Comedian
Rita Rudner is the only child of witty parents. Much to their dismay, Rita displayed a complete lack of witty until the age of twenty-five, whereupon she refused to say anything unless it was laced with wit. Up until twenty-five Rita preferred to talk with her feet, and danced in six Broadway shows that she no longer likes to name because readers will be compelled to go back and try to figure out how old she is.
Rita decided to be a comic by standing in front of inebriated strangers late at night, talking into a microphone and leaving in the bits where people laughed. She has no idea why she leaped from chorus lines to punchlines...when she was in therapy she forgot to ask. David Letterman, Johnny Carson, Bill Maher, Jay Leno, Bob Hope, George Burns, Tom Snyder, Conan O’Brien, Dennis Miller, Martin Short, Oprah Winfrey, Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford have all found Rita amusing, and she has appeared on all of their respective shows respectively. Rita's first solo HBO special, "Rita Rudner's One Night Stand," was nominated for two Ace Awards, as was her English television show which later appeared on A&E. Rita's two one hour specials for HBO, "Born to Be Mild" and "Married Without Children," were ratings standouts and many viewers liked her dresses. Rita has written two books: the best-selling "Naked Beneath my Clothes" and "Rita Rudner's Guide to Men," which continues to be quoted extensively on the Internet in English and in languages she will never understand. Speaking of men, in 1989 Rita married Englishman Martin Bergman. The two have collaborated in more ways than one. The movie "Peter's Friends" was their first produced script. It starred Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh and it won the Peter Seller's award for best comedy film of the year. "A Weekend in the Country" was another script the couple created together and it was also Martin's directorial debut. It premiered on the USA network and starred Jack Lemmon, Dudley Moore, Christine Lahti, Richard Lewis. Rita accidentally wrote a part for herself and memorized the lines so she could be in it too. In between live appearances around the world and in Las Vegas (which Rita prefers because it's closer and she can bring her dog) Martin and Rita continue to write and sell movie and television scripts in Hollywood. She is currently a regular on Hollywood Squares and is running out of interesting blouses.
The couple's most recent project is a half-hour film called "Unfunny Girl," directed by Martin. It premiered on the E! Network in the summer of 2000. It stars Rita, Frank Gorshin, Gene Barry, Phyllis Diller, Shecky Greene, and Jack Carter. Rita plays the least funny woman in America. She hopes she's not overly-convincing.
Location: CA
Speaking Subjects:
Celebrity
Comedy
Entertainment
Humor
Women's Issues
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