• Laraine Newman is an actress known best as one of the original cast members of the show “Saturday Night Live” (“SNL”).
• She was born on 2 March 1952 in Los Angeles, California, USA and is of Polish Jewish and Russian Jewish descent.
• She has acted in numerous films and television series, with one of her most notable roles being Miss Janeth in the animated series “Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia”.
• She is married with two children, one of whom is an actor.
• As of early 2023, Laraine’s net worth has been estimated at over $5 million.
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Who is Laraine Newman?
She is an actress with 240 acting credits to her name, however, Laraine Newman is probably still known best as one of the original cast members of the show “Saturday Night Live”, often abbreviated “SNL”.
She is also well known for her voice roles which have brought her numerous accolades and awards – one of her most notable was her voicing of Miss Janeth in the animated series “Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia”, which brought her a nomination for Behind the Voice Actors (BTVA) Award for Best Female Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Supporting Role.
In 2017, Laraine was nominated for the BTVA Award- Voice Actress of the Year.
Early life, family, and education
Born on 2 March 1952, Laraine will celebrate her 71st birthday in 2023. She’s a Los Angeles, California USA native, holds American nationality, and comes from a family of Polish Jewish and Russian Jewish descent. Nothing is known about her parents, except that they had two more children – Laraine has a twin brother named Paul, and their sister Tracy, is a Primetime Emmy-awarded television writer.
When it comes to Laraine’s interest in performing, aged 15, she began studying improvisational comedy. She was a member of the Richmond Shepard Mime Troup, and the spent a year in Paris, France, where she studied mime with celebrated French actor and mime artist Marcel Marceau.
Speaking of her educational background, Laraine attended Beverly Hills High School, and upon matriculating in 1970, she enrolled at California Institute of the Arts, from which she graduated with a BA degree in 1974.
“Saturday Night Live”
“SNL” is a television variety and comedy sketch show, created by Lorne Michaels, which had 555 award nominations and 208 wins, including 87 Primetime Emmys, since its first episode in 1975 until today.
Laraine made appearances in 104 episodes from 1975 through 1980, playing various characters, one of her most recognizable being Connie Conehead. In 1979, for her performance in “SNL”, Laraine was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy-Variety or Music Program – one of her best-known characters was Valley Girl Sherrie.
Fun fact: Laraine didn’t audition for a role in “SNL”, but since she is one of the founding members of the comedy troupe The Groundlings, Lorne Michaels watched Laraine perform one of the Groundling’s shows, and eventually asked her to join the cast of “SNL”.
Most notable movie roles
As mentioned, Laraine has numerous acting credits to her name, so we’ll choose some of her most notable to mention. She made her movie debut as Sonja in the 1976 comedy “Tunnel Vision”, followed by her role as Louise in “American Hot Wax” in 1978.
In the following years, she co-starred in several TV movies, and in 1985 returned to the big screen as Linda in the movie “Perfect”, also starring John Travolta and Jamie Lee Curtis. The early ’90s saw Laraine in “Coneheads” (1993), “The Flintstones” (1994), and “Jingle All the Way” (1996).
She starred as Aunt Polly in the 1998 adventure comedy “The Modern Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, and then in the following years she focused on her voice roles, being heard in “Monsters, Inc.” (2001), “Madagascar” (2005), “Cars” (2006), “Happily N’Ever After” (2006), and “Horton Hears a Who!” (2008).
In 2009, Laraine portrayed Sharon in “The Twenty”, a mystery drama about a man who finds a $20 bill with a message written on it, and an obsession with it begins. The movie had no nominations, but was well-rated by the audience.
Laraine followed with numerous voice roles in hit animated movies such as “Up” and “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” in 2009, “Toy Story 3” (2010), “The Lorax” (2012), and “Despicable Me 2” (2013), among many others.
In 2014, Laraine was cast to play Joanne in the romantic comedy “Ready or Knot”, followed by her role as Noema Willcoxen in the 2016 comedy “The Late Bloomer”, based on the novel “Man Made: A Memoir of My Body” by Ken Baker, which won the San Diego International Film Festival Award for Best Comedy.
In the following years, Laraine mostly had voice roles in animated movies such as “The Secret Life of Pets” (2016), “The Emoji Movie” (2017), “The Grinch” (2018), and “Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans” in 2021.
Most notable television series roles
Laraine made her acting debut in the 1975 television series “Manhattan Transfer”, and was then seen in “SNL”. The early ‘80s saw Laraine mostly guest-starring in an episode or two of various series, and after that, she had numerous voice roles.
Worth mentioning is her voicing of Charity Bazaar in “Histeria!” (1998-2000), followed by her role as Lois Foutley in “As Told by Ginger” (2000-2009), and concurrently she was heard as Cactus Polly in the animated series “Oswald” (2001-2003), and as Pickles’ Mom in “Metalocalypse” (2006-2012).
In 2012, Laraine made an appearance in two episodes of the comedy series “Easy to Assemble” created and starred by Illeana Douglas. Laraine followed by her guest roles in “Trophy Wife” (2014), “In-Between” (2015), and “Hidden America with Jonah Ray” (2016).
When it comes to her notable voice roles, worth mentioning is her voicing of Pajuna in the animated series “The Adventures of Puss in Boots”. Laraine was heard in 41 episodes from 2015 to 2018; the series had 12 award nominations and won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting for an Animated Series or Special.
Concurrently, Laraine voiced Amber in 52 episodes of the animated series “Dawn of the Croods” (2015-2017), which brought her a nomination for the Annie Award- Outstanding Achievement in Voice Acting in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production, in 2016.
Laraine also voiced various characters in 42 episodes of “Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz” (2017-2020). She was also heard in the four-time Primetime Emmy-nominated series “American Dad!” (2017-2022), among many others. Most recently, Laraine voiced Peaches in the animated series “Ridley Jones” (2021-2022).
Love life, husband, and daughter
Although she was romantically linked to various men from the entertainment industry, Laraine hasn’t commented on those; in 1991, she married Chad Einbinder, who is also an actor, probably known best for his voice roles in “Justice League Unlimited”, “Doctor Dolittle”, and “Tangled”.
They have two children together; their son Spike, was born in August 1991, and has followed in his parent’s footsteps and become an actor. He’s probably known best for his role as Water Shadow in the series “Los Espookys”.
Laraine and Chad’s daughter Hannah, was born on 21 May 1995, and is also an actress. With just four acting credits to her name, she has earned 15 award nominations and won four, thanks to her role as Ava in the series “Hacks”, which among others, brought two Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2021 and ’22.
However, Laraine and Chad divorced in 2016, and as of early 2023, it seems that Laraine is single.
What is she doing now?
Most recently, Laraine was heard as Mrs LePage in the animated movie “Tom and Jerry: Snowman’s Land”, which premiered in November 2022. Although there is no info about Laraine’s upcoming projects, her fans can keep track of her work and life through her social media accounts.
She is active on Instagram and Twitter, and most recently, she tweeted about her appearance at Gateway Theatre, The San Francisco Comedy Festival, on 29 January 2023.
Net worth
According to sources, Laraine’s salary on “SNL” was $750 per week in the first season and $2,000 per week in the second season. As previously stated, she has had numerous voice roles and appeared in a number of series and movies, perhaps leading you to believe she’s amassed a sizable fortune during her nearly 50-year career.
As of early 2023, Laraine’s net worth has been estimated at over $5 million.
