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Maya Rudolph is a comedian and actor who became a household name via her Saturday Night Live tenure, which ran from 2000 to 2007.
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Play NowMaya Rudolph. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 07:06, May 23, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/maya-rudolph-21114517.
Maya Rudolph. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/maya-rudolph-21114517 [Accessed 23 May 2013].
"Maya Rudolph." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 23 2013, 07:06 http://www.biography.com/people/maya-rudolph-21114517.
"Maya Rudolph," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/maya-rudolph-21114517 [accessed May 23, 2013].
"Maya Rudolph," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/maya-rudolph-21114517 (accessed May 23, 2013).
Maya Rudolph [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 23] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/maya-rudolph-21114517.
Maya Rudolph, http://www.biography.com/people/maya-rudolph-21114517 (last visited May 23, 2013).
Maya Rudolph. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/maya-rudolph-21114517. Accessed May 23, 2013.
Synopsis
Maya Rudolph first put her interest in acting to work with the Groundlings and landed a few small roles in TV and in film. When a producer for Saturday Night Live saw her perform with the acting troupe, Rudolph was brought to New York and joined the SNL cast in 2000. On SNL, she became a featured player known for impersonations of such celebrities as Christina Aguilera,
Oprah Winfrey and Donatella Versace. She stayed with the show until 2007, appearing in several films both during and after the SNL ride was over.
Early Years
Maya Rudolph was born in Gainesville, Florida, on July 27, 1972, her father a music writer and producer and her mother a singer (Minnie Ripperton, who hit the top of the pop charts in 1974 with "Lovin' You"). After moving from Gainesville, Florida, to Southern California, when Rudolph was almost seven, her mother died of breast cancer, and Rudolph, as if carrying on her mother's legacy, began singing and appearing in local theater, which she did throughout childhood. After high school, she enrolled in the photography program at the University of California at Santa Cruz, where she formed the band Super Sauce. Super Sauce wouldn't be Rudolph's last band, as she went on to play keyboards for The Rentals, a Weezer spin-off band, in the mid-1990s.
Acting Calls
Around this time, Maya Rudolph also began exploring acting, first with the Groundlings, a popular and edgy comedy troupe. After performing with the Groundlings and getting her bearings in the acting performing arena, Rudolph began landing small parts in films such as As Good as It Gets (1997) and Gattaca (1997) and on the TV drama Chicago Hope (1996-1997, in a recurring role).
Rudolph's career took a major turn when a Saturday Night Live producer saw her performing with the Groundlings in late 1999. She soon auditioned for the show in New York and joined the cast in 2000 as a featured performer. Rudolph brought to the table a unique blend of acting and musicality, always mixed with a madcap comedic streak, and this range led to a promotion to full cast member in late 2001. She developed a true following on the show through the often outrageous characters she'd create or, more often, the real-life characters she'd impersonate. Her over-the-top but somehow dead-on impersonations of such celebrities as Donatella Versace, Oprah Winfrey, and Christina Aguilera made her one of the stars of the show, and her comedic skills led not only to a larger part on the show but to more and more non-SNL roles.
Before her SNL tenure even began, Rudolph was appearing in films, and her work on the big screen continued after she joined the cast in such films as the comedy Chuck and Buck and the musically oriented Duets (both in 2000), that later of which allowed her to work with childhood friend Gwyneth Paltrow. She followed these with a few more projects, notably a recurring role on TV's City of Angels (2000) and in the romantic comedy 50 First Dates (2004), with Adam Sandler.
In 2005, Rudolph took a break, going on maternity leave, her pregnancy now a part of film history as it was captured via her role in the ensemble of Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion.
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Black Comedians
View groupFrom the early comedy of Nipsey Russell, Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby to the contemporary routines of Steve Harvey, Mo'Nique, Chris Rock, Wanda Sykes and Dave Chappelle, black comedians have often used their wit to become the voice and face of the African-American experience. These legendary comedians have also set a very high bar—not only for African Americans, but for all comics trying to make it in show business. Learn more about these famous jokesters, from their early days to their comic beginnings, to their side-splitting performances and more.
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Cast of Saturday Night Live
View groupLearn more about the cast of Saturday Night Live, including old-timers such as John Belushi, Billy Crystal, Jane Curtin, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy and David Spade, as well as newer stars of the series, including Tracy Morgan, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis and Seth Meyers.
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