Rita Rudner (born September 17, 1953) is an American comedian. Beginning her career as a Broadway dancer, Rudner noticed the lack of female comedians in New York City and turned to stand-up comedy, where she has performed for over three decades. Her performance on a variety of

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

specials and numerous appearances on '' The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson'', helped establish Rudner as one of the premier comics to emerge from the comedy boom of the 1980s.

Early life

Rudner was born in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, the daughter of Frances, an Orthodox Jewish homemaker from

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, and Abe Rudner, a lawyer from the Catskills. Rudner grew up in a Jewish family in

Coconut Grove Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as "The Grove", is an affluent and the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhoods of Miami, neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bounded by North Prospect Driv ...

. She began taking

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

lessons at age four. Her mother died of

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

when she was 13 and her father remarried. She struggled to get along with her stepmother and felt a desire to become independent. After graduating from high school at 15, Rudner left Miami and went to New York City to embark on a career as a dancer. Beginning with a small role in '' Promises, Promises'' (joining the production in 1970), she appeared in several Broadway shows, including the now-legendary original productions of '' Follies'' (1971) and '' Mack & Mabel'' (1974). She took over the role of Lily St. Regis in the long-running musical '' Annie'' circa 1980 and stayed with the company for over a year, leaving in 1981.

Career

After starting her standup career in the late 1970s, Rudner made her network television debut on ''

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the first installment of the '' Late Night''. Hosted by David Letterman, it aired from February1, 1982 to June 25, 1993, and was replaced by ...

'' in 1982. She appeared frequently on television shows both in the US and the UK (recording a six-part series on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

in 1990 in the latter), and she appeared often on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...

'' as well as the

special '' Rodney Dangerfield's Young Comedians Special''. She has recorded several award-winning comedy specials, most notably ''Rita Rudner: Born to Be Mild'' and ''Rita Rudner: Married Without Children'' for

and ''Rita Rudner: Live From Las Vegas'' for PBS in 2008. Rudner and her husband wrote the screenplay of the 1992 film ''

Peter's Friends ''Peter's Friends'' is a 1992 British comedy film directed and produced by Kenneth Branagh, and written by Rita Rudner and Martin Bergman. The film follows six friends (played by Stephen Fry, Branagh, Alphonsia Emmanuel, Hugh Laurie, Imeld ...

'', in which she also acted. Rudner also has a role as the character Bunny in her husband's 2011 film ''

Thanks Thanks may refer to: * ''Thank you'', a common expression of gratitude Film and television * Thanks (film), ''Thanks'' (film), a 2011 American film * Thanks (TV series), ''Thanks'' (TV series), a 1999 American sitcom Music Albums * ''Thanks'' ...

'', which had its world premiere at the 2011 Palm Springs Film Festival. Rudner is the author of the books ''I Still Have It; I Just Can't Remember Where I Put It'', ''Naked Beneath My Clothes'' and the novels ''Tickled Pink'' and ''Turning The Tables''. She has written several screenplays and plays with her husband. In January 2016, she appeared in a new play titled ''Act 3...'' alongside Charles Shaughnessy at the Laguna Playhouse, directed by Martin Bergman. Since 2001, Rudner has performed almost exclusively in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, selling almost two million tickets and becoming the longest-running solo comedy show in Las Vegas. She moved to a larger theater at The Venetian in January 2011. She also created and hosted the syndicated

improvisational comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...

show ''Ask Rita'', which mimicked the format of a talk/advice show. For this she received a Gracie Allen Award from the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWM). In May 2009 she performed for

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2 ...

and President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

at Caesars Palace alongside

Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

and

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is noted for her Optimism, optimistic and Idealism, idealistic subject matter, and incorporation of genres including Rock music, rock, Po ...

Personal life

Rudner is married to Martin Bergman, a British producer. They have an adopted daughter.

Filmography

Film

Television

Writer

Comedy specials

Bibliography

References

External links

* * *
2011 Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudner, Rita Living people American stand-up comedians American women comedians American film actresses American voice actresses Jewish American actresses Actresses from Miami American women screenwriters 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians Jewish American comedians Jewish women comedians Screenwriters from Florida Las Vegas shows 21st-century American Jews 1953 births Comedians from Miami Women in Las Vegas