Rachel Dratch

Rachel Dratch
Dratch in 2022
Born	Rachel Susan Dratch (1966-02-22) February 22, 1966 (age 58) Lexington, Massachusetts, U.S.
Education	Dartmouth College (BA)
Occupations	Actress comedian
Years active	1994–present
Children	1

Rachel Susan Dratch (born February 22, 1966) is an American actress and comedian. After she graduated from Dartmouth College, she moved to Chicago to study improvisational theatre at The Second City and ImprovOlympic. Dratch's breakthrough role was her tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1999 to 2006. During her time on SNL, she portrayed a variety of roles including Debbie Downer. She has since occasionally returned to SNL as a guest portraying Senator Amy Klobuchar.

Other television credits include Portlandia , The King of Queens , Monk , and 30 Rock . She has also played the recurring role of Wanda Jo Oliver on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver , acting in films including Click (2006), I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007), Sisters (2015), and Wine Country (2019).

In 2022, Dratch made her Broadway stage debut in POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive for which she earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play nomination. In 2012 she published her autobiographical book Girl Walks into a Bar...: Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters, and a Midlife Miracle.

Early life

Dratch was born on February 22, 1966, in Lexington, Massachusetts, ^{[1] [2]} the daughter of Elaine Ruth (née Soloway), a transportation director, and Paul Dratch, a radiologist. ^{[3] [4]} Both of Dratch's parents were Reform Jews. ^[5] Dratch attended Hebrew school and had a bat mitzvah. She is religiously nonobservant as an adult, and characterizes the faith she was born into as part of her cultural heritage. ^[2]

Her younger brother, Daniel, is a television producer and writer; his credits include the TV series Anger Management and Monk. Dratch says she grew up as the "class clown type" ^[2] attending William Diamond Middle School and Lexington High School in Lexington. She said while performing in high school plays she gravitated towards acting in comedies more often than in dramas. ^[6]

Dratch attended the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in the fall of 1985 ^[7] and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1988. She majored in drama and psychology and was a member of the improvisational comedy group "Said and Done". ^[2] While at Dartmouth, Dratch was a classmate of Kirsten Gillibrand. ^[8]

Career

Dratch was a member of the mainstage cast of The Second City comedy troupe for four years. She received the Joseph Jefferson award for Best Actress in a Revue for the two revues in which she performed: Paradigm Lost and Promisekeepers, Losers Weepers. At The Second City, she performed alongside future SNL head writers Adam McKay and Tina Fey, as well as future 30 Rock performer Scott Adsit. The first incarnation of her SNL "Wicked" sketch was performed in The 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 ^[9] ), which was later 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 . ^[10]

Dratch has appeared in several films, including Martin & Orloff , The Hebrew Hammer , Down with Love , Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star , Click , I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry , Spring Breakdown , and My Life in Ruins . 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 also made television appearances on NBC's Third Watch and in a recurring role on The King of Queens (playing Denise, the on-off girlfriend of Spence, who worked in a bowling alley). Other television appearances include Portlandia , Monk , Frasier , Wizards of Waverly Place , 30 Rock , Aqua Teen Hunger Force , Inside Amy Schumer , Ugly Betty , and more recently, in season five of The Middle .

She also appeared online with comedian Billy Eichner in a spoof of Jay-Z and Alicia Keys's "Empire State of Mind", titled "Forest Hills State of Mind." ^[11]

Dratch in 2008

Dratch was originally cast in the role of Jenna Maroney on 30 Rock as "Jenna DeCarlo", and the original pilot episode features her in the role. After feedback from test audiences, the role was ultimately recast with Jane Krakowski. She went on to play a variety of small guest roles in several episodes of the first season, including Barbara Walters, Elizabeth Taylor, a cat trainer, a custodian, a blue monster, and a doctor. ^[12]

On March 19, 2012, Dratch's memoir, Girl Walks into a Bar...: Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters, and a Midlife Miracle was published. In it, Dratch recounts her experiences after being recast in the 30 Rock pilot, including the birth of her child. ^[13]

In 2016 Dratch hosted the program Rachel Dratch's Late Night Snack on truTV. The sketch comedy program featured Dratch playing a waitress who doesn't talk in wraparound segments. Dratch also appeared in sketches and the show ran for two seasons.

