Erica Rhodes (born April 5, 1983) is an American actress and comedian. She has been performing on ''

A Prairie Home Companion ''A Prairie Home Companion'' was a weekly radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor that aired live from 1974 to 2016. In 2016, musician Chris Thile took over as host, and the successor show was eventually renamed ''Live from He ...

'' since the age of 13 and appeared in several movies and TV shows, including '' Plague Town'', ''

1000 Ways to Die ''1000 Ways to Die'' is an American docufiction anthology television series originally aired on Spike from May 14, 2008, to July 15, 2012, and later Comedy Central during its run. The program recreates unusual supposed deaths—some based on ...

'', and ''The Consultants''. She has also guest starred on ''

New Girl ''New Girl'' is an American television sitcom created by Elizabeth Meriwether and produced by 20th Century Fox Television for Fox that aired from September 20, 2011, to May 15, 2018. The series revolves around quirky teacher, Jessica Day ( Zo ...

'', '' @midnight with Chris Hardwick'', and ''

Modern Family ''Modern Family'' is an American television sitcom, created by Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd, that aired on ABC for 11 seasons from September 23, 2009, to April 8, 2020. The series follows the lives of three diverse but interrelated fa ...

''. She competed in the reality television comedy competition series ''

Bring the Funny ''Bring the Funny'' is an American comedy competition series that aired on NBC from July 9 to September 17, 2019. Hosted by comedian Amanda Seales, the series features various comedy acts performing in front of an audience for a chance to win $ ...

''.

Early life

Rhodes was born and raised in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located roughly west of Downtown Boston, and comprises a patchwork of thirteen villages. The city borders Boston to the northeast and southeast (via the neighborhoods of ...

, the daughter of Kristina Nilsson and Dean Rhodes. She has one younger sister, Jenny. Her mother, a native of

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, is a former violinist who performed with the

Boston Pops The Boston Pops is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Symphony Orc ...

. Her maternal uncle (by marriage) is writer and radio personality

Garrison Keillor Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (; born August 7, 1942) is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show ''A Prairie Home Companion'' (called ''Garrison Keillor's Radio ...

. Rhodes's father was a professional

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

ist before being diagnosed with

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

, after which he began working as a

Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Stat ...

. Her paternal grandfather was Jewish, and changed his surname from Rosenblum to Rhodes. She attended

Boston University College of Fine Arts The Boston University College of Fine Arts (CFA) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of Boston University. Founded in 1872 with the establishment of the College of Music, it is an institution that trains artists, scholars of th ...

and graduated from the Atlantic Theater Conservatory. Prior to establishing her career in acting and comedy, Rhodes worked at a

medical marijuana Medical cannabis, medicinal cannabis or medical marijuana (MMJ) refers to Cannabis (drug), cannabis products and cannabinoid, cannabinoid molecules that are prescription drug, prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabi ...

clinic in Los Angeles.

Career

Rhodes has been a frequent guest on ''

'' since her first appearance in 1996 where she initiated her recurring role as "The Conscience" of the host, Garrison Keillor. She appears on Keillor's 1997 Grammy-nominated album ''Garrison Keillor’s Comedy Theatre''. In 2008, Rhodes had a leading role in the independent

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

'' Plague Town''. Rhodes released her first

comedy album A comedy album is an audio recording of comedic material from a comedian or group of comedians, usually performed either live or in a studio. Comedy albums may feature skits, humorous songs, and/or live recording of stand-up comedy performan ...

, ''Sad Lemon'', on June 29, 2019. The same year, she competed on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

comedy competition series ''

''. In 2021, Rhodes released the comedy special ''La Vie en Rhodes'', filmed outside the Rose Bowl in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The same year, she voiced the character of Dotty on the animated

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series ''

A Tale Dark & Grimm ''A Tale Dark & Grimm'' is an animated television series based on the children's book of the same name by Adam Gidwitz, itself a loose adaptation of the Brothers Grimm's fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel". Developed for Netflix by Doug Langdale and ...

''. She released her second comedy album, ''Ladybug'', in 2023. In 2024, Rhodes competed on the series ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...

''.

Podcast and radio appearances

Rhodes appeared on Ken Reid's ''TV Guidance Counselor'' podcast on September 28, 2016. She also made an appearance in episode 74 of Maddox's podcast, "The Best Debate In The Universe," which aired on November 6, 2017. She has made several appearances on '' The Adam Carolla Show'', beginning in 2019.

Filmography

Film

Television

Comedy specials

Discography

* 2019: ''Sad Lemon'' * 2023: ''Ladybug''

References

External links

Official website
*
Erica Rhodes Talent Page

Erica Rhodes Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, Erica 1983 births Actresses from Massachusetts American radio actresses American film actresses American people of Jewish descent American people of Swedish descent American television actresses American voice actresses American women comedians America's Got Talent contestants Boston University College of Fine Arts alumni Bring the Funny contestants Comedians from Massachusetts Entertainers from Newton, Massachusetts Living people 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American comedians