Retta

Marietta Sangai Sirleaf[1] (born April 12, 1970), professionally known as Retta, is an American stand-up comedian and actress. She is best known for her role as Donna Meagle on NBC's Parks and Recreation. She has appeared in several films and television shows, and has performed stand-up on Comedy Central's Premium Blend. She currently stars as Ruby Hill on NBC's Good Girls.[2]

For other uses, see Retta (disambiguation).

Retta
Retta in May 2012
Born	Marietta Sangai Sirleaf (1970-04-12) April 12, 1970 Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Alma mater	Duke University
Occupation	Actress, comedian, chemist (past)
Years active	1998–present
Relatives	Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (aunt)

Early life and education

Retta was born in Newark, New Jersey. She is of Liberian descent.[3] She grew up around New Jersey, specifically in Edison and Cliffwood Beach.[4]

In 1988, Retta graduated from Matawan Regional High School in Aberdeen Township, New Jersey.[4][5] In 1992, Retta graduated from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, where she was pre-med and graduated with a degree in sociology.[4][6][7]

Career

After graduating from Duke, Retta worked as a chemist. In her spare time, she did stand-up at Charlie Goodnights Comedy Club in Raleigh, North Carolina.[8] Eventually she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in comedy.[9] Retta said on Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! that when she started performing stand-up comedy, she decided to call herself Retta rather than explain her name.[10] She started doing standup in 1996, although she said she did not start "earning money" until 1998, when she began touring on the college circuit. Retta said she used to get "really nauseated" before a performance, but that the feeling passed with experience.[11] Retta has said her stand-up material tends to be slightly embellished stories from her regular everyday life, family, and friends.[9][12]

Retta has served as the opening act for such comedians as Shirley Hemphill and Bobby Collins.[11] She has made television appearances on Bravo's Welcome to the Parker, E! Entertainment Television's The Soup,[12] Freddie, Moesha, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia,[13] the "Comedy Divas Showcase" segment of The Jenny Jones Show,[14] Retta has performed on Premium Blend, a Comedy Central show featuring up-and-coming comedians.[11]

In 2009, Retta started making regular guest appearances on the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation as Donna Meagle, an employee in the Parks Department of the fictional town, Pawnee, Indiana. During a stand-up performance at the University of Illinois at Springfield, Retta said the acting job on the show was stressful because it was unclear how long the show would stay on the air, due to the poor reviews it received during the first season.[12] Alan Sepinwall, a television columnist with The Star-Ledger, said season 2 episodes of Parks and Recreation afforded more personality and funnier jokes to Donna and other minor characters.[15] She was upgraded to a full-time regular cast member in the third season.[16]

Retta also hosted the 3rd Critics' Choice Television Awards in 2013.[17] In 2014, she appeared on Hollywood Game Night as a contestant along with the other celebrities Paget Brewster, Michael Chiklis, Mario Lopez, Thomas Lennon, and Alyssa Milano.[18]

In 2015, Retta was one of the audiobook narrators for Welcome to Night Vale, a novel tie-in to the eponymous podcast series in which she is the voice of Old Woman Josie.[16] The same year she appeared in season 2 of Bravo's Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce.[16]

In 2018, Retta co-starred in the NBC series, Good Girls, opposite Christina Hendricks and Mae Whitman.[2]

In 2018, Retta published a series of essays in a book called So Close to Being the Sh*t, Y'all Don't Even Know.[19]

Personal life

On Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, she said she dated a man from Georgia who nicknamed her Retta because that was what the name Marietta sounded like where he came from.[10]

Retta is the niece of the former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.[3]

Retta is an avid fan of the Los Angeles Kings hockey team, and presented awards at the NHL award ceremonies in Las Vegas, in 2014 and 2015.[20][21][22][23][24]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Ringmaster	Additional voices
2002	Slackers	Bruna
2003	Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star	Sad Eye Sadie
2007	Fracture	Evidence Room Cop
2007	Sex and Death 101	Ethel
2008	First Sunday	Roberta
2014	Sex Ed	Sydney
2015	Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip	Party Planner
2016	Other People	Nina
	Operator	Pauline 'Roger' Rogers
	Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life	Ida Stricker
2017	To the Bone	Lobo
	Band Aid	Carol
	The Lego Ninjago Movie	Maggie the Cheerleader (voice)
	Where's the Money	Roberta
	Father Figures	Annie
2019	Good Boys	Lucas' Mom

