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Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler was born in Burlington, Massachusetts, the daughter of Eileen, a teacher, and Bill Poehler.[1] She has a younger brother, Gregory. A 1993 graduate of Boston College, Poehler was a key member of America's oldest collegiate improv comedy troupe, My Mother's Fleabag.

After graduating from college, Poehler moved to Chicago where she studied improv at Second City alongside friend and future co-star Tina Fey. She also studied with Del Close at ImprovOlympic, going on to become part of the touring company as well as teaching classes at OI. During her time at Second City, Poehler studied with Matt Besser, part of the Upright Citizens Brigade. While the group initially consisted of many members (including Horatio Sanz, Adam McKay, and Neil Finn, Poehler quickly became part of the group along with Matt Walsh. The two, along with Besser and Ian Roberts, performed sketch and improv around Chicago before moving to New York in 1996.

In 1998, Comedy Central debuted the Upright Citizens Brigade's half hour TV show. During the show's second season, the group opened an Improv theatre and training center in New York City at 161 W. 22nd Street, occupying the space of a former strip club. The UCB theatre held shows seven nights a week in addition to offering classes in sketch comedy writing and improv.

Comedy Central cancelled the Upright Citizens Brigade program after its third season, though the UCB theatre continues to operate. On September 29, 2001, Poehler made her debut as a featured player on Saturday Night Live. She was promoted to repertory player halfway through her first season-- only the second cast member in SNL history to have achieved this.

On Saturday Night Live, she parodies stars such as Hillary Clinton, Sharon Osbourne, Paula Abdul, Hilary Duff, Kelly Ripa, Madonna, Avril Lavigne, Sharon Stone, Nancy Grace, Michael Jackson, Dennis Kucinich, Christian Siriano and Dakota Fanning. During her first season on SNL, Poehler was promoted from featured player to full cast member, making her the third person to have ever earned this distinction (after Harry Shearer and Eddie Murphy). Beginning with the 2004-05 season, she co-anchored "Weekend Update" with Tina Fey, replacing the newly departed Jimmy Fallon. In a TV Guide interview, Fey said that with Poehler co-anchoring, there now is "double the sexual tension." When Fey left after the 2005-06 season to devote time to the sitcom she created, 30 Rock, Seth Meyers joined Poehler at the anchor desk.

Poehler has confirmed she will be back for the 2008 - 2009 season of SNL.

Poehler appeared on the cover of the April 20, 2008 issue of Page Six Magazine. Poehler is married to Will Arnett, of the FOX comedy Arrested Development, and had recurring roles in the series as the nameless wife of Arnett's character George Oscar "G.O.B." Bluth II. Poehler and Arnett also played a quasi-incestuous brother-sister ice skating team in the 2007 film Blades of Glory.