Maya Rudolph
Biography
Life Story
Maya Rudolph was born on July 27, 1972 in Gainesville, Florida, to Richard Rudolph, a music producer, and soul singer Minnie Riperton. Her mother was African-American and her father is Ashkenazi Jewish (from a family from Lithuania, Russia, Germany, and Hungary). In 1973, Maya, her parents, and her older brother, Marc Rudolph, moved to California to further Minnie's music career. Here Minnie recorded "Lovin' You", her most famous single, in which one can hear her sing "Maya, Maya, Maya" at the end of the song; Riperton said that the song was used as a lullaby for Maya.
During adolescence, Maya attended St. Augustine by the Sea School, where she met childhood friend, Gwyneth Paltrow. The Paltrows and the Rudolphs became family friends and, in 2000, Richard Rudolph and Maya filled the role of music supervisors on the Bruce Paltrow-directed film Duets (2000), which starred Gwyneth.
In 1990, Maya enrolled at the University of California at Santa Cruz, majoring in photography. It was here that Maya formed the band "Supersauce" with fellow students. After graduation in 1994, Maya left the band and soon joined The Rentals, fronted by Weezer bassist Matt Sharp. Maya was featured on the 1999 release "Seven More Minutes", where she sang backup vocals on "Barcelona" and "My Head is in the Sun". Maya began touring with the group, singing backup and playing Moog synthesizer. When The Rentals disbanded, Maya decided to pursue her dream of a career in comedy, joining the famed troupe "The Groundlings".
On May 6, 2000, Maya joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (1975), and became one of that show's most popular performers. Famous sketches include a dead-on impression of fashion diva Donatella Versace; high school flake "Megan", the host of her own morning talk show, "Wake-up WakeField"; and one of the members of the R&B parody "Gemini's Twin". In 2006, she co-starred in the film A Prairie Home Companion (2006), directed by the legendary Robert Altman and based on the NPR show by Garrison Keillor.
Family
No info available
Trivia
First impression on Saturday Night Live (1975) was of MTV VJ Ananda Lewis. The episode was when John Goodman hosted and Neil Young was the musical guest.
Keyboardist and a singer for the Weezer spin-off band The Rentals. She toured with the group in 1996 and sang on its latest album. They opened for Alanis Morissette in 1994.
Older brother Marc Rudolph is a music engineer.
Appeared with Donatella Versace at the 2002 VH1/Vogue Fashion awards.
Often does impressions of Christina Aguilera and Donatella Versace on Saturday Night Live (1975).
Voted #20 on Entertainment Weekly's list of Funniest People in America in April 2004
Returned to work 6 months after giving birth to her daughter, Lucille, in order to resume filming Saturday Night Live (1975).
Was 5 months pregnant with her daughter, Lucille, when she completed filming on Grown Ups (2010).
Was 7 months pregnant with her son, Jack, when she took maternity leave from filming Up All Night (2011).
Her mother, Minnie Riperton, died when Maya was only 6 years old.
Her paternal grandfather, Sidney J. Rudolph, owned all of the Wendy's and Rudy's restaurants in Dade County, Florida, where he was known for his philanthropic donations.
Personal Quotes
[on having 3 kids and a career] I thought, 'Just make it work. I had people that I trust telling me that we'll make it work. And here we are, trying to make it work. I think it's all doable.
If there's ice cream present, ordering is a no brainer. I think all of us need to have ice cream whenever possible. My go-to is mint chip.
Donatella Versace gave me pointers - a lot of them. She said she would never wear fake diamonds. I let the costume department know.
I've met people who are baffled by children, as though they were never children themselves. I think that people who don't like kids are awful people.
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.
When I'm acting, I'm much taller and thinner in my mind. Then I see myself and I'm like 'Oh, right. I forgot. That's what I look like.''"