Saturday Night Live

Her tenure at SNL spanned 1999 to 2006. Dratch's recurring characters included Denise, a Boston teen; Sheldon, the junior-high-school boy from Wake up, Wakefield; one of the Luvahs (with Will Ferrell, as two pretentious professors); Abe Scheinwald, a Hollywood producer with a terrible acquisition record; and, perhaps most memorably, Debbie Downer, a depressed woman who brought others' moods down while saying grim non sequiturs. ^[14]

In December 2011, she made a guest appearance on Saturday Night Live's Christmas show, hosted by former cast member Jimmy Fallon. On April 15, 2017, she made another guest appearance with host Jimmy Fallon. On February 3, 2018, she made a guest appearance as a "Patriot of New England" in a Revolutionary War-themed sketch parodying the fans of the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles in advance of Super Bowl LII. ^[15]

On September 29, 2018, she appeared as Senator Amy Klobuchar in the opening sketch, about the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. ^[16] She continued to reprise the role of Klobuchar during sketches on the 2020 Democratic Party Presidential primary debates, specifically the fifth and sixth debates in November and December 2019. ^[17]

Personal life

In her book Girl Walks Into a Bar..., Dratch discusses meeting John Wahl, a consultant in the natural foods industry, in a bar in 2009. Six months later, Dratch learned she was pregnant, and on August 24, 2010, Dratch gave birth to Eli Benjamin, her son with Wahl. ^[18] In an October 2010 interview, Dratch told People that her pregnancy at age 44 shocked her because she "had bought into all this stuff about, 'Once you're over 40 [pregnancy becomes difficult]'" and had "gone through the whole process of letting go of [the idea of having kids]." ^[19] As of 2019, Dratch and Wahl are not a couple, but are on good terms and live near each other to parent their son. ^[20]

Books

• Dratch, Rachel (March 29, 2012). Girl Walks into a Bar...: Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters, and a Midlife Miracle. New York: Gotham Books. ISBN   9781592407118. OCLC   830319371. Dratch also narrates the audiobook.

Filmography

Film

Film work

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Serious Business	Jude Rusell
2002	Martin & Orloff	Southern Woman
2003	The Hebrew Hammer	Tikva
	Down With Love	Gladys
	National Lampoon's Barely Legal	Mrs. Greitzer
	Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star	Reiner's Secretary
2004	Freshman Orientation	Very Drunk Chick
	Looking for Kitty	Julie
2005	Her Minor Thing	Caroline
	Winter Passing	Female MC
2006	Click	Alan/Alice
	The Pleasure Drivers	Counter Monkey
2007	I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry	Benefits Supervisor Sara Powers
2008	Bill	Doctor Robardo	Short film
	Harold	Ms. Vicky Norris
2009	Spring Breakdown	Judi Joskow	Also writer and producer
	Love N' Dancing	Kalle
	I Hate Valentine's Day	Kathy Jeemy
	My Life in Ruins	Kim Sawchuck
2011	Just Go with It	Kirsten Brant
2012	Teacher of The Year	Assistant Principal	Short film
	That's My Boy	Phil's Wife
2013	Syrup	Clerk
2014	A Little Game	Aunt Diane
2015	The Grief of Others	Madeleine Berkowitz
	Sisters	Kelly
2016	Hurricane Bianca	Deborah Ward
	Tracktown	Gail
2018	The Week Of	Debbie
	Hurricane Bianca 2: From Russia with Hate	Deborah Ward
2019	Little	Agent Bea
	Wine Country	Rebecca
2021	Plan B	Ms. Flaucher
	A Clüsterfünke Christmas	Marga
2022	I Love My Dad	Erica
2023	Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse	C. Weber (Ms. Weber) / Counsellor Weber	Voice [21]

