Laraine Newman is not only an Emmy and Annie nominated actor, comedian and writer — she is actually a native of Los Angeles. Her new memoir, MAY YOU LIVE IN INTERESTING TIMES, chronicles her extraordinary life.
She began studying improv and mime (don’t judge) at the age of 16 and was asked to join a group hired to perform in the parks of South Central. She continued to study improvisation and mime until graduating Beverly Hills High School. She studied mime with Marcel Marceau in Paris for a year and a half. At the age of 19 she appeared in the New Theatre For Now at the Mark Taper Forum and was accepted to the Theatre School at Cal Arts but left after 3 months to join another improv workshop with her sister Tracy that soon became the Groundlings.
She is a founding member of that company. In 1974 Laraine appeared in a Lily Tomlin special produced by Lorne Michaels. After seeing her in The Groundlings a second time, he hired her for Saturday Night Live. Laraine has worked for directors ranging from Woody Allen to Guillermo del Toro. Her more notable movie roles (and notable is a relative term) have been: Problem Child 2, Stardust Memories, American Hot Wax and Perfect. Then there are the roles she did for money. They won’t be listed here.
Laraine’s most recent television appearance is HBO’s Los Espookys. Laraine has enjoyed a thriving animation career. A complete list of her animation, television and film work can be found on IMDB or larainenewman.com. She has also written for Esquire, The Huffington Post, The Believer and McSweeneys and is a contributing editor for the online food magazine Oneforthetable. Laraine is on the board of San Francisco Sketchfest, an alternative comedy festival now in its 20th year.
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