Amy Poehler - Blades of Glory

With extensive training in improv comedy, the actress Amy Poehler is known as a smart and quick comedian best loved for her years at the popular television variety show Saturday Night Live. From 2001 to 2008, Poehler was a steady cast member at SNL. Amy Poehler, became the first cast member to win an Emmy, in 2008 for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Amy Poehler left SNL to star in her own television show, which is a not-a-sequel to The Office titled Parks and Recreation.

Amy Poehler is also well-known for her skills at rap, so much so that people look for videos with the phrase "Amy Poehler rap."

Amy Poehler Rap

Here's my favorite Amy Poehler rap from SNL, featuring Sarah Palin:

Can Amy Poehler rap or what?

Amy Poehler was born in in 1971 in Burlington, Massachusetts. Both of her parents were teachers at local schools. In 1993 she graduated from Boston College, having been a long term member of My Mother's Fleabag, the oldest collegiate improv troupe in the country. Her love for improv comedy, which began at Boston College, continued after graduation when she moved to Chicago and became part of the famous Second City improv troupe. There she met her future co-star and friend Tina Fey, and worked with improv greats like Del Close, eventually joining Close at Improv Olympics, even teaching improv courses to fellow actors.

One of her co stars at Second City convinced her to join a new group he was starting, known as the Upright Citizens Brigade. Eventually, this group broke off and began their own shows, and even had a short-lived series on Comedy Central starting in 1998. The UCB theatre moved to New York City after a few years, and continue to host seven shows a week as well as to teach improv and comedy writing to young actors. After cutting her teeth with so many improv groups and legends, it was a natural step for Poehler to audition for SNL.

SNL Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler's first appearance on SNL was the first show after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. She was popular enough to be invited to join the regular cast, a feat never before accomplished by a woman, and one that only two comedians before her had earned -- Eddie Murphy and Harry Shearer. Starting in 2004, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey became the first female duo to host the popular Weekend Update segment, and Poehler's popularity grew even larger. Many fans still look back on Poehler and Fey's Weekend Update as the greatest in the show's history.

On Poehler's birthday, September 16, 2008, the official announcement was made that Poehler was pregnant and would not be returning to the show after the birth of her child. However, only a month after the child's birth, Poehler appeared in order to contribute to the popular political coverage of SNL, impersonating Hilary Clinton during her campaign for the presidency, and by all accounts doing a fine job. Poehler's final appearance on SNL was December 13, 2008.

Amy Poehler has appeared in 16 feature films, three of which were released in 2009. Her first role was in comedy Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, starring one time SNL cast member Rob Schneider. Though the film was panned by critics across the board, it did well at the box office, taking in almost $70 million dollars, and has become a cult classic. Poehler can be seen in the film as Ruth, a beautiful but difficult to deal with woman suffering from Tourette's syndrom and coprolalia -- an affliction that causes her to shout obscenities at inopportune moments.

After Deuce Bigalow, Amy Poehler landed a role opposite her friend and mentor Tina Fey in the hit Mean Girls about teenage social relationships and the impact of cliques on girl's self esteem. Other SNL stars appearing in the film are Ana Gasteyer and Tim Meadows. A critical success, the film made $125 million at the box office and spawned a popular soundtrack album. In the film, Poehler plays the mother of actress Rachel McAdams -- though McAdams is only seven years younger than Poehler. A sequel to the film is in the works, though it is not known if any of the original cast will be involved.

Poehler had the privilege of working opposite her real life husband Will Arnett in the Will Ferrell film Blades of Glory -- Will and Tina play a brother and sister pairs skating champion team who set out to defend their title against the unlikely duo of Jon Heder and Will Ferrell. The film was also a big success, earning $150 million at the box office and helping to bolster the career of both Heder and Poehler, whose work had waned in recent years. One of the final scenes of the movie has Arnett and Poehler performing a routine based on "the forbidden romance of JFK and Marilyn Monroe", and it is one of the more memorable scenes of the film.

Amy Poehler now stars in the NBC mockumentary series Parks and Recreation. The show follows mid level bureaucrats and Parks and Recreation employees as they go about the business of turning a commercial wasteland into a park.

Amy Poehler also starred in Spring Breakdown, a movie released direct to video in April of 2009 due to the poor performance of Poehler's film Baby Mama. Spring Breakdown stars Poehler alongside Parker Posey and Rachel Dratch as three 30-someting friends chaperoning a high school spring break trip to South Padre. Once again, Poehler will appear in a film with her husband, Will Arnett -- and four of the actors in this film made appearances at one time or another on Arrested Development: Arnett, Poehler, Mae Whitman, and Jane Lynch.

Poehler and Arnett live in New York City with their son, Archibald, and two dogs, Puzzle and Suki. They are well known New York celebrities, having been honored by various New York publications as "New Yorkers of the Year" and "Hot New York Couples", and work together on many film and television projects.

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