Amy Meredith Poehler (born September 16, 1971) is an
American actress and
comedian. She was a cast member on the
NBC television entertainment show
Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film
Mean Girls alongside
Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in
Baby Mama in 2008. She is currently the lead star of a new
NBC show titled
Parks and Recreation. She has been nominated twice for the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance on
Saturday Night Live.
Early life
Poehler was born in
Newton, Massachusetts, and grew up in
Burlington, Massachusetts, the daughter of Eileen and Bill Poehler, both teachers.
[Amy Poehler Biography - Yahoo! Movies] A 1993 graduate of
Boston College, Poehler was a member of America's oldest collegiate improv comedy troupe, My Mother's Fleabag. Her college room mate was future improv veteran and MTV host, Kara McNamara. After graduating from college, Poehler moved to
Chicago, where she studied improv at
Second City alongside friend and future co-star
Tina Fey. She also studied with
Del Close at
ImprovOlympic, going on to become part of the touring company as well as teaching classes at iO.
Career
Upright Citizens Brigade
During her time at Second City, Poehler studied with
Matt Besser, part of the
Upright Citizens Brigade. While the group initially consisted of many members (including
Horatio Sanz,
Adam McKay,
Rick Roman, and
Neil Flynn), Poehler quickly became part of the group along with
Matt Walsh. The two, along with Besser and
Ian Roberts, performed sketch and improv around Chicago before moving to
New York in 1996. Immediately after moving to
New York, the group quickly scored a TV gig, appearing as sketch regulars on
Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
In 1998,
Comedy Central debuted the group's eponymous half-hour sketch comedy series. During the show's second season, the group opened an Improv theatre and training center in New York City at 161 W. 22nd Street, occupying the space of a former strip club. The UCB theatre held shows seven nights a week in addition to offering classes in
sketch comedy writing and improv.
In the summer of 2000, the announcement came that Comedy Central had canceled the
Upright Citizens Brigade program after its third season, though the UCB Theatre continues to operate. The foursome continue to work together in many projects, as well as frequently performing together in various live improv shows at their comedy theatres in NY and LA.
Saturday Night Live
Poehler joined the cast of
SNL during the
2001–2002 season, her first episode being the first one produced after the
9/11 attacks with host
Reese Witherspoon, musical guest
Alicia Keys and New York City Mayor
Rudy Giuliani as a special guest. Poehler was promoted from featured player to full cast member in her first season on the show, making her only the third person to have ever earned this distinction (after
Harry Shearer and
Eddie Murphy).
[www.actressarchives.com/news.php?id=10357]
Beginning with the
2004–05 season, she co-anchored "
Weekend Update" with
Tina Fey, replacing the newly departed
Jimmy Fallon. In a
TV Guide interview, Fey said that with Poehler co-anchoring, there now is "double the sexual tension." When Fey left after the
2005-06 season to devote time to the sitcom she created,
30 Rock,
Seth Meyers joined Poehler at the anchor desk. Poehler was nominated for a 2008
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Comedy Series, the first SNL cast member recognized in this category. She was heavily favored to win by many critics, but ultimately lost to
Jean Smart. On September 13, 2008, the SNL season premiere opened with Fey and Poehler as
Sarah Palin and
Hillary Clinton doing a "
joint political campaign spot." Poehler plays Hillary Clinton as a highly accomplished, neurotic politician obsessed with becoming
President of the United States.
It was officially announced on September 16, 2008 that Poehler would be leaving in October due to the birth of her child. On the October 25, 2008 episode, it was announced by
Weekend Update co-anchor Seth Meyers, who anchored the segment alone, "Amy Poehler is not here because she is having a baby", to wild applause from the audience. At the end of Weekend Update, special guest
Maya Rudolph and current cast member
Kenan Thompson sang a custom rendition of "
Can't Take My Eyes Off You" for Poehler, changing the words: "We love you Amy, and we just can't wait to meet your baby!" Meyers signed off: "For Weekend Update I'm Seth Meyers - we love you Amy!"
