Amy Poehler was Saturday Night Live's resident quirky blonde from 2001 to 2008, and currently stars in (and occasionally writes for) Parks & Recreation on NBC. Massachusetts native Poehler honed her chops on the improv circuit, performing with comedy troupes Second City and Improv Olympic before moving to New York to co-found the Upright Citizens Brigade in the mid-1990s with Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh. UCB later earned a slot on Comedy Central and Poehler also had roles on several other TV shows (Spin City, Late Night with Conan O'Brien) and movies (Deuce Bigalow, Wet Hot American Summer) but her big break came when pal Tina Fey recruited her to join the cast of Saturday Night Live in 2001. When Jimmy Fallon relinquished his "Weekend Update" post in 2004, Fey picked Poehler to be her co-anchor, launching her to a prominent position on the show. Although Poehler stayed on at SNL when Fey left in 2006, Poehler used this shift to branch out into more movie work, picking up roles in Fey's Mean Girls and Baby Mama, as well as Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny, the third installment of the Shrek franchise, and the figure skating comedy Blades of Glory. Poehler left SNL in 2008 to helm Parks & Recreation. In 2011, Time Magazine listed her as one of the world's most influential people. Poehler married actor Will Arnett, of Arrested Development fame (she also played his wife in the show), in 2003. They have two children together, Archie and Abel.

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