Rita Rudner Biography

Rita Rudner is Rita Rudner. Rita Rudner is a witty stand-up comedian with a pillow-soft voice that just wasn't built for profanity. ("I don't swear. When I do, my husband gets out the tape recorder. Once, when I was first doing comedy, there were only five people in the audience, so I did my whole act swearing every other word. All the waitresses and people at the bar ran in yelling, 'Rita's swearing! Rita's swearing! Everyone come!'").

Rita Rudner and her husband, former BBC comedy writer Martin Bergman, co-wrote Kenneth Branagh's film Peter's Friends. Their second collaboration, the Bergman-directed A Weekend in the Country, airs June 12 on the USA Network, and stars Jack Lemmon, Christine Lahti, Dudley Moore, and Richard Lewis, along with Rudner.

Rita Rudner and her hubby have their co-writing system down pat. ("We make each other feel really guilty, and the person who makes the other feel the guiltiest doesn't write. The guilty person sits down and writes until the other person feels really guilty, and then they take over.") Rita Rudner 's proud of her off-camera success, but is frustrated by the lack of worthwhile opportunities in front of the lens. ("Hollywood is a town run by men. A young, beautiful woman has a much better chance than an older, smart, funny woman. I'm trying to do things I'm proud of, which is really what's holding me back. If I would just do any old thing, it would be a lot better for my career.")

Rita Rudner was born September 17, 1956, Miami, Florida. Rita Ruddner has appeared in several television shows both in the U.S. and Britain and was a semi-regular on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

In 1976, at the age of twenty, Rita Rudner appeared in a television commercial for Sweet 'N Low Non Fat Yogurt.

Rita Rudner and her husband, Martin Bergman, wrote the screenplay of the film Peter's Friends, in which she also starred. She has written several books, including Naked Beneath My Clothes and Tickled Pink: A Comic Novel.

Rita Rudner is currently appearing at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and hosts a syndicated talk show with B-list celebrity guests called Ask Rita. Rita Rudner, her husband, and their daughter Molly make Las Vegas their primary home. They live part-time in Palm Desert, California where Rudner frequently performs at the McCallum Theatre on the campus of College of the Desert.

Rita Rudner appeared in the 2005 documentary film The Aristocrats. She also appeared in the romantic comedy movie The Last Guy on Earth (2006).