Amy Poehler bio, career path, husband, personal life, kids, height 2025

Biography of Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler is an American comedian, actress, television host, and producer. She's best known for her work in the hit film "Mean Girls" (2004) and the beloved comedy series "Parks and Recreation" (2009-2015). She's hosted the Golden Globe Awards four times (in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2021) and spent 7 years as part of the main cast on the sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live."

Childhood and youth

Amy Meredith Poehler was born on September 16, 1971, in the city of Newton, Massachusetts, and grew up in the nearby town of Burlington. Her parents were both school teachers; her mother comes from an Irish family, and her father has Irish, English, German, and Portuguese roots. Amy also has a brother, Greg Poehler, who is an actor and producer.

Amy Poehler with her brother in childhood and now

As Amy recalls, Burlington was a working-class town filled with teachers, nurses, and sales managers. She and her friends often fell asleep to the sound of their parents arguing about how to scrape together money for car payments or their kids' education.

So the future actress started working part-time while in school. The most memorable job she mentioned was at Chadwick's ice cream shop, where she had to wear old-fashioned costumes and congratulate customers on their birthdays, accompanying herself on drums.

Every time a customer was celebrating a birthday, an employee had to bang a drum that hung from the ceiling, and play the kazoo, and encourage the entire restaurant to join him or her in a sing-along.

It was during her school years that Amy first stepped onto the stage, playing the role of Dorothy in a school production of "The Wizard of Oz" at the age of 10. Since then, she became an active member of the school drama club.

In 1989, she graduated from Burlington High School. After graduation, Amy enrolled at Boston College, where she studied media and communication. She wasn't thinking about acting and wanted to become an English teacher. However, as she later said, even then she had a passion for being the center of attention:

I stood in the middle of the cafeteria, everyone was looking at me, and I made them laugh, and at that moment, I felt like hot lava was running through my veins, making me feel like a real queen.

In college, Poehler discovered improvisational theater and became part of the "My Mother's Fleabag" troupe, which specialized in improvisational comedy. The main theme of Poehler's performances was the difficulties of student life. Breaking into Comedy and Television After college, Poehler decided to pursue her creative dreams. In 1993, she moved to Chicago and joined the comedy theaters "Second City" and "ImprovOlympic." It was there that she met comedians Ian Roberts and Matt Besser, as well as Tina Fey, who became her close friend. Together with Ian and Matt, Poehler formed the troupe "Upright Citizens Brigade" and started performing regularly on stages across Chicago.

In 1996, Amy and her friends Ian and Matt moved to New York and scored a spot on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien." Amy played the role of Andy Richter's younger sister, Stacy, who was obsessed with the show's host. She appeared in only 8 episodes, but this job helped her become recognizable in professional circles.

In 1998, Amy, Ian, and Matt began producing the sketch comedy show "Upright Citizens Brigade," which aired on Comedy Central until the middle of 2000.

In 2001, Amy landed a spot on the iconic sketch show "Saturday Night Live." Her comedy performances quickly won over both audiences and producers, earning her a coveted place in the main cast.

Top 10 Funniest Amy Poehler SNL Moments

One of SNL's most popular segments was "Weekend Update," where cast members delivered satirical takes on current events. From 2004, Amy was the regular host of the segment, first alongside Tina Fey and then with Seth Meyers. Amy spent seven years on the show before departing in 2008 when she became pregnant.

After welcoming her first son, Amy quickly returned to television with the launch of "Parks and Recreation" in April 2009, starring as the show's lead character. Her character, Leslie Knope, was an eccentric government official who fought bureaucracy for the improvement of her hometown.

The mockumentary-style comedy followed the daily lives of employees in a small-town parks and recreation department. The series ran for seven seasons. Beyond her starring role, Amy also served as producer and wrote four episodes.

Best of Leslie Knope | Parks and Recreation

In 2009-2010, Amy made guest appearances on "Saturday Night Live". In 2009, a 40-minute SNL special dedicated to the best moments with Poehler was released.

