Everything about Maya Rudolph totally explained
Maya Khabira Rudolph (born
July 27,
1972) is an
American actress and
comedienne, known as a long-running cast member on
NBC's
Saturday Night Live.
Personal life
Family
Rudolph was born in
Gainesville,
Florida, the daughter of the late
soul singer Minnie Riperton (also known as Andrea Davis) and
composer,
songwriter and
producer Richard Rudolph. Her father was
Jewish and her mother
African American. She was in the studio with her mother on the day Riperton recorded "
Lovin' You"; one can hear her mother sing "Maya, Maya, Maya" to her near the end of the track. Riperton passed away at age 31, from cancer, short of her daughter's seventh birthday. This loss at a young age and growing up
multiracial had an effect, according to a July 2001
Rosie magazine article: "My mom was black and my dad is Jewish, and I lost my mom when I was seven. That made me feel really different from other kids."
Education
Growing up, Maya attended St. Augustine by the Sea School, where she met childhood friend
Gwyneth Paltrow. The Paltrows and the Rudolphs became family friends. She attended high 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.
Relationships
Rudolph and
filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson are in a relationship, and have a daughter, Pearl Bailey Anderson, born on
October 15,
2005. As of November 2006, she's involved in a lawsuit over a New York condominium she'd leased with Anderson which, among other problems, was found to be infested with
bedbugs.
Career
Saturday Night Live
She joined
SNL late in season 1999-2000 as a featured player, after a stint as a member of
The Groundlings improv troupe.
Rudolph's characters on the show have included attorney Glenda Goodwin, and Megan from the "Wake Up, Wakefield!" sketches; she's performed impressions of
Oprah Winfrey,
Christina Aguilera,
Condoleezza Rice,
Paris Hilton,
Teresa Heinz Kerry,
Tyra Banks,
Patti LaBelle,
Liza Minnelli,
LaToya Jackson,
Whitney Houston, and most famously,
designer Donatella Versace.
Rudolph appeared in the first
SNL episode of the 2005-2006 season (host:
Steve Carrell; musical guest:
Kanye West) before going on maternity leave. She returned for the
February 4,
2006 episode (host:
Steve Martin; musical guest:
Prince).
Rudolph's musical talents are frequently employed on
SNL; she sings as
Beyoncé Knowles in the
Prince Show sketches, as the Space Creature in the
Gays in Space sketches, and elsewhere. Her chameleon-like ability to change her looks, and her impressive command of many accents have also led to her playing an unusually wide range of ethnicities on the show, often with only a change of wigs; she's been
white (
Lisa Kudrow,
Barbra Streisand),
Asian (
Lucy Liu,
Lisa Ling),
black (
Diana Ross,
Tina Turner),
Latina (
Charo,
Jennifer Lopez), and more. As Nooni Schoener, she, along with
Fred Armisen, created a couple from an unspecified Scandinavian country, who have unplaceable accents and bewilderingly foreign manners. Rudolph is also able to play male characters (
Scott Joplin,
Lorne Michaels,
Justin Guarini,
Mario Vazquez) in addition to playing females.
Her final show was on
November 3, 2007, with host
Brian Williams and musical guest
Feist.
Characters
Impressions
Amanda Byram
Ananda Lewis
Barbra Streisand
Beyoncé Knowles
- (recurring sketch "The Prince Show")
Brenda Song
Charo
Christina Aguilera
Condoleezza Rice
Darcel Wynne
Diana Ross
Donatella Versace
Donna Fargo
Emily Robison
Fredricka Whitfield
Free
Gayle King
Halle Berry
Ivanka Trump
Jennifer Lopez
Joyce Irby
Justin Guarini
Kara Saun
Katrina Campins
Latoya Jackson
Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Ling
Liza Minnelli
Lorne Michaels
Lucy Liu
Lynda Lopez
Macy Gray
Melinda Doolittle
Mario Vasquez
Marta Mercado
Mary Roach
Melissa Stark
Mýa
Nelly Furtado
Nicky Hilton
Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth
Oprah Winfrey
Paris Hilton
Patti LaBelle
Rocsi
Scott Joplin
Teresa Heinz Kerry
Tina Turner
Tyra Banks
Valerie Simpson
Vanessa Bryant
Vanessa Anne Hudgens
Wanda Sykes
Whitney Houston
Television and film
In addition to her work on SNL, Rudolph has appeared on a few television shows, including City of Angels and Chicago Hope.
She has also appeared in Hollywood films. She had small parts in Chuck & Buck, Gattaca, As Good As It Gets, Duplex and Duets and, for the latter, she was also the music supervisor. Her first prominent film role came in 2006 with A Prairie Home Companion, a role she filled during her pregnancy (her character is pregnant during the film). Earlier, she'd 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. 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".
Music
Prior to joining SNL, Rudolph was briefly a keyboardist and backing singer for the band The Rentals. She also appears in the music video for the song "Waiting" and "Please Let That Be You" by the band. She sang backing vocals for "Barcelona" and "My Head Is in the Sun," both from the album Seven More Minutes. She recently recorded some tracks with The Rentals frontman Matt Sharp, particularly a cover of Tegan and Sara's "Not Tonight". Rudolph also performed "Together In Pooping" and "Little Roundworm" with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog on his CD, Come Poop With Me.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Maya Rudolph'.
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