Robin Thede ( ; born July 27, 1979), is an American comedian, actress and writer. Raised in Iowa, she has also worked as an entertainment correspondent, host, and radio personality. In 2015, she became the first African-American woman to be head writer for a

late-night talk show A late-night talk show is a genre of talk show, originating in the American Media, United States. It is generally structured around humorous monologues about the day's news, guest interviews, comedy sketches and music performances. It is charact ...

(''

The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore ''The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore'' is an American late-night panel talk show hosted by Larry Wilmore that aired on Comedy Central from January 19, 2015, to August 18, 2016. The show was a spin-off of ''The Daily Show'', which featured Wi ...

''). From 2017 to 2018, Thede hosted '' The Rundown with Robin Thede'' on

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

. She created and co-stars in the

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

-nominated HBO series '' A Black Lady Sketch Show''.

Early life and education

Robin Thede was born in

Spencer, Iowa Spencer is a city in the state of Iowa, United States, and the county seat of Clay County. It is located at the confluence of the Little Sioux and Ocheyedan rivers. The population was 11,325 in the 2020 census, an increase from 11,317 in 2000. ...

. Her parents are Phyllis Thede, who is African American, and Dave Thede, who is German American. Robin Thede was named after stand-up comedian and actor

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedie ...

. She stated on ''

Late Night with Seth Meyers ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' is an American late-night news and political satire variety talk show hosted by Seth Meyers on NBC. The show premiered on February 24, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. Airing w ...

'' this was most likely due to her father's love of Williams' work. She grew up in

Davenport, Iowa Davenport ( ) is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state. Davenport had a population of 101,724 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cen ...

, where her father was an educator and her mother also worked in community schools and served with the union for school staff. Thede's two sisters were born there. Thede and her sisters attended local schools in Davenport, with Robin attending Davenport North High School. Later her parents moved to

Bettendorf, Iowa Bettendorf is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. The population was 39,102 at the 2020 census. Bettendorf is the fifth of the Quad Cities along the Mississippi River, along with neighboring Davenport in Iowa and Moline, East Molin ...

. Her mother was elected in 2009 as Iowa

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

for House District 93 and served until 2021. Thede graduated from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

, earning a degree in Broadcast Journalism and African-American Studies. After college, Thede studied at

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theaters in Toronto and New York. Since its debut in 1959, it has b ...

theatre group in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Career

Robin first started with a sketch comedy group called Cleos Apartment with writers Diallo Riddle and

Bashir Salahuddin Bashir Salahuddin (born ) is an American actor, writer, and comedian. Early life and education Salahuddin was born and raised in the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. His father is originally from Panama and moved to Chicago with his family whe ...

. Members included Thomas Fraser,

Wyatt Cenac Wyatt John Foster Cenac Jr. ( ; born April 19, 1976) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and writer. He was a correspondent and writer for ''The Daily Show'' from 2008 to 2012. He starred in the TBS series '' People of Earth'' and in Bar ...

, Nika Williams and Nefetari Spencer. That stage show was picked up online by

AOL AOL (formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc. The service traces its history to an online ...

and

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 ...

for a new show called The Message which ran for a full year, 2007. Thede was also head writer and a performer on ''

''. From 2015 to 2016, she was the head writer for the first season and a half of '' The Nightly Show,'' the first biracial woman to hold that position on any late-night talk show. Thede is also the second biracial woman to write for a late-night talk show, as

Amber Ruffin Amber Mildred Ruffin (born January 9, 1979) is an American comedian, writer and actress. She hosted her own late-night talk show titled '' The Amber Ruffin Show'' on Peacock. She has been a writer for ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' since 2014. ...

was first to join the writing staff for ''

''. Prior to that, she was head writer on ''

The Queen Latifah Show ''The Queen Latifah Show'' is an American television talk show hosted by Queen Latifah. The original ''The Queen Latifah Show'' ran from September 13, 1999, to August 31, 2001. The revamped ''The Queen Latifah Show'' ran from September 16, 2013, ...

'' and staff writer on the first two seasons of '' Real Husbands of Hollywood'' on

. In January 2013, she appeared in the Marlon Wayans' comedy ''

A Haunted House ''A Haunted House'' is a 2013 American satirical horror comedy film directed by Michael Tiddes and written and produced by Marlon Wayans. The film stars Wayans alongside Essence Atkins, Cedric the Entertainer, Nick Swardson, David Koechner an ...

'' opposite comedian

JB Smoove Jerry Angelo Brooks (born December 16, 1965), commonly known by his stage name J. B. Smoove, is an American comedian, actor, and writer. After beginning his career in 1995 on '' Def Comedy Jam'', he was a writer and performer on NBC's ''Saturday ...

. She also had recurring appearances as "Gail" on '' Second Generation Wayans'' on BET in March 2013. Thede has often worked on TV shows as both a writer and actress, including on the short-lived Fox series '' In the Flow with Affion Crockett'', the

Mike Epps Michael Elliot Epps (born November 18, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He played Day-Day Jones in '' Next Friday'' and its sequel, '' Friday After Next'', and also appeared in ''The Hangover'' and '' The Hangover Part III'' as ...

sketch comedy series ''Funny Bidness'', and on the comedy series ''Clunkers'' (starring Carl Payne, David Faustino and Sherman Hemsley). Thede's recent television appearances include roles on ''

Key & Peele ''Key & Peele'' (abbreviated to ''K&P'') is an American sketch comedy television series that ran from 2012 to 2015. It was created by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele for Comedy Central; each had previously worked on ''Mad TV.'' Each episod ...

