Rita Rudner (born September 17, 1953) is an American comedian. Beginning her career as a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

dancer, Rudner noticed the lack of female comedians in New York City and turned to stand-up comedy, where she has flourished for over three decades. Her performance on a variety of

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, 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 ba ...

specials and numerous appearances on ''

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He is ...

'', 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 ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, the daughter of Frances, an Orthodox Jewish homemaker from

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, and Abe Rudner, a lawyer from the

Catskills The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas cl ...

. Rudner grew up in a Jewish family in

Coconut Grove Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as The Grove, is the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bound by North Prospect Drive to the south, LeJeune Road to the west, S ...

. 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 cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

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 ''Follies'' is a Musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on t ...

'' (1971) and ''

Mack & Mabel ''Mack and Mabel'' (often stylized as Mack & Mabel) is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. The plot involves the tumultuous romantic relationship between Hollywood director Mack Sennett and Mabel Norman ...

'' (1974). She took over the role of Lily St. Regis in the long-running musical ''

Annie Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

'' circa 1979, 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 late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on NBC, the first iteration of the ''Late Night'' franchise. It premiered on February 1, 1982, and was produced by Letterman's production company ...

'' 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 network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

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

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

''. 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 (Stephen Fry, Branagh, Alphonsia Emmanuel, Hugh Laurie, Imelda Staunton and ...

'', 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'' (phrase), a common expression of gratitude Film and television * ''Thanks'' (film), a 2011 American film * ''Thanks'' (TV series), a 1999 American sitcom Music Albums * ''Thanks'', by Ivan Neville, 1994 ...

'', 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 Charles George Patrick Shaughnessy, 5th Baron Shaughnessy (born 9 February 1955) is a French actor. He is known for his roles on American television, including Shane Donovan on the soap opera ''Days of Our Lives'', and Maxwell Sheffield on the ...

at the

Laguna Playhouse Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservation efforts, and a ...

, directed by Martin Bergman. Since 2001, Rudner has performed almost exclusively in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, 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, 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 purest form, the dialogue, a ...

show ''Ask Rita'', which mimicked the format of a talk/advice show. For this she received a

Gracie Allen Award The Gracie Awards are awards presented by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWM) in the United States, to celebrate and honor programming created for women, by women, and about women, as well as individuals who have made exemplary cont ...

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 chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

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

and President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

Caesars Palace Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel is situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of Las Vegas's largest and best known landmarks. Caesars P ...

alongside

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

and

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three li ...

. In 2019, Rudner returned somewhat to her dancer roots when she starred in ''Two's A Crowd,'' a musical comedy written by her, Bergman and singer/songwriter Jason Feddy. The show began at the Laguna Playhouse before transferring to 59e59 Theatre in Manhattan. She is currently completing her autobiography ''My Life In Dog Years.''

Personal life

Rudner is married to

Martin Bergman Martin Bergman (born 17 June 1957) is a British Theatrical producer, producer, writer and Theatre director, director who works in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. He studied English at Emmanuel College, Cambridge from 1976, and was presi ...

, 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 female comedians Screenwriters from Florida Las Vegas shows 21st-century American Jews 1953 births