Rhonda Lee Oglesby Coullet (born September 23, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer-songwriter, theatre composer and playwright.

Life and career

Oglesby was born in 1945 in

Magnolia, Arkansas Magnolia is a city in Columbia County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 11,577. The city is the county seat of Columbia County. Magnolia is home to the World's Largest Charcoal Grill and the World Championship S ...

, the daughter of Horace and Cecil Oglesby. She was raised in

Springhill, Louisiana Springhill is a city in northern Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,279 at the 2010 census, a decrease of 160 since 2000. Springhill is part of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area though it is thirty miles nor ...

before her family moved to Pine Bluff, where she attended Sam Taylor Elementary School and

Pine Bluff High School Pine Bluff High School (PBHS) is a comprehensive public high school in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, United States. It, a part of the Pine Bluff School District, is the largest of three public high schools in the Pine Bluff city limits and four public hi ...

. A singer, she received a music scholarship to attend the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkans ...

. She represented the University of Arkansas in the 1965

Miss Arkansas The Miss Arkansas competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Arkansas in the Miss America pageant. Arkansas has won the Miss America title three times (1964, 1982, 2017). Ebony Mitchell of Harrison was crowned Mi ...

competition, which she won. After three months, she announced she was relinquishing the crown to pursue a show business career in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. In Los Angeles, she was in the original cast of the Aquarius Theatre's production of ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and fi ...

''. She was promoted to the lead female role of Jeanie, and went on to restage the musical in Seattle, Detroit, Miami, Montreal, Copenhagen, and touring productions in Europe. On her return, she settled in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. She joined the cast of the 1973 Off Broadway show ''

National Lampoon Lemmings ''National Lampoon: Lemmings'', a spinoff of the humor magazine '' National Lampoon,'' was a 1973 stage show that helped launch the performing careers of John Belushi, Christopher Guest, and Chevy Chase. The show was co-written and co-directed by ...

'', performing in various roles alongside such comedic actors as

John Belushi John Adam Belushi (January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known for being one of the seven original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). Throughout his c ...

Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of '' Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...

and

Christopher Guest Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest (born February 5, 1948) is an American-British screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor, and comedian. Guest is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed, and starred in h ...

. After touring with the show, she took part in '' The National Lampoon Radio Hour'', which included Belushi, Chase, Guest,

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on '' Saturday Nig ...

Gilda Radner Gilda Susan Radner (June 28, 1946 – May 20, 1989) was an American actress and comedian, and one of the seven original cast members of the "Not Ready For Prime Time Players" on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). In h ...

and

Harold Ramis Harold Allen Ramis (; November 21, 1944 – February 24, 2014) was an American actor, comedian, director and writer. His best-known film acting roles were as Egon Spengler in ''Ghostbusters'' (1984) and ''Ghostbusters II'' (1989), and as Russell ...

. She appeared on such albums as '' National Lampoon Missing White House Tapes'' and '' National Lampoon That's Not Funny, That's Sick''. Many of her fellow National Lampoon cast members went on to join ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...

''. Coullet was a close friend of John Belushi, and after his death she composed and sang a tribute to him, "West Heaven," for a taped segment on ''SNL'' produced by Belushi's widow Judith Jacklin. In 1976–77, Coullet starred in the Broadway production of the musical '' The Robber Bridegroom'', playing the role of Rosamund, and can be heard on the original Broadway album with

Barry Bostwick Barry Knapp Bostwick (born February 24, 1945) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Brad Majors in the musical comedy horror film ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975) and Mayor Randall Winston in the sitcom ''Spin City'' (199 ...

. She also starred on Broadway in '' Pump Boys and Dinettes'' and in the off-Broadway production of ''Cowgirls''. Coullet wrote "Bigger Than the Both of Us" for

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffe ...

on his ''

Riddles in the Sand ''Riddles in the Sand'' is the thirteenth studio album by American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. It was released in September 1984 as MCA 5512 and was produced by noted country music producer Jimmy Bowen and represented a c ...

'' album, which was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

in 1985. She was a back-up singer for Buffett, Spinal Tap, and Meat Loaf on his '' Dead Ringer'' album. In 1992, she recorded an album of her own songs, titled ''The American Secret''. Several of the semiautobiographical songs from the album were incorporated into her theatrical musical production, ''Runaway Beauty Queen'', produced at Florida Studio Theatre in 2005 and The Vineyard Playhouse in 2010. She was married to musician Armand Coullet from 1970 to 1980. Her brother Scott Oglesby is a published essayist and novelist.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coullet, Rhonda 1945 births Living people American women singer-songwriters American musical theatre actresses American musical theatre composers American musical theatre lyricists American women comedians Miss America 1960s delegates People from Pine Bluff, Arkansas University of Arkansas alumni Singer-songwriters from Arkansas 21st-century American women