Born to the late famous soul singer Minnie Riperton, Maya Rudolph started off her career as a backing singer and keyboardist for the band The Rentals. In addition to touring with the music act, she also lent her figure to its music videos. Following a career in music, she then ventured into acting and rose to stardom as a cast member of "Saturday Night Live". She was nominated Best Actress Satellite Award and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her involvement in the sketch comedy and variety show.
Remaining on "SNL" from 2000 to 2007, Rudolph began as a featured player. By time, she was able to prove to be having the ability to change her looks and command many accents. It was not surprising then that she had portrayed a wide range of characters, ranging from female to male, white, black, Asian, also Hispanics. Several of her celebrity impressions included Barbra Streisand, Beyonce Knowles, Oprah Winfrey, Donatella Versace, Lucy Liu, and Paris Hilton.
Besides "SNL", Rudolph had also made appearances on some other TV shows, naming some were "City of Angels" and "Chicago Hope". She, additionally, had minor parts on "Chuck & Buck", "Gattaca", "As Good as It Gets", "Duplex", also "Duets". Her first prominent film role was that as Molly in the 2006 "A Prairie Home Companion". Her other major film features were "Away We Go" (2009) and "Bridesmaids" (2011), the last won her an MTV Movie Award for Best Gut-Wrenching Performance. In addition to act in "Grown Ups" and "Grown Ups 2", she also lent her voice to "Shrek the Third", "Zookeeper", and "Big Hero 6".
Rudolph, who was born Maya Khabira Rudolph on July 27, 1972 in Gainesville, Florida, is a mother of four children. She has daughters Pearl Bailey (b. 2005), Lucille (b. 2009), and Minnie Ida (b. 2013), and son Jackson "Jack" Wright (b. 2011). Their father is her longtime love, director Paul Thomas Anderson.