Television

Television work

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999–2006	Saturday Night Live	Herself/Various (including Debbie Downer)	1999–2001: featured player, 2001–2006: repertory player, cameos in 2010, 2011, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.
2000	Third Watch	Darla	Episode: "History"
2002	Kim Possible	Adrena Lynn	Voice, episode: "All the News"
2002–2004	The King of Queens	Denise Ruth Battaglia	6 episodes
2004	Soundtracks Live	Dorothy Baker	TV film
	Monk	Julie Parlo	Episodes: "Mr. Monk and the Missing Granny"
	Game Over	Alice Smashburn	Voice, regular cast
	Frasier	Horny Date	Episode: "Match Game"
2005–2006	O'Grady	Brooke	Voice, 2 episodes
2006–2012	30 Rock	Various Roles	15 episodes
2008	Aqua Teen Hunger Force	Robot Wife	Voice, episode: "Robots Are Everywhere"
	Squidbillies	Hippie Woman	Voice, episode: "Earth Worst"
	Assy McGee	Various Roles	6 episodes
	Avatar: The Last Airbender	Actress Playing Aang	Voice, episode: "The Ember Island Players" [21]
	Superjail!	Various roles	Voice, episode: "Ladies Night"
2008–2009	Wizards of Waverly Place	Future Harper	Episode: "Future Harper"
2009	Ugly Betty	Penny Meadows/Mindy Meadows	Episode: "The Fall Issue"
	Sherri	Teacher	Episode: "Indecision '09"
2010	Delocated	Cellist	Episode: "Mixer"
2010–2013	Fish Hooks	Koi, Esmargot, Koi's Mom, Fake Esmargot, Girl in Crowd #3, Osajennifer, Woman in Restaurant	Voice, 28 episodes [21]
2011	Funny or Die Presents	Dirkson	4 episodes
2012	Up All Night	Linda	Episode: "Swingers"
	Suburgatory	Paula Weingelb	Episode: "The Witch of East Chatswin"
	The Cleveland Show	Maggie	Episode: "'Tis the Cleveland to Be Sorry"
2013–2014	The Middle	Principal Barker	2 episodes
2013–2015	The Awesomes	Joyce Mandrake/Tom Boy	Voice, recurring role [21]
2014–2016	Broad City	Linda Lodi	3 episodes
2014	The Neighbors	Pearl	Episode: "A Night in (Lou Ferrigno's Hibachi) Heaven"
	Inside Amy Schumer	Lisa	Episode: "Boner Doctor"
	Bob's Burgers	Jodi, Abby, Christy, Jestain	Voice, 4 episodes [21]
2015	Parks and Recreation	Roz	Episode: "Donna & Joe"
	Salem Rogers: Model of the Year 1998	Agatha Todd	Lead role
2015–2023	Last Week Tonight with John Oliver	Wanda Jo Oliver	7 episodes
2015	Unforgettable	Rosie Webb	Episode: "Gut Check"
2015–2016	Difficult People	Chemo Woman, Casting Director	2 episodes
2016	The $100,000 Pyramid	Herself (celebrity guest)	Episode: "Rachel Dratch vs. Ana Gasteyer"
2016	The Simpsons	Bostonian Doctor	Voice, episode: "The Town"
2016–2017	Rachel Dratch's Late Night Snack	Herself	Host
2017	Imaginary Mary	Mary	Voice, lead role
	Angie Tribeca	Masha Chekhov	Episode: "Hey, I'm Solvin' Here!"
	Great News	Mary-Kelly	Episode: "Snowmageddon of the Century"
	Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt	Dianne/Leonora	Episode: "Kimmy Googles the Internet!"
	At Home with Amy Sedaris	Florence Chervil	Episode: "Entertaining for Peanuts"
	Portlandia	Fred's Wife	Episode: "Amore"
	Bunsen Is a Beast	Wilda	Voice, episode: "Wilda Beast" [21]
2019	Teen Titans Go!	Negative Girl	Voice, 5 episodes [21]
	Shameless	Paula Bitterman	4 episodes
2020	Blue's Clues & You!	Herself	Episode: "Happy Birthday, Blue!"
	Harley Quinn	Nora Fries, Hippolyta	Voice, recurring role [21]
	The Good Fight	Linda Shuck	Episode: "The Gang Offends Everyone"
2021	Mr. Mayor	Ms. Adams	3 Episodes
	Bubble Guppies	Alison Heart	Voice, episode: "Alison in Wonderland!"
2022	American Dad	Nerfer	Voice, episode: "Beyond the Alcove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Klaus"
	Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness	Construction Worker	Episode: "Are Skyscrapers Huge Divas?"
	Beat Bobby Flay	Herself; guest host	Episode: "Foodie Downer"
2023	Hamster & Gretel	Helen/Rat Burglar	Voice, episode: "My Invisible Friend"
	Animal Control	Principal Smith-Wood	Episode: "Pigs and Minks"
	American Dad	Nerfer	Voice, episode: "Cow I Met Your Moo-ther"
	And Just Like That...	Kerry Moore	Episode: "Bomb Cyclone"
	Star Trek: Lower Decks	Dolorex	Voice, episode: "Empathalogical Fallacies"
	Grimsburg	Stan Flute	Voice, main role
	Celebrity Jeopardy!	Self (Contestant)
2024	Royal Crackers	Doris [22]	Voice, episode: "Bro Down"
	Fantasmas	Renally [23]	Episode: "The Void"
	Doctor Odyssey	Bunny Rubens	Episode: "Pilot" [24]

