Lennon Kathleen Parham (born October 26, 1975) is an American actress and improvisational comedian from the

Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (shorter UCB Theatre) is an American improvisational theatre company and training center founded by the Upright Citizens Brigade troupe members Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh. Prior t ...

. With frequent collaborator Jessica St. Clair, she created and co-starred in

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

's ''

Best Friends Forever "Best friends forever" is a phrase that describes a close friendship. It is sometimes written as an initialism, "BFF". Definition A BFF is a term for someone's best friend or close friend and is characterized by trust and permanence, irrespectiv ...

'' and

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Mad ...

's '' Playing House''. She also co-starred in the CBS sitcom '' Accidentally on Purpose'' from 2009 to 2010. More recently, she has appeared in the

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netwo ...

series ''

Minx Minx, MinX or MINX may refer to: Music * MINX (band), dissolved South Korean girl group replaced by Dreamcatcher * MINX (musician) (born 1983), Australian DJ and producer * ''Minx'' (Leatherface album), 1993 * ''Minx'' (Toyah album), 1985 Prin ...

''.

Early life

Parham was born in Marietta,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

. She attended

Parkview High School Parkview may refer to: Geography * Parkview, Indiana, an unincorporated community in Vigo County * Parkview, St. Louis, Missouri, a neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri, United States * Parkview (Edmonton), a neighborhood in Canada * Parkview, Gau ...

in Lilburn, Georgia, and graduated with a

B.S. Degree A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

Theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

from the

University of Evansville The University of Evansville (UE) is a private university in Evansville, Indiana. It was founded in 1854 as Moores Hill College. The university operates a satellite center, Harlaxton College, in Grantham, England. UE offers more than 80 differ ...

. Following college, she taught French for two years at T. L. Weston High School in Greenville,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mis ...

, as part of the Teach For America program.

Career

After her stint as a French teacher, Parham began performing comedy with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. During this time, she starred in the two-person show ''The Adventures of Lock & Kay'' and the one-woman show ''She Tried to be Normal''. In the fall of 2009, Parham began a supporting role in the comedy '' Accidentally on Purpose''. Parham and frequent collaborator Jessica St. Clair created and starred in the

comedy ''

'', which ran for one season in 2012. Their second sitcom, '' Playing House'', premiered on USA on April 29, 2014, and lasted three seasons. In 2015, Parham and St. Clair spun-off their ''

Comedy Bang! Bang! ''Comedy Bang! Bang!'' (formerly ''Comedy Death-Ray Radio'') is a weekly comedy audio podcast, which originally began airing as a radio show on May 1, 2009.A Special Thing Forums:Comedy Death-Ray Radio starts today! Popularly known as ''Hum ...

'' characters Wompler and Listler for a new

Earwolf Earwolf is an American comedy podcasting network founded by Scott Aukerman and Jeff Ullrich in August 2010. In 2011, they announced a partnership with Funny Or Die. It merged with podcast advertising network The Mid Roll in 2014, a separate comp ...

podcast called '' WOMP It Up!'', with St. Clair as host Marissa Wompler and Parham co-hosting as Marissa's teacher Charlotte Listler. Frequent guests on the podcast include

Brian Huskey Brian Huskey (born September 8, 1968) is an American character actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for his roles in comedy programs such as ''People of Earth'', '' Childrens Hospital'', '' Veep'', and '' Another Period''. He also provid ...

as Marissa's stepdad "Seth" and Jason Mantzoukas as Marissa's former flame Eric "Gutterballs" Gutterman. Parham has made appearances on television programs such as ''

Veep ''Veep'' is an American political satire comedy television series that aired on HBO from April 22, 2012, to May 12, 2019. The series was created by Armando Iannucci as an adaptation of his sitcom ''The Thick of It''. The protagonist of ''Veep ...

'', ''

Parks and Recreation ''Parks and Recreation'' (also known as ''Parks and Rec'') is an American political satire mockumentary sitcom television series created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. The series aired on NBC from April 9, 2009, to February 24, 2015, f ...

'', ''Comedy Bang! Bang!'', '' Bad Judge'', ''

Arrested Development The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...

'', '' Lady Dynamite'', ''

Review A review is an evaluation of a publication, product, service, or company or a critical take on current affairs in literature, politics or culture. In addition to a critical evaluation, the review's author may assign the work a content rating, ...

'', and ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its ...

''. In 2019 and 2020, she was a main cast member of the ABC sitcom, '' Bless This Mess'', starring Lake Bell and

Dax Shepard Dax Randall Shepard (born January 2, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker and podcast host. Since 2018, he has hosted ''Armchair Expert'', a podcast that interviews celebrities, journalists, and academics about their lives. Shepard ha ...

. Her notable work in film includes '' Confessions of a Shopaholic'', '' Splinterheads'', and ''

Horrible Bosses 2 ''Horrible Bosses 2'' is a 2014 American crime comedy directed by Sean Anders and written by Anders and John Morris. A sequel to 2011's ''Horrible Bosses'', the film stars Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Fo ...

''. Parham was a guest on ''The Big Alakens Big Lake'' marathon fundraiser episode of '' The George Lucas Talk Show''.

Personal life

Parham is married to Javier Guzman. Their daughter Saraya was born on April 21, 2013. Their second child was born in October 2016.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parham, Lennon 1976 births Living people 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Alabama Actresses from Georgia (U.S. state) American film actresses American podcasters American television actresses American television writers American women comedians People from Bullock County, Alabama People from Lilburn, Georgia University of Evansville alumni American women television writers Upright Citizens Brigade Theater performers Teach For America alumni Screenwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) Screenwriters from Alabama 21st-century American comedians American women television producers 21st-century American screenwriters American women podcasters Television producers from Alabama Television producers from Georgia (U.S. state)