Laraine Newman

Laraine Newman (born March 2, 1952) is an American comedian, actress, voice artist, and writer who was part of the original cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live.

Biography
Newman was born on March 2, 1952, in Los Angeles, California, the granddaughter of a cattle rancher from Arizona. Her family is Jewish. She is the youngest of four children and a twin (brother Paul). Her sister, Tracy Newman, is an Emmy Award-winning television writer. Newman attended Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California and graduated from there in 1970. Newman married actor-writer-director Chad Einbinder in 1991. They have two daughters, Lena (born 1991) and Hannah (born 1995).

Newman took her first Improvisational theatre classes when she was 15. After finishing high school she auditioned for four acting schools in England including Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and Bristol Old Vic. She was not accepted after the second round of auditions for all four schools, so she went to Paris to study mime with Marcel Marceau for a year.

By the age of 19, Newman returned to the United States, and moved to Los Angeles, where she did a brief stint at a secretarial school. Committed to continue performing, she became a founding member of the pioneering comedy improvisational group The Groundlings. At the same time, Newman was working for a booking agent who worked with rock bands, typing up contracts.

Newman cites Eve Arden, Madeline Kahn and Richard Pryor as her first major influences. “They led me into my life of comedy, they led me into understanding ‘The Art of Play.’", Newman said.

At age 22, her work as founder and original member of The Groundlings got Newman hired by Lorne Michaels for a Lily Tomlin special. A year later she became an original cast member on NBC's Saturday Night Live, appearing on the show from its inception in 1975 through 1980.

During her five years on SNL she became a close friend of co-star Gilda Radner (although there was also a degree of rivalry between them). The instant success of SNL propelled her to stardom very quickly. Newman recalled being stopped in New York City by John Lennon and Yoko Ono on the street to introduce themselves to her.

Newman admits that she was “never a good improviser,” but when in character, like an angry Jewish poet, a flight attendant, an eccentric chef or a British groupie, she was “free.” She's best known for her roles as Connie Conehead and Sherry.

However, by her own account, she was unhappy for much of her time with the show—she disliked living in New York. During her years on SNL Newman had developed serious eating disorders as well as a heroin addiction. She spent so much time in her dressing room playing Solitaire that for Christmas 1979, castmate Radner gave her a deck of playing cards with a picture of Laraine on the face of each card.

Newman continued to appear in film and television productions during the 1980s. Among these were Wholly Moses, Voltar The Invincible and Invaders from Mars. She also had a small role in Woody Allen's Stardust Memories. In 1986 she starred in the syndicated B-movie comedy series, The Canned Film Festival, playing the lead role as Laraine the usherette.

In the 90s, she had roles in Problem Child 2 and in the 1993 film Coneheads. During this time she started to focus on voice acting, lending her voice to many characters in animated movies and television productions into the 2000's. Among these include Danny Phantom, As Told By Ginger, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Metalocalypse and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, among many others.

Newman also works as a writer and editor. She is a contributing editor for the online magazine One For The Table, and she is an occasional contributor to the Huffington Post. She has contributed articles for the Los Angeles Times, The Believer, and McSweeney's. She wrote the foreword to the book version of the UCB Production Worst Laid Plans.

Animated Series

 * Winx Club (2004-2015) - Tharma, Queen Ligea, Maia, Sage (ep. 64) (Nickelodeon Dub)

Anime Films

 * Porco Rosso (1992) - Additional Voices
 * Ponyo (2008) - Old Woman in the Boat