Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler came up through Chicago improv and co-founded the Upright Citizens Brigade, which moved to New York in 1996 and had a Comedy Central series two years later. She joined Saturday Night Live in 2001 and anchored Weekend Update from 2004, first with Tina Fey and then with Seth Meyers, until she left the show in 2008. Seven seasons as the relentlessly civic Leslie Knope in Parks and Recreation brought her the 2014 Golden Globe for best actress in a television comedy, and a guest turn hosting Saturday Night Live won her a first Primetime Emmy in 2016. Yes Please, her 2014 memoir for Dey Street, is built less like a life story than an illustrated scrapbook, mixing essays, lists and photographs with asides on improv, work, motherhood and divorce. It went to number one on the American bestseller list, and the audiobook drew a Grammy nomination for best spoken word album. Poehler voiced Joy in the two Inside Out films and has directed Wine Country and Moxie.