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Moesha	Hostess	Episode: "Double Date" (Season 3, Episode 12)
2004	$5.15/Hr	Joy	HBO
2005	Freddie	Joan	Episode: "Rich Man, Poor Girl"
2006	Rodney	Tanya Evans	Episode: "When Rodney Comes Marching Home"
2008	It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia	Hardware Store Clerk	Episode: "The Gang Gets Extreme: Home Makeover Edition"
2009–15, 2020	Parks and Recreation	Donna Meagle	recurring (seasons 1-2); starring/main (seasons 3-7)[lower-alpha 1]
2009	Jimmy Kimmel Live!	Heckler	Episode: "#7.46"
2014	Kroll Show	TSA #1	Episode: "Krolling Around with Nick Klown"
2014	Drunk History	Sylvia Robinson	Episode: "American Music"
2014	Key & Peele	The Woman	Episode: "Sex Addict Wendell"
2015–18	Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce	Barbara	recurring (season 2); main (season 3-5)
2015	Kroll Show	Lara	Episode: "Body Bouncers"
2018-present	Good Girls	Ruby Hill	Main Cast
2019	Pinky Malinky	Mrs. Malinky	Episode: "Snack"
	Where's Waldo?	Wizard Nightingale	Episode: "Vienna Voice-Versa"
	Big Mouth	Duke's mother	Episode: "Duke"
2020	DuckTales	Mystical Harp	Episode: "The Lost Harp of Mervana!"
2020	Home Movie: The Princess Bride[25]	Mother	Upcoming

Works and publications

• Retta (2018). So Close to Being the Sh*t, Y'all Don't Even Know. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1-250-10934-7. OCLC 1001333805.

Notes

1. For Parks and Recreation, Retta was credited after the opening title sequence with star billing for seasons 3-5, and was part of the opening title sequence as a main in seasons 6-7

References

1. "Cast: Donna Meagle, Played by Retta". Parks and Recreation. NBC.
2. Read, Bridget (26 February 2018). "Retta Moves on From Parks and Recreation in Good Girls, But Never Say Never". Vogue.
3. Chaney, Jen (8 October 2011). "What's the connection between a Nobel Prize winner and 'Parks and Recreation'?". The Washington Post.
4. Feuer, Ryan (16 July 2015). "Comedian Retta talks Jersey roots, 'Parks and Rec' and 'Geeks Who Drink'". NJ.com.
5. Pillar 1998 (PDF). Matawan Regional High School. 1988. pp. 99, 125, 144, 208, 224.
6. Fishbein, Anne (25 September 2014). "Chatting With "Parks and Recreation's" Retta Sirleaf '92". Duke Magazine. Duke University.
7. Sangweni, Yolanda (20 September 2012). "7 Reasons You Should Know Parks and Recreation Star, Retta". Essence.
8. Holder, Christina (25 February 2015). "Retta Sirleaf Returns to Duke" (includes video). Duke Today. Duke University.
9. Azzi, Amy (January 28, 2009). "Comedian took long route to comedy". Royal Purple News. University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Retrieved November 17, 2009.
10. "Best of Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me" (Audio podcast). NPR. 24 August 2019.
11. Eells, Kelly Feser (June 6, 2003). "T-150 seats down for stand-up guys". Ojai Valley News. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2009.
12. Dunn, Valeree (October 14, 2009). "Performer Spotlight on... Retta". UIS Journal. Archived from the original on April 24, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2009.
13. Haynes, Robert (November 17, 2009). "Comedian Retta brings glee to bear country". The Echo. University of Central Arkansas.
14. Ory, Marie (March 15, 2001). "Laughter -- the medicine of life". The Nicholls Worth. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2009.
15. Sepinwall, Alan (November 5, 2009). "Parks and Recreation, "Ron and Tammy": Megan Mullally guests". The Star-Ledger. New Jersey On-Line. Retrieved November 6, 2009.
16. Feuer, Ryan (16 July 2015). "Comedian Retta talks Jersey roots, 'Parks and Rec' and 'Geeks Who Drink'". Nj.com. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
17. "Awards News: Critics' Choice Nominations". CBS. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
18. Snetiker, Marc (15 January 2014). "Retta takes on Mario Lopez in the Olympics on 'Hollywood Game Night' -- EXCLUSIVE". Ew.com. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
19. Retta (2018). So Close to Being the Sh*T, Y'all Don't Even Know. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1-250-10934-7. OCLC 1001333805.
20. "Retta: How I Became a Hockey Fan". Retrieved 9 December 2016.
21. "Hey, Retta, this Tumblr is teaching you all about hockey". 15 April 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
22. "How I Became a Hockey Fan". 11 May 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
23. "NHL Awards 2015". Retrieved 9 December 2016.
24. "NHL releases lineup of presenters and performers for awards show". Retrieved 9 December 2016.
25. Starner, Nina (June 26, 2020). "Quibi just announced a Princess Bride remake you never expected to see". Looper.com. Retrieved June 26, 2020.

External links

• Retta on IMDb
• Retta on Twitter