Sara Rue (born January 26, 1979) is an American actress. She is known for her performances as Carmen Ferrara on ''
Popular'', as Claude Casey on ''
Less than Perfect'', and as the Attorney General in ''
Idiocracy''. In 2011, she hosted
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...
reality series ''
Shedding for the Wedding
''Shedding for the Wedding'' is a reality competition series that followed nine overweight couples as they attempted to lose weight and win a dream wedding. The show premiered on Wednesday February 23, 2011 at 9:00 pm Eastern/8:00 pm Central on Th ...
.'' She had a recurring role in the comedy ''
Rules of Engagement
Rules of engagement (ROE) are the internal rules or directives afforded military forces (including individuals) that define the circumstances, conditions, degree, and manner in which the use of force, or actions which might be construed as pr ...
'', in which she played Brenda, the softball teammate and good friend of Jeff Bingham. She also had a regular role as Kim on the short-lived
ABC sitcom ''
Malibu Country'', and appeared in the main cast of the
TV Land
TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cl ...
comedy series ''
Impastor''. She is also known for her role as Olivia Caliban in the second season of ''
A Series of Unfortunate Events''.
Early life
Sara Rue was born Sara Schlackman in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
, the daughter of Joan Schlackman (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth ...
Rue), a municipal employee and former actress, and Marc Schlackman, a stage manager. The elder of two daughters, she was raised in New York, where her parents were active in
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''T ...
. She is
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
.
Career
Rue began her acting career at the age of nine, appearing in the 1988 film ''
Rocket Gibraltar
''Rocket Gibraltar'' is a 1988 American drama film directed by Daniel Petrie and starring Burt Lancaster, Suzy Amis, Patricia Clarkson, Frances Conroy, Sinead Cusack, John Glover, Bill Pullman, Kevin Spacey and Macaulay Culkin in his fil ...
'' as
Kevin Spacey's daughter. Rue played a very young Roseanne in the first meeting of Roseanne and Dan at a dance on the TV show ''
Roseanne''.
She starred in the comedy ''
Grand'', before going on to work on ''
Phenom''; ''
Minor Adjustments''; ''
Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane''; ''
ER''; ''
The Division'' and ''
Popular''. From 2002 to 2006, she starred in the main role of Claude Casey on the
ABC sitcom ''
Less than Perfect''. She has appeared in several films, including ''
A Map of the World'', ''
Can't Hardly Wait'', ''
A Slipping Down Life'', ''
Idiocracy'', ''
Gypsy 83'. She also had a small part as a babysitter in
Gore Verbinski's adaptation of ''
The Ring''. She impressed director
Michael Bay so much that a role was written into the movie ''
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the ...
'' for her.
Rue appeared uncredited in the 2006
Mike Judge
Michael Craig Judge (born October 17, 1962) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director and musician. He is the creator of the animated television series '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' (1993–1997, 2011, 2022–present), and the co-cr ...
film ''Idiocracy'', in the role of the
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
. In 2006, Rue starred in the stage musical ''Little Egypt'' with
French Stewart,
Jenny O'Hara and
Gregg Henry at the Matrix Theatre in Los Angeles. She guest-starred in ''
Two and a Half Men'' as Berta's pregnant youngest daughter. She had a stint on the
CBS sitcom ''
The Big Bang Theory'', playing
Leonard Hofstadter's physician girlfriend Dr Stephanie Barnett for three episodes. Her first appearance on the show occurred on November 17, 2008. In 2009, Rue appeared in the movies ''Man Maid'' and ''
For Christ's Sake
''For Christ's Sake'' is a 2011 comedy film directed by Jackson Douglas, Produced by Will Raee written by Jeff Lewis and starring Alex Borstein.
Plot
This film is about a small-town priest named Robert, who finds out his estranged brother grea ...
''. She starred on the short-lived 2009 series ''
Eastwick'', based on the novel and movie ''
The Witches of Eastwick''.
In October 2010, Rue joined the cast of ''
Rules of Engagement
Rules of engagement (ROE) are the internal rules or directives afforded military forces (including individuals) that define the circumstances, conditions, degree, and manner in which the use of force, or actions which might be construed as pr ...
'' in a recurring role as Brenda, Jeff and Audrey's
surrogate.
It was announced in December, 2011 that Rue would be writing and starring in a new show on The CW called ''Poseurs'', about a young woman named Lucy whose life is upended when her fiancé moves out and her fresh-from-rehab collegiate best friend, Alexandra, moves in. The two friends pose as a lesbian couple and actually get married in order to stay in the nice apartment building that only allows married couples.
Rue starred in the ABC show ''
Malibu Country'' as
Reba McEntire
Reba Nell McEntire (born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music singer and actress. Dubbed " the Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Since the 1970s, McEntire has placed over 100 single ...
's upbeat trophy wife neighbor, Kim Sallinger. ''Malibu Country'' ran for one season (2012–13). Rue had the title role of Deb Dorfman in the movie ''Dorfman in Love'' (2012).
In 2014, Rue appeared in a recurring role as Candace, fiancee of Christy's ex-husband on the
CBS sitcom ''
Mom
]
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...
''. In 2015, she was cast as main character Dora in the TV Land comedy ''
Impastor''. The show was cancelled after its second season in 2016. Rue has a recurring role as Nancy Granville on ABC's ''
American Housewife''.
In 2017, Rue was cast in the recurring role of Olivia Caliban on the second season of the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
comedy drama series ''
A Series of Unfortunate Events''.
Personal life
Rue married filmmaker Mischa Livingstone in 2001, and they divorced in 2007. Rue married teacher Kevin Price on May 21, 2011, in a traditional
Jewish wedding
A Jewish wedding is a wedding ceremony that follows Jewish laws and traditions. While wedding ceremonies vary, common features of a Jewish wedding include a ''ketubah'' (marriage contract) which is signed by two witnesses, a ''chuppah'' or ''hup ...
. She gave birth to their first child, a daughter, in February 2013. She and Price adopted a second daughter in November 2016.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rue, Sara
1979 births
Actresses from New York City
American child actresses
American film actresses
American television actresses
Jewish American actresses
Living people
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American Jews