   rita rudner (born september 17, 1953) is an american comedian, writer and actress. ==early life== rudner was born in miami, florida, the daughter of frances, a homemaker, and abe rudner, a lawyer. her mother died when she was 13 (an experience she detailed in a 2012 episode of celebrity ghost stories). after graduating from high school at 15, rudner left miami and headed to new york city to embark on a career as a dancer."comic learns that comedy, tragedy can go hand-in-hand" by tami bickley, jewish news of greater phoenix, vol. 51, no. 24, march 12, 1999 she appeared in several broadway shows, including the now-legendary original productions of follies and mack & mabel. rudner did not turn to comedy until she was 25, after observing how few female comedians there were compared to the number of female dancers. she spent many hours researching her favorite comedians, including woody allen and jack benny. she enjoys jewish humor, but reserves her jewish jokes for jewish audiences. ==career== rudner has appeared in several television shows both in the us and the uk (recording a six-part series on bbc2 in 1990 in the latter), and she appeared often on the tonight show starring johnny carson. she has recorded several award-winning comedy specials, most notably rita rudner: born to be mild and rita rudner: married without children for hbo and rita rudner: live from las vegas for pbs in 2008 (now available on dvd). she also appeared on the tales from the crypt episode "whirlpool". rudner and her husband and producer, martin bergman, wrote the screenplay of the film peter's friends, in which she 
1953_births 20th-century_American_actresses 21st-century_American_actresses Actresses_from_Miami,_Florida American_Jews American_film_actresses American_screenwriters American_stand-up_comedians American_voice_actresses American_women_comedians American_women_screenwriters Jewish_American_actresses Jewish_comedians Living_people