Kristen Wiig

Kristen Carroll Wiig was born on August 22, 1973 in Canandaigua, New York, to Laurie J. (Johnston), an artist, and Jon J. Wiig, a lake marina manager. She is of Norwegian (from her paternal grandfather), Irish, English, and Scottish descent. The family moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, before settling in Rochester, New York. When Wiig was 9 years old, her parents divorced and she lived with her mother and older brother Erik.After graduating from Brighton High School in Rochester, Wiig attended the University of Arizona as an art student. She took her first acting class, as an elective, and was soon encouraged by her teacher to pursue acting. Years later, she moved to Los Angeles and Wiig worked as a main company member of the Los Angeles-based improv and sketch-comedy troupe The Groundlings. As a Groundlings alumna, she joins the ranks of such SNL cast mates as 'Maya Rudolph' (qv), 'Will Ferrell' (qv), 'Phil Hartman' (qv), and 'Jon Lovitz' (qv).Wiig made her big-screen debut to universal high praise as 'Katherine Heigl' (qv)'s passive-aggressive boss in 'Judd Apatow' (qv)'s smash-hit comedy _Knocked Up (2007)_ (qv). Additional film credits include 'Drew Barrymore' (qv)'s directorial debut, _Whip It (2009)_ (qv), starring 'Elliot Page' (qv); 'Greg Mottola' (qv)'s _Adventureland (2009)_ (qv), with 'Ryan Reynolds' (qv), 'Kristen Stewart' (qv) and 'Jesse Eisenberg' (qv); 'David Koepp' (qv)'s _Ghost Town (2008)_ (qv), with 'Ricky Gervais' (qv); and 'Jake Kasdan' (qv)'s _Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)_ (qv), another Apatow-produced film, in which she starred opposite 'John C. Reilly' (qv). She has also guest-starred on the Emmy-winning NBC series _30 Rock (2006)_ (qv), the HBO series _Bored to Death (2009)_ (qv), with 'Jason Schwartzman' (qv), and _Flight of the Conchords (2007)_ (qv).Wiig joined the cast of _Saturday Night Live (1975)_ (qv) in 2005, and was known for playing such memorable characters as the excitable Target clerk, Lawrence Welk singer Doonese, the hilarious one-upper Penelope, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Suze Orman, among others. Wiig earned four Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on the show. She left the show in the spring of 2012.In 2011, Wiig co-wrote and starred in _Bridesmaids (2011)_ (qv), along with 'Melissa McCarthy' (qv), 'Maya Rudolph' (qv), and 'Rose Byrne' (qv). The film was a box office hit and won several awards, plus earned two Oscar nominations (Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Screenplay), and two Golden Globes nominations (Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical and Best Actress).Wiig also appeared in such notable films as 'Greg Mottola' (qv)'s _Paul (2011)_ (qv), opposite 'Simon Pegg' (qv) and 'Nick Frost' (qv); 'Andrew Jarecki' (qv)'s _All Good Things (2010)_ (qv), opposite 'Ryan Gosling' (qv), 'Kirsten Dunst' (qv) and 'Frank Langella' (qv); DreamWorks Animation's _How to Train Your Dragon (2010)_ (qv), with 'Gerard Butler' (qv) and 'Jay Baruchel' (qv); the Universal Pictures' animated feature film _Despicable Me (2010)_ (qv), starring 'Steve Carell' (qv) and 'Jason Segel' (qv); and 'Jennifer Westfeldt' (qv)'s _Friends with Kids (2011)_ (qv), opposite 'Jon Hamm' (qv), 'Megan Fox' (qv), 'Adam Scott' (qv), 'Maya Rudolph' (qv) and Westfeldt.::Anonymous