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Maya Khabira Rudolph (born July 27, 1972 in Gainesville, Florida) is an American actress and comedian best known for her many roles on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''. Her mother, Music/MinnieRiperton, was a soul singer (the same one known for the song "Loving You"), and her father, Richard Rudolph, was a music producer, so Maya practically grew up in the studio. Her godmother is rhythm-and-blues singer Teena Marie. Her mother died of breast cancer when Maya was very young.

In the 1990s, Maya was the backing singer and occasional keyboardist for rock band The Rentals, appeared in a few films and TV shows, such as ''Film/AsGoodAsItGets'' and ''Film/{{Gattaca}}'', and was a member of {{Improv}} comedy troupe The Groundlings.

Maya Rudolph's big break came in 2000, when she joined ''Saturday Night Live'', becoming the first half-black, half-white cast member, the fourth black female cast member (after Creator/YvonneHudson from season six, Creator/DanitraVance from season eleven, and Ellen Cleghorne from season 17), and the first black female cast member to actually be popular (Hudson was a background player who faded to obscurity, Vance was a decent performer but was often relegated to stereotypical roles, and Ellen Cleghorne did attain some popularity on ''SNL'', but she was overshadowed by the male cast members[[note]]and some of the white female cast members, like Melanie Hutsell and Julia Sweeney[[/note]] and has not done anything of note after her tenure on the show). From 2000 to 2007, she did many celebrity impressions (most famously Donatella "[[GetOut GETHOOOOOOOOOOUT]]" Versace), played original characters, and even sang. Her mixed race and vocal talents made her a chameleon, as she played real and fictional characters of [[PlaysGreatEthnics every race and ethnicity]] -- and sometimes, she even played men (such as Creator/ScottJoplin and Creator/LorneMichaels). She even won an UsefulNotes/EmmyAward for her portrayal of UsefulNotes/KamalaHarris during the Democratic primaries for the 2020 election, which she would continue doing on an official recurring basis after the eventual nominee, UsefulNotes/JoeBiden, selected her as his running mate.

Rudolph was planning on leaving the show after the 32nd season (2006-2007), but stayed on without a contract for the 33rd season (2007-2008). Unfortunately, it was only for the first four episodes. When ''Saturday Night Live'' was put on hiatus due to the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Rudolph quietly left the show and was replaced with Creator/CaseyWilson when the strike ended and production continued. Rudolph did come back to cameo a few episodes and even host (season 37; February 18, 2012; musical guest: Sleigh Bells), becoming one in a handful of former female cast members to come back and host (joining [[Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus Julia Louis-Dreyfus]], Creator/AmyPoehler, Creator/TinaFey, Creator/MollyShannon, and, later, Rudolph's ''Bridesmaids'' co-star, Creator/KristenWiig).

Outside ''SNL'', Rudolph has appeared in several movies and TV shows, such as ''Film/{{Bridesmaids}}'', where she was joined by fellow ''SNL'' comedian Creator/KristenWiig. In 2011, she began starring alongside Creator/ChristinaApplegate and Creator/WillArnett in the sitcom ''Series/UpAllNight''. She lives with film director Creator/PaulThomasAnderson and their four children.
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!Roles

* ''Series/ChicagoHope'' (1996-1997) as Nurse Leah Martine
* ''Film/AsGoodAsItGets'' (1997) as Police Woman
* ''Film/{{Gattaca}}'' (1997) as Delivery Nurse
* ''City of Angels'' (2000) as Nurse Grace Patterson
* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' (2000-2007) in various roles (see below for celebrity impersonations)
* ''Film/FiftyFirstDates'' (2004) as Stacy
* ''Film/{{Idiocracy}}'' (2005) as Rita
* ''Film/APrairieHomeCompanion'' (2006) as the Stage Manager
* ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'' (2007) as Rapunzel (voice role)
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' (2007 episode "Homer of Seville") as Julia (voice role)
* ''Film/AwayWeGo'' (2009) as Verona de Tessant
* ''Film/GrownUps'' (2010) and Deanne [=McKenzie=]
* ''Film/MacGruber'' (2010) as Casey
* ''Film/{{Bridesmaids}}'' (2011) as Lillian
* ''Series/UpAllNight'' (2011-2012) as Ava Alexander
* ''Friends with Kids'' (2012) as Leslie
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Turbo}}'' (2013) as Burn
* ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'' (2014) as Aunt Cass
** ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6TheSeries'' (2017-2021) as Aunt Cass
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Baymax}}'' (2022) as Aunt Cass
* ''Film/TheWayWayBack'' (2013) as Caitlyn
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBirdsMovie'' (2016) as Matilda (voice role)
* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmojiMovie'' (2017) as Smiler
* ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'' (2017, guest star) as Dionne Warwick
* ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'' (2017-present) as Connie, Diane, Bonnie, Various
** ''WesternAnimation/HumanResources2022'' as Connie
* ''Series/TheGoodPlace'' (2018) as Gen, The All Knowing Judge
* ''Series/Forever2018'' (2018) as June Hoffman
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie2TheSecondPart'' (2019) as Finn and Bianca's mom
* ''Film/WineCountry'' (2018) as Naomi
* ''WesternAnimation/TheMitchellsVsTheMachines'' (2021) as Linda Mitchell
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Luca}}'' (2021) as Daniela
* ''Series/{{Loot}}'' (2022) as Molly
* ''Film/{{Disenchanted|2022}}'' (2022) as Malvina Monroe
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Digman}}'' (2023)
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMutantMayhem'' (2023) as Cynthia Utrom
* ''Film/{{IF|2024}}'' (2024) as Alligator

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!SNL celebrity impersonations (selected)

* Music/BarbraStreisand
* Music/{{Beyonce}}
* Music/ChristinaAguilera
* Condoleezza Rice
* Diana Ross
* Creator/HalleBerry
* Music/JenniferLopez
* UsefulNotes/KamalaHarris (for which she won an UsefulNotes/EmmyAward)
* Creator/LisaKudrow
* Creator/LucyLiu
* Michelle Obama
* Music/NellyFurtado
* [[Series/TheOprahWinfreyShow Oprah Winfrey]]
* Creator/ParisHilton
* Scott Joplin
* Tina Turner
* Creator/TyraBanks
* Music/VanessaHudgens
* Music/WhitneyHouston
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!Tropes

* AscendedFangirl: Of Music/{{Prince}}. Many of her SNL skits included references to the Purple One, and nowadays she is one half of a Prince cover band with GretchenLieberum called Princess.
* AttractiveBentGender: As Scott Joplin and other male roles.
* TheCastShowOff: Works featuring her like to show off her singing voice.
* MsFanservice: Spent years on SNL as the go-to "sexy one."
* ParentalLoveSong: Her mother's most famous song, "Lovin' You," was written about a then-infant Maya. Near the end of the song, Riperton repeatedly sings Maya's name.
* PigeonholedVoiceActor: The chances she'll be voicing a TeamMom are rather high.
* PlaysGreatEthnics: One reason she was so versatile on SNL was that her looks let her play any ethnicity. Just look at that list of impressions.
* TeamMom: She poses herself as a maternal figure to the new cast members during her hosting gig on Season 46 of ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', but falls flat because she can't remember any of their names, shuns Andrew Dismukes for reminding her of her age, and misremembers her time on ''SNL'' as the plot of ''Film/TheBreakfastClub.''
%%* WomanOfAThousandVoices
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