In 2013, Amy became a host of the Golden Globe Awards for the first time. She was joined by her close friend Tina Fey as co-host. The two comedians hosted the Golden Globe Awards for the following two years, but in 2015 it was announced that it would be their last year hosting the show.

Amy Poehler and Tina Fey at the Golden Globes

In 2014, Amy and her brother created a series called "Welcome to Sweden" (2014-2015). Unfortunately, it received low ratings and was canceled after its second season.

Film Career

Beyond television, Amy also made her mark in movies. One of her most famous roles was as the mother of Regina George in the hit comedy "Mean Girls" (2004) starring Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams. Fun fact: Rachel McAdams, who played Amy's on-screen daughter, was only 7 years younger than Amy in real life.

In 2008's "Baby Mama," Amy played a surrogate mother for Tina Fey's character. During filming, Amy actually discovered she was pregnant.

In 2015, Poehler reunited with Fey for the comedy "Sisters," where they played—you guessed it—sisters.

Amy Poehler at the premiere of Inside Out

Amy's also lent her voice to numerous animated films. Among them are "Monsters vs. Aliens," "Megamind," "Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 and 3," "Shrek 3," and "Inside Out." For "Inside Out," she didn't just voice her character—she also wrote some of her own lines.

Among Amy's other works are roles in the films "Wet Hot American Summer" (2001), "Southland Tales " (2006), "Hamlet 2" (2006), and "The House" (2017).

In 2019, Amy stepped behind the camera for the first time, directing the comedy "Wine Country."

Awards and Achievements

Throughout her career, Amy's racked up numerous Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, mostly for "Parks and Recreation." Despite all those nominations, she's only taken home one Golden Globe, which she won in 2014.

While Amy's earned countless Emmy and Golden Globe nominations throughout her career—mostly for "Parks and Recreation"—she's only won one Golden Globe, back in 2014. In 2016, she finally snagged an Emmy—but not for "Parks and Recreation." Instead, it was for "Saturday Night Live." Amy shared this award with Tina Fey.

Extended interview: Amy Poehler and more

In 2011, the comedian was included in TIME magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Personal life of Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler was married to comedian Will Arnett. They got married in August 2003. Five years later, they had a son named Archie, and in 2010, their second child, Abel, was born.

Fun fact: Will Arnett appeared alongside Amy Poehler in the film "Blades of Glory" (2007), and also made a guest appearance on the television show "Parks and Recreation".

Amy Poehler and Will Arnett in Blades of Glory

In 2012, the couple announced their divorce after 9 years of marriage. According to close family sources, they had grown apart as spouses but remained best friends. "Everyone expected their relationship to be all laughs since they're both comedians. But the laughter stopped, and they both wanted to move forward," tabloids reported.

Their divorce was finalized in 2016. In her autobiography "Yes Please," released two years earlier, Poehler opened up about how difficult the divorce was: she felt incredibly lonely, and society's constant reminders that divorce was now commonplace only made things worse.

In 2013, she started dating comedian Nick Kroll. The couple broke up in 2015 after two years of being together. Since then, Amy has kept her personal life private.

She still has a warm relationship with her ex-husband. The former spouses co-parent their children, and they even spent the first COVID-19 lockdown in early 2020 together in the same house.

Amy Poehler now

Since 2020, Amy Poehler has been working on the comedic animated series "Duncanville," created by producers of "The Simpsons." Amy voices two characters, one of whom is a teenage boy.

In 2021, Amy once again co-hosted the Golden Globe Awards, for the fourth time in her career. Her co-host, as before, was Tina Fey, but this time they were not on stage together. Since the ceremony was held via video link, the women performed from different cities. Amy was in Los Angeles and her colleague was in New York. In 2021, Amy also directed the film "Moxie."

In 2022, Amy Poehler worked as a director and producer on the film "Lucy and Desi" - about the love story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz and the creation of the sitcom "I Love Lucy."