Maya Rudolph
Maya Rudolph (born July 27, 1972) is an American actress and comedian. Born in Gainesville, Florida, and raised in Los Angeles, she is the daughter of singer Minnie Riperton and composer Richard Rudolph. In 2000, Rudolph became a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL). During her tenure on the show, she played supporting roles in the films 50 First Dates (2004), A Prairie Home Companion (2006), and Idiocracy (2006).
Maya Rudolph
July 27, 1972
- Actress
- comedian
1996–present
Paul Thomas Anderson (2001–present)[a]
4
- Richard Rudolph (father)
- Minnie Riperton (mother)
After leaving SNL in 2007, Rudolph appeared in more films, including Grown Ups (2010) and its 2013 sequel, Bridesmaids (2011), Inherent Vice (2014), Sisters (2015), Life of the Party (2018), and Disenchanted (2022). As a voice actress, her credits include the animated films Shrek the Third (2007), Big Hero 6 (2014), The Angry Birds Movie (2016), The Emoji Movie (2017), and Luca (2021).
Rudolph starred in the NBC sitcom Up All Night (2011–2012) and co-hosted the variety show Maya & Marty (2016). Since 2017, she has voiced various characters for the animated sitcom Big Mouth, including Connie the Hormone Monstress, which won her three Primetime Emmy Awards. For her portrayal of politician Kamala Harris on SNL, Rudolph won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. She received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for playing the Judge in the comedy series The Good Place (2018–2020). In 2022, Rudolph began executive producing and starring in the comedy series Loot.
Early life[edit]
Rudolph was born on July 27, 1972, in Gainesville, Florida,[2] to singer Minnie Riperton and composer Richard Rudolph.[3][4] Her mother was African-American and her father is Jewish. 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.[5] 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.[6] Rudolph's godmother was R&B singer Teena Marie.[7] On an episode of PBS's Finding Your Roots, Rudolph discovered that her maternal great-great-great-grandfather was James Grigsby, who was born a slave in Lincoln County, Kentucky. Grigsby was denied financial compensation and freedom granted by the last will and testament of his owner, John Warren Grigsby, and challenged the owner's grandson in court in the 1830s.[8][9]
Rudolph's parents moved to Los Angeles, California, when her brother Marc and she were very young, and they grew up primarily in the Westwood neighborhood.[10] Near the end of the song "Lovin' You", Riperton repeats "Maya". She incorporated this into her performance on The Midnight Special.[11] Her mother died of breast cancer on July 12, 1979, at age 31, two weeks before Maya's seventh birthday.[10] In 1990, Rudolph graduated from Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California, where she befriended schoolmates Gwyneth Paltrow and Jack Black.[12] She attended the University of California, Santa Cruz, living in Porter College. She graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in photography.[13]
Personal life[edit]
Rudolph has been in a relationship with filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson since 2001.[1][27] They live in the San Fernando Valley with their four children.[28][29][30][31]