Who is Charlyne Amanda Yi? The entertainment and acting world knows her as an American
actress,
comedian,
musician,
writer, and
painter. Her performances do not always include joke-telling as in
standup comedy; instead, she uses different tactics such as
music,
magic,
games, and often
audience participation.
[2] Her screenwriting debut, the feature film
Paper Heart, won the
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 2009
Sundance Film Festival.
Early life
Yi was born January 4, 1986 in Los Angeles, California.
[1] Her mother is of
Filipino-
Spanish descent and her father is of
Korean,
Irish,
German,
French and
Native American ancestry.
[2] She attended the
University of California, Riverside before leaving to pursue full-time stand up comedy.
Career
Yi began by performing in
Fontana, California.
[2] She has since performed shows in Los Angeles at The
Steve Allen Theater, and
The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. In 2005 and 2006 she performed in the New York Comedy Festival,
[3] and in 2007
HBO's
U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in
Aspen,
Colorado.
[2] Yi's film debut was on June 1, 2007 in
Judd Apatow's 2007 film,
Knocked Up. In 2008, Yi performed as part of the Apatow for Destruction Live comedy show at Montreal's
Just For Laughs Festival.
[4] The role of
Leslie Winkle in
The Big Bang Theory was originally written for Yi, but she was eventually fired and replaced by
Sara Gilbert.
[5]
In the 2009 film
Paper Heart, a "hybrid documentary"
[6] which Yi executively produced in addition to co-writing, she stars as a fictionalized version of herself, alongside
Michael Cera.
Yi was chosen as one of
Venus Zine’s “25 under 25” women for 2009.
Yi appeared on the Comedy Central series Important Things with Demetri Martin as a musical guest, performing a number of duets with Martin, though these segments were cut from the final episodes when aired.
She has also appeared alongside
Saturday Night Live cast member
Fred Armisen in the music video for the song "Rabbit Habits" by Philadelphia experimental band
Man Man.
Yi and
Paul Rust formed the band
The Glass Beef. The duo share one electric guitar and both sing lead vocals. In 2006, they released their debut album, The Farewell Album, produced by
John Spiker, bassist of
Tenacious D. Since then Yi has done solo projects such as Chandelier Teeth and written songs for other musicians in her experiment The Music Scientist.
She is currently in the band Old Lumps, with Jessica Cowley and Dave Horwitz.
Social activism
Yi has been involved with Oxfam America since 2010, working to raise awareness about poverty and hunger around the world.
[7]
Filmography
Film
Television
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Rucker was born October 6, 1971 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Nana Malaya, a playwright, and Eric Rucker.[1][2] Rucker spent his formative years in the greater Washington, DC, Maryland area. He hails from a very dedicated and supportive immediate and extended family. He first had an interest in acting after he was placed in many child pageants. His first acting role was as Martin Luther King in the 4th grade. He was in the drama club in 7th grade and then attended high school at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C. He has an undergraduate degree in Information Technology and Business and his graduate degree in Education and Curriculum Development. He played basketball in college and semi-pro ball for a short time after that. He is the oldest of three children, having a younger sister and brother who has sinced passed.
Rucker's major role came in 2002 when he assumed the role of attorney T. Marshall Travers on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns, opposite Tamara Tunie. He left the series the following year, and portrayed Garret Williams on ABC's All My Children in 2005. He has starred in a few of Tyler Perry's productions such as a guest role on House of Payne, the film version of Why Did I Get Married? alongside Perry,Janet Jackson and Jill Scott, as well as appearing in a small role in the film version of Meet The Browns as Vera's adult son, Will. He currently has a starring role on Perry's second sitcom Meet the Browns reprising his role as Will. This time, Will has a much larger role (compared to his part in the movie) just gotten married to a beautiful fellow co-worker. To promote his work in Perry's films, Rucker appeared on The Mo'Nique Show March 14 , 2010 and discussed the fear and beauty of shooting at a location so close to water, yet so close to home.
Rucker remains active with a variety of grassroots, civic, and international organizations that focus on the improvement of critically challenged communities in the US. He is represented by D.C. based sports and entertainment attorney E. Lindsey Maxwell II, Esq. The two met in during their college years while in Pittsburgh. Two years ago, Mr. Rucker and Mr. Maxwell formed Black Tiger Edutainment, a company devoted to entertainment ventures and production of independent films. Earlier this year, Mr. Rucker and Mr. Maxwell teamed up with Dallas spa owner, Thai Morrisson to form a new skin care line called Forplai (www.forplai.com).
