation needed] Her godmother was the late R&B star Teena Marie.
Rudolph lives with director Paul Thomas Anderson and their three children — daughters Pearl Bailey (born October 2005) and Lucille (born November 6, 2009)[5], and son Jack (born July 3, 2011).

Education
Growing up, Rudolph attended high school at Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California, and continued her education at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she graduated in 1995 with a B.A. in photography from Porter College.[7]
[edit]Career

[edit]Saturday Night Live
In May 2000, Rudolph joined the cast of SNL 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.[citation needed]
Rudolph's characters on the show have included "Attorney Glenda Goodwin" and "Megan" from the "Wake Up, Wakefield!" sketches. Rudolph has performed impressions of Oprah Winfrey, Christina Aguilera, Condoleezza Rice, Paris Hilton, Teresa Heinz Kerry, Tyra Banks, Patti LaBelle, Beyoncé, Liza Minnelli, LaToya Jackson, Diana Ross, Whitney Houston, Rocsi (of 106 & Park), and designer Donatella Versace.[citation needed]
Rudolph's musical talents were frequently employed on SNL. She sang as Beyoncé 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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] She has been white (Paris Hilton, Liza Minnelli, Barbra Streisand, Lisa Kudrow), Asian (Lucy Liu, Lisa Ling), black (Diana Ross, Tina Turner), Latina (Jennifer Lopez, Charo), as well as people of mixed cultural backgrounds.[citation needed] As "Nooni Schoener," Rudolph, along with Fred Armisen (who, like Rudolph, is also multiracial), 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.[citation needed]
Her final show was on November 3, 2007, with host Brian Williams and musical guest Feist, the last episode before the writers' strike.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] She then also appeared in the 2008 Christmas episode, where she reprised her role in the sketch Bronx Beat, with Amy Poehler.[citation needed] She also appeared in two sketches in the 2008–2009 season finale with Will Ferrell.[citation needed] She appeared in a Weekend Update Thursday sketch during the fall 2009–10 season as Oprah Winfrey speaking on behalf of the 2016 Olympics bid. She also appeared on the show in May 2010 to perform in skits including "The Manuel Ortiz Show" with Betty White.[citation needed]
She returned to SNL for the Season 36 premiere, hosted by Amy Poehler, performing the "Bronx Beat" sketch.[citation needed] She also returned that same season for episode 700, hosted by Tina Fey.[8]
[edit]Television and film
In addition to her work on SNL, Rudolph has appeared on other television shows, including the CBS medical drama series City of Angels and Chicago Hope.[citation needed]
She had small parts in Chuck & Buck, Gattaca, As Good as It Gets, Duplex and Duets; she was also a music supervisor for Duets.[citation needed] Her first prominent film role came in 2006 with A Prairie Home Companion. Earlier, she had co-starred 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.[citation needed] She also guest starred as Rapunzel in the DreamWorks animated film Shrek the Third. She guest starred as Julia in the 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, together with SNL colleague Kristen Wiig.
[edit]Music
Prior to joining SNL, Rudolph was briefly a keyboardist and backing singer in the band The Rentals. She toured with the group for a short time.[citation needed] She also appears in the music videos of the songs "Waiting" and "Please Let That Be You" by the band.[citation needed] 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."[citation needed] Rudolph also performed "Together In Pooping" and "Little Roundworm" with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog (Robert Smigel) on his album Come Poop With Me.
[edit]Recurring characters on Saturday Night Live
Appreciante
Megan, one of the co-hosts of "Wake Up, Wakefield!"
Jackie
Jodi Dietz, one of the co-hosts of "Bronx Beat"
Beertje Van Beers
Mrs. Denmont
Britanica
Leilani Burke
Rebecca
Cocktail Waitress
Space Creature
Casey
Charli Coffee
Glenda Goodwin
Patti Sylviac
Nuni Schoener
[edit]Celebrity Impressions on SNL
Amanda Bynes
Ananda Lewis
Barbra Streisand
Bern Nadette Stanis (as Thelma Evans on Good Times)
Beyoncé
Charo
Christina Aguilera
Condoleezza Rice
Darcel Wynne
Diana Ross
Donatella Versace
Donna Fargo
Emily Robison
Fredricka Whitfield
Free
Gayle King
Halle Berry
Ivanka Trump
Ja'net Du Bois (as Willona Woods on Good Times)
Jennifer Lopez
Joyce "Fenderella" Irby
Justin Guarini
Kara Saun
LaToya Jackson
Lisa Kudrow
Liza Minnelli
Lisa Ling
Lucy Liu
Lynda Lopez
Macy Gray
Mario Vasquez
Mary Roach
Melinda Doolittle
Melissa Stark
Michelle Obama
Mya
Nelly Furtado
Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth
Oprah Winfrey
Paris Hilton
Patti LaBelle
Phylicia Rashad (as Clair Huxtable from The Cosby Show)
Rocsi
Scott Joplin
Teresa Heinz
Terra Patrick
Tina Turner
Tyra Banks
Valerie Simpson
Vanessa Hudgens
Wanda Sykes
Whitney Houston
[edit]Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1997 As Good as It Gets Police Woman
1997 Gattaca Delivery Nurse
2000 Chuck & Buck Jamilla
2000 Duets Omaha Hostess
2003 Duplex Tara
2004 50 First Dates Stacy
2006 A Prairie Home Companion Stage Manager Nominated – Gotham Award for Best Ensemble
2006 Idiocracy Rita
2007 Shrek the Third Rapunzel Voice
2009 Away We Go Verona de Tessant Nominated — Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association for Best Actress
Nominated — Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Black Reel Award for Best Actress
Nominated — St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Utah Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
2010 Grown Ups Deanne McKenzie
2010 MacGruber Casey
2011 Bridesmaids Lillian
[edit]Television

Chicago Hope (1996–1997)
City of Angels (2000)
Saturday Night Live (2000–2007)
Campus Ladies (2006)
The Simpsons (2007)
Kath & Kim (2008–2009)
Up All Night (2011-Present)

References from Wikipedia.com