'' (Comedy Central), ''

Hot In Cleveland ''Hot in Cleveland'' is an American television sitcom aired on TV Land and starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick, and Betty White. The series, which was TV Land's first original series, premiered on June 16, 2010, and was ...

'' (TV Land), '' Chocolate News'' (Comedy Central), ''

Kath & Kim ''Kath & Kim'' (also written as ''Kath and Kim'') is an Australian sitcom originally airing in the prime-time slot on ABC Television from 2002 to 2005 and subsequently on the Seven Network in 2007 and 2022. The show was produced by Riley and T ...

'' (NBC), ''

Worst Week ''Worst Week'' is an American sitcom television series that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2008. The series was based on the British sitcom '' The Worst Week of My Life''. It was adapted for American audiences by Fox under the title ''Worst ...

'' (CBS) and ''

All of Us ''All of Us'' is an American sitcom that premiered on the UPN network in the United States on September 16, 2003, where it aired for its first three seasons. On October 1, 2006, the show moved to The CW, a new network formed by the merger of UP ...

'' (UPN). She was a series regular on the

original web series ''Buppies'' with

Tatyana Ali Tatyana Marisol Ali (born January 24, 1979) is an American actress and singer best known for her role as Ashley Banks on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' from 1990 to 1996. She starred as Tyana Jones on the TV One original ser ...

. Thede's other writing credits include BET Awards (2014), BET Honors (2013), UNCF: An Evening of Stars (2013), BET Awards (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012), NAACP Image Awards (2011), the BET Hip Hop Awards (2010, 2011, 2012) and more. Additionally, Thede has created several successful videos, including "Shit Black Guys Say" (which went viral with 2.5 million views on YouTube), "Every Little Step" with Wayne Brady, Bobby Brown and Mike Tyson (Funny or Die.com), and "For Stuffed Colored Girls" (Funny or Die.com). She can also be seen with Elite Delta Force 3 in "The Real Housewives of Civil Rights" (Funny or Die.com/EDF3 YouTube Channel). Thede's comedy work extends from years of professional live sketch comedy (Second City Chicago and LA, Improv Olympic, Acme) to comedic commentary on shows such as ''10 Things I Hate About Me'' for the Style Network. She is also a performer and writer for the all-female sketch group "Elite Delta Force 3", which won the 2009 Audience Award Winner of the Los Angeles Comedy Improv Festival. Other notable work includes co-hosting on ''The Voice of Reason'' on

Jamie Foxx Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. Known for his work in both the screen and music industries, his accolades include an Academy Award, a Grammy Award ...

's Foxxhole Sirius/XM radio channel. She worked as a regular entertainment correspondent for ''E! News'' with

Ryan Seacrest Ryan John Seacrest (born December 24, 1974) is an American television presenter and producer. Seacrest is the host of '' Wheel of Fortune'', having hosted since replacing long-time host Pat Sajak in September 2024. Seacrest co-hosted and ser ...

and

Giuliana Rancic Giuliana Rancic (; ; born August 17, 1974) is an Italian-born American Entertainment journalism, entertainment reporter and television personality. She is a co-anchor of ''E! News'' and resides in Chicago and Los Angeles. Early life Rancic was bo ...

. In October 2017, Thede began hosting her own late-night TV talk show, '' The Rundown with Robin Thede'' on

. She is one of a few African-American women to host their own late-night show. In June 2019, Thede was named one of Variety's 10 Comics to Watch for 2019. Most recently Thede created, writes, and performs in '' A Black Lady Sketch Show'', which premiered on HBO on August 2, 2019. In April 2021, the second season of ''A Black Lady Sketch Show'' premiered''.'' In 2020, she signed a development deal with

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios, operating under the name Warner Bros. Television (abbreviated as WBTV; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division), is an American television production and distribution studio and the flagship studio o ...

Filmography

As writer

As actress

Other appearances

Awards and nominations

Emmy Awards

The

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

are presented by the

Academy of Television Arts & Sciences The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), also colloquially known as the Television Academy, is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the Television in the United States, television industry in the United S ...

Mipcom Awards

Mipcom's Diversify TV Excellence Awards are presented annually in order to recognize, champion and celebrate diversity, equality and inclusion in television programming across the international television industry. Thede has been honored with 1 award.

TCA Awards

The TCA Awards are awards presented by the

Television Critics Association The Television Critics Association (TCA) is a group of approximately 200 American and Canadian television critics, journalists and columnists who cover television programming for newspapers, magazines and web publications. The TCA accepts appli ...

in recognition of excellence in television. Thede has won 1 award.

References

External links

*
''A Black Lady Sketch Show''
on

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thede, Robin Living people American women comedians American radio personalities People from Spencer, Iowa Actresses from Davenport, Iowa Northwestern University alumni Writers from Davenport, Iowa 1979 births American people of German descent Comedians from Iowa 21st-century African-American actresses 21st-century American actresses American television writers American women television writers American women screenwriters 21st-century American women writers Screenwriters from Iowa 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American screenwriters African-American female comedians African-American comedians 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women American television talk show hosts American sketch comedians