Amy returned to the show on November 3, 2008 during the "SNL Presidential Bash 08," "hosting" as Hillary Clinton. The Bash was pre-taped from bits and pieces shot between September and October. Her return to SNL after pregnancy was on December 6, 2008, where she stayed for two weeks. During "Weekend Update", on December 13, she thanked her family, friends, and fans for the continued support and announced that it would be her last show. On April 18 a Saturday Night Live special, The Best of Amy Poehler, aired. Poehler returned for Weekend Update (signing off as: ...and he's Seth Meyers) and joined the "chorus" for Will Ferrell's "We All Went Down Together" (along with the SNL cast and
Tom Hanks,
Maya Rudolph,
Norm McDonald,
Artie Lange,
Anne Hathaway, and
Green Day) on the SNL season finale with
Will Ferrell on May 16, 2009.
Poehler will return to the WU desk this fall with Meyers for two WU Thursday episodes, which lead directly into "
Parks and Recreation".
[en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weekend_Update#Seth_Meyers_and_.5BTemporarily.5D_Amy_Poehler_.282009.E2.80.93present.29]
Other work
Poehler has appeared in films such as
Wet Hot American Summer,
Mean Girls,
Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo,
Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny,
Blades of Glory,
Envy,
Shrek The Third,
Mr. Woodcock, and
Hamlet 2. She is currently producing a digital series with two of her friends, Meredith Walker and
Amy Miles, called
Smart Girls at the Party available through
ON Networks. The show is focused on interviews with young women who are "changing the world by being themselves".
[Amy Poehler and Friends to Launch New Digital TV Show Aimed at “Smart Girls” and their Parents] The first season of 'Smart Girls at the Party' premiered online November 17, 2008 with Mattel's Barbie signed on as the lead sponsor.
In the past, she often appeared in various comedy segments on
Late Night with Conan O'Brien, often playing her recurring role as
Andy Richter's little sister Stacy, and as a recurring character in two episodes of the college dramedy
Undeclared. She appears in the film
Southland Tales, which premiered on May 21, 2006 at the
2006 Cannes Film Festival. In 2008, she appeared in
Horton Hears a Who!,
Hamlet 2, and
Baby Mama and will star in
Spring Breakdown. She has also co-created an animated series for
Nickelodeon called
The Mighty B! about Bessie Higgenbottom, a "sweet, merit-badge-obsessed girl scout", to which she lends her vocal talents.
In 2009 it was announced that Poehler earned a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Series.
In July 2008,
Variety reported that she was in final negotiations to star in a series by writers
Greg Daniels and
Mike Schur, set to air on Thursdays after
The Office, starting January 2009 on
NBC.
On July 21, 2008, NBC officially announced Poehler's new series,
Parks and Recreation, saying the project will not be a direct spin-off of
The Office, as previously speculated.
Poehler was featured in
The Advocate for her role in the show.
Personal life
Poehler is married to
Will Arnett, of the
Fox comedy
Arrested Development, and had a recurring role in the series as the
nameless wife of Arnett's character
George Oscar "G.O.B." Bluth II. Poehler and Arnett also played a quasi-
incestuous brother-sister ice skating team in the 2007 film
Blades of Glory. The couple also appeared in
Horton Hears a Who!, and
Monsters vs Aliens, and they will star together in the upcoming films
On Broadway and
Spring Breakdown. They live in New York City and have two dogs, Puzzle and Suki. In
The Paz Show, she played Ping Big Penguin. She also created The Paz Show.
[O'Neil, Tom. "Transcript: Our chat session with Will Arnett", The Los Angeles Times, 2006. Retrieved on May 7, 2007.] Amy was named one of People magazine's 100 most beautiful people for 2009.
On October 25, 2008, Poehler gave birth to Archibald "Archie" William Emerson Arnett just hours before the
Saturday Night Live telecast.
Filmography
Television
Notable Characters on SNL
Impressions
Poehler has impersonated
Dakota Fanning,
Hillary Rodham Clinton,
Barbara Boxer,
Sharon Osbourne,
Britney Spears,
Paula Abdul,
Norah O'Donnell,
Kelly Ripa,
Ann Coulter,
Madonna,
Avril Lavigne,
Sharon Stone,
Nancy Grace,
Michael Jackson,
Christian Siriano,
Peter Ostrum,
Mr. Six,
Tonya Harding,
Dennis Kucinich,
Fergie,
J. K. Rowling,
Kim Jong-il,
Jenna Bush,
Katie Couric,
Tinker Bell, and
Rosie Perez.
