Laraine Newman

Laraine Newman (born March 2, 1952) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Newman was part of the original cast of NBC's sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from its inception in 1975 until her departure in 1980. Newman took an interest in improv at Beverly Hills High School. After graduating in 1970, she studied mime with Marcel Marceau for a year in Paris. She then moved to Los Angeles and became a founding member of comedy improvisational group The Groundlings. She was first hired by Lorne Michaels for a Lily Tomlin TV special in 1974. The next year Newman became one of the original cast members of Saturday Night Live, working there from 1975 to 1980 and creating characters Connie Conehead, proto-Valley girl Sherry, and Christie Christina. In 2017, she and the rest of the original cast members of SNL were among the honorees of the Television Academy Hall of Fame. She appeared in Stardust Memories, Problem Child 2, Coneheads, and The Flintstones. She is also a voice actor in both TV and movies, including Pixar films Finding Nemo, WALL-E, Up, and Inside Out. In 2021 her memoir May You Live in Interesting Times was released on Audible. She is the younger sister of writer and musician Tracy Newman, and the mother of actress and comedian Hannah Einbinder and actor Spike Einbinder.