Rachel Dratch
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Rachel Susan Dratch (born February 22, 1966 in Lexington, Massachusetts) is an American comedian, most famous for her role on Saturday Night Live, where she was a cast member from 1999 to 2006.
Education
Dratch graduated from Dartmouth College in 1988 where she majored in drama and psychology. She is also an alumna of Lexington High School in Massachusetts.Second City
Dratch was a member of the mainstage cast of the Second City comedy troupe for several years, performing alongside future SNL head writers Adam McKay and Tina Fey, as well as future 30 Rock castmate Scott Adsit. The first incarnation of her SNL "Wicked" sketch was performed in Second City's Paradigm Lost. In addition to acting, Dratch also played the cello onstage. The theater also hosted the first incarnation of Dratch & Fey, her critically praised two-woman show with Tina Fey. Later, the show was performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York, where it was dubbed "the funniest thing to be found on any New York comedy stage" by Time Out New York.Saturday Night Live
After joining SNL in 1999 as a featured player and becoming a repertory player in 2001, Dratch imitated many people, both real and fictional, including Calista Flockhart, Nicole Richie, Barbara Walters, Jane Eyre, Jenny Jones, Harry Potter, Hilary Duff, and the recurring characters Sheldon Green, Denise "Zazu" McDonough, and Debbie Downer.The Debbie Downer character debuted on the May 1, 2004 broadcast of Saturday Night Live. Dratch portrayed a woman who persistently makes comments deemed inappropriate and depressing (in part because they raise uncomfortable or inconvenient issues). Dratch had Jimmy Fallon, Amy Poehler, Horatio Sanz, and guest host Lindsay Lohan unable to hold back their laughter by the end of the skit.
Dratch left the show at the end of the 2005-2006 season to join Tina Fey's 30 Rock pilot for NBC, loosely based on SNL.
Dratch's characters
- Abe Scheinwald
- A cocktail watress in Rialto Grande
- Debbie Downer
- Denise McDonough, one of the Boston Teens
- As Cheb Mami, French-Algerian singer in Sting's "Desert Rose"
- a dancer in the Lundford Twins Feel Good Variety Hour
- Lynne Bershad from Delicious Dish
- Nicole, the Girl With No Gay-Dar!
- Phoebe
- Ruth Weinstock, one of the Adult Students
- Sheldon from Wake Up, Wakefield!
- Virginia Klarvin, one of the The Lovers
- Qterplix, the daughter of Angelina Jolie and Jolie's brother
Movies
Rachel has also been in a number of movies, including Martin & Orloff; The Hebrew Hammer; Down with Love; and , to name a few. She also has joined fellow SNL cast members on A.S.S.S.S.C.A.T.: Improv which aired September 7, 2005, on the Bravo channel. Dratch has also made television appearances on NBC's Third Watch and in a recurring role on King of Queens. Dratch wrote, directed, and performed in the short film "The Vagina Monologues Monologues", which premiered at the New York Comedy Film Festival in 2001.Recently, she appeared in the movie Click alongside Adam Sandler and Kate Beckinsale.
Trivia
- At an even 5 feet (1.52 m) tall, she is the second shortest regular cast member ever to appear on Saturday Night Live, being 16 inches (41 cm) shorter than the tallest cast members: Chevy Chase, Kevin Nealon, or Randy Quaid. (Denny Dillon was the shortest cast member, standing only 4 ft 11 in (1.50 m) tall.)
- With seven seasons under her belt, Dratch became SNL's longest running female castmember.
- She is the first female castmember to have turned forty while on the show.
External links
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