Theater

Theater work

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Sylvia	Sylvia	George Street Playhouse, New Jersey
2013	Love's Labour's Lost	Holofernes	The Public Theater
2014–15	Tail! Spin!	Various Roles	Off-Broadway at the Lynn Redgrave Theater at the Culture Project
2016	Privacy	Various Roles	Off-Broadway at The Public Theater
2022	POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive	Stephanie	Broadway at Shubert Theatre Nominated – Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play
	Guys and Dolls	Big Jule	The Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.

Web

Web work

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Submissions Only	Fiona Evans	Webseries; episode: "Somethin' Else"
2015	The Dratchelor [25]	Herself	Funny Or Die web series

References

1. "Rachel Dratch". Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved May 17, 2022.
2. Gerri Miller (October 18, 2005). "Rachel Dratch". Archived from the original on October 18, 2005. Retrieved October 28, 2010. Raised in a Reform Jewish family, Dratch did have a Bat Mitzvah but does not consider herself to be observant. "It's more a heritage thing, I guess," she says of her relationship to her roots.
3. Aucoin, Don (February 18, 2000). "Live! From Lexington, It's Rachel Dratch". Boston Globe.^{[ dead link ‍]}
4. "Marriage Announcement 1 – No Title". Boston Globe. January 26, 1964. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013.
5. Burstein, Nathan (April 28, 2012). "From 'SNL' to performing for the 'Tribe'". The Times of Israel. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
6. "RACHEL DRATCH on EMPLOYEE of the MONTH". SoundCloud.
7. Kristina, Dorsey (December 2010). "Live! From New Haven! It's Rachel Dratch in "Celebrity Autobiography"!". The Day. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
8. Dratch, Rachel. (2012). Girl walks into a bar-- : comedy calamities, dating disasters, and a midlife miracle. New York: Gotham Books. ISBN   978-1-59240-711-8. OCLC   757469571.
9. Townsend, Tim (July 7, 2000). "Comic Duo Splits Sides". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved July 13, 2009.
10. Emmanuel, Greg (July 2000). "SNL's Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch have found a hilarious way to spend their summer vacations". Time Out New York: 77.
11. Billy Eichner (January 17, 2010). "Billy Eichner – Empire State Of Mind – Forest Hills State of Mind with Rachel Dratch". Archived from the original on December 22, 2021 – via YouTube.
12. Rosenblum, Emma (October 15, 2006). "Rachel Rolls With It". New York Mag .
13. Gostin, Nicki (April 3, 2012). "'Girl Walks Into A Bar': Rachel Dratch Talks Baby, Life After 'SNL'". HuffPost. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
14. SNL Archives | Cast Archived February 24, 2008, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved July 12, 2010.
15. Turchiano, Danielle (February 3, 2018). "Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Andy Samberg Return to 'Saturday Night Live'". Variety. New York, NY: Variety Media, LLC.
16. Night Live (September 29, 2018). "Kavanaugh Hearing Cold Open". Archived from the original on December 22, 2021 – via YouTube.
17. Night Live (November 24, 2019). "2020 Democratic Debate". Archived from the original on December 22, 2021 – via YouTube.
18. Everett, Cristina (September 8, 2010). "Former 'Saturday Night Live' star Rachel Dratch welcomes first son Eli". New York Daily News. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
19. "Rachel Dratch Reveals Her Son's Father". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
20. Silman, Anna (May 13, 2019). "Rachel Dratch Is Right Where She Wants to Be". The Cut. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
21. "Rachel Dratch (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved December 4, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
22. Schwarz, John (May 10, 2024). "Season Review: Royal Crackers Season Two". www.bubblebladder.com. Bubble Blabber. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
23. Kuperinsky, Amy (July 3, 2024). "HBO's 'Fantasmas' imagines a surreal, offbeat New York City ... in N.J." www.nj.com. New Jersey Entertainment. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
24. Creith, Matthew (September 27, 2024). "'Doctor Odyssey' Review: Joshua Jackson Sets Sail as Dr. Nice Guy in Strong but Surface-Level First Voyage". www.thewrap.com. The Wrap. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
25. "The Dratchelor". Archived from the original on July 30, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2015.

External links

• Rachel Dratch at IMDb