Amy Poehler (born September 16, 1971 in Burlington, Massachusetts) is an American comedian and actress. She currently stars on Saturday Night Live, where she has portrayed Sharon Osbourne, Kelly Ripa, Madonna, Avril Lavigne, Sharon Stone, Nancy Grace and Michael Jackson. She was promoted from featured player to full cast member during her first season on SNL, the third person ever (after Harry Shearer and Eddie Murphy) to earn this distinction.
Beginning with the 2004-2005 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." Fey left after the 2005-2006 season, replaced by Seth Meyers.
A 1993 graduate of Boston College, Poehler was a key member of America's oldest collegiate improv comedy troupe, My Mother's Fleabag. She has appeared in films such as Wet Hot American Summer, Mean Girls, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, and Envy as well as lending her voice to the character Snow White in the Shrek sequels. In the past, she often appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien as Andy Richter's little sister Stacy, and as a recurring character in two episodes of the college dramedy Undeclared.
Poehler performed at Second City Chicago and the ImprovOlympic, and is a disciple of longform improv comic innovator Del Close. She was one of the four players on Comedy Central's Upright Citizens Brigade and is a co-owner and a performer of longform improv most Sunday evenings at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York.
Poehler is married to Will Arnett, of the FOX comedy Arrested Development, and had recurring roles in the series as the wife of Arnett's character GOB. She appears in the film Southland Tales, which premiered on May 21, 2006 at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, and is set to appear in the 2007 film Mr. Woodcock alongside Seann William Scott and Billy Bob Thornton. She has created an upcoming animated series for Nickelodeon called Mighty B, about a "sweet, merit-badge-obsessed girl scout."
