Retta (Comedian) Height, Weight, Age, Body Statistics

Retta is an American actress, comedian, and author, who had an early career start in Charlie Goodnights Comedy Club located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, and had started performing stand-up comedy in 1996, but was best known for her role of Donna Meagle on a well-known television series Parks and Recreation from 2009, and up until the series ended in 2015. In 2007, she also had a minor role of a cop in Fracture, a drama-mystery film starring , , and , and later appeared in 3 movies in 2008 –  First Sunday as Roberta, Kissing Cousins as Shawna the Chef, and Reservations as Monique, as well as 1 episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia TV show.

From 2015 to 2018, Retta had a notable role in the comedy-drama series Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce, and in early 2018, began her recurring role of Ruby Hill in Good Girls TV series alongside and . On May 29, 2018, Retta published her 1st book titled So Close to Being the Sh*t, Y’all Don’t Even Know, which was a collection of essays and comedy situations based on her own life.

Sun Sign

Aries

Born Place

Newark, New Jersey, United States

Residence

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States

Nationality

Education

Retta attended Matawan Regional High School located in Aberdeen Township, New Jersey, United States, and graduated in 1988.

4 years later, in 1992, she got her degree in sociology after graduating from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, United States, even though she was initially a pre-medicine student.

Manager

Retta is represented by –

• United Talent Agency (UTA) (Talent Agent) in Beverly Hills, California, United States
• Silver Lining Entertainment (II) (Manager) in Beverly Hills, California, United States
• Taylor Herring PR (Publicist) in London, England, United Kingdom

Genre

Traditional

Instruments

Vocals

Labels

Unknown

Sexual Orientation

Straight

Distinctive Features

• Large physique
• Wide nose
• Dark brown eyes
• Fuller Lips
• Bright white teeth

Brand Endorsements

• Retta hasn’t endorsed any brands yet but appeared in a music video for a song I Wanna Get Better in 2014, performed by an indie pop band Bleachers.
• She also appeared in a TV commercial for The More You Know in 2013.

Religion

Christianity

Best Known For

• Starring in the comedy TV series Parks and Recreation from 2009 to 2015 as Donna Meagle
• Appearing in the TV series Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce between 2015 and 2018 as Barbara
• Having a prominent role of Ruby Hill in Good Girls TV series since its air date in 2018
• Playing a character of Lobo in the movie To the Bone (2017), as well as Annie in Father Figures (2017)

As a Singer

Retta performed 5 songs – It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, Catch Your Dream, Fugue for Tinhorns, Time After Time, and Kung Fu Fighting, all while starring as Donna Meagle in Parks and Recreation TV Series from 2009 to 2015. She also had a notable performance of a song 5,000 Candles in the Wind at the TV show Late Night with in 2015.

First Film

Retta made her first theatrical film appearance as Bruna, the Office Manager in the comedy, romance movie Slackers in 2002.

As a voice actress, she made her theatrical film debut in the comedy-drama film Ringmaster in 1998.

First TV Show

Retta made his first TV show appearance as herself in an episode of Premium Blend in 2000.

As a voice actress, she made her TV show debut as the narrator on American Dad! in 2013.

Personal Trainer

She hasn’t shared anything about her workout routine, but since she’s considered a plus-size model, it’s unlikely that Retta works out intensively.

Retta Favorite Things

• Sport – Hockey
• Hockey Team – Los Angeles Kings
• TV Show – The 100
• Comedians – Maria Bamford, , Chris Franjola, ,
• Food – Short Ribs
• Her Role – Donna Meagle in Parks and Recreation (2009-2015)
• Snack – Wheat English Muffins
• Fashion Item – Designer Handbags

Source – , TheBrownAndWhite.com

Retta Facts

1. Retta’s aunt, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was the President of Liberia from 2006 to 2018, and the 1st female head of state in Africa. Ellen was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2011, shared with 2 other women, Leymah Gbowee, and Tawakkol Karman.
2. Despite wanting to be a doctor during her education, she later became an actress as her primary passion and occupation. However, she didn’t exclude pursuing medicine at some point in her life.
3. She worked as a chemist in the past, as well as a cashier at Nichols, which is a Walmart-type store in New Jersey, United States.
4. Her stories always come from something that has happened to her, and rarely from someone else’s story.
5. Retta doesn’t like traveling as part of her job of a stand-up comedian, and doesn’t consider it a long-term career goal, and would drop it completely in order to be an actress without regrets.
6. She said that she turned down an offer to host a TV show in 2014, which was supposed to be produced by and Jenni Konner. The reason was that she wanted to establish herself as an actress first.
7. She was a contestant at the Hollywood Game Night TV show in 2014 along with , , Thomas Lennon, Michael Chiklis, and others.
8. Retta shared a story of how she waited in a line for the women’s bathroom for more than 15 minutes, and just when she was supposed to enter, tried to cut the line and ignore her, but Retta yelled her name and stopped her. She later joked that if Taylor sued her, she’d have no proof to show to her lawyer of what exactly happened.
9. Retta presented awards at the NHL (National Hockey League) events in 2014 and 2015. She was also a special guest at the Hockey Night in LA event at the March 2, 2019 game of LA Kings, her favorite hockey team, versus Chicago Blackhawks.
10. As a joke, she said that her favorite thing about stand-up was the applause at the end, as it meant the set was done.
11. She was a host of the 3rd Critics’ Choice Television Awards in 2013, and in 2015, narrated the audiobook titled Welcome to Night Vale, as the voice for Old Woman Josie.
12. Retta would like to do more comedy shows with Sara Colonna, Chris Franjola, and , all well-known stand-up comedians or TV hosts.
13. She has performed at the Montreal Comedy Festival and won the 1st Comedy Central Stand-up Competition.
14. Retta appeared or performed stand-up on well-known TV shows such as The Late Show with (2010-2013, 2018), (2012), The Arsenio Hall Show (2013), Late Night with Seth Meyers (2014-2018), and The Late Late Show with (2018).
15. Her co-stars in Parks and Recreation (2009-2015) were , , , , , , , and others.
16. Chris Pratt showed up naked during a scene she was in, even though he was supposed to be wearing a modesty sock.
17. She has become and stayed close friends with the cast of Parks and Recreation even years after the filming ended. After the story about the s*xual assault that Aziz Ansari was involved in early 2018, Retta contacted him to ask if he was okay.
18. She supported UnionWorking, a labor movement that fights to achieve fair wages, treatment, and contracts for not only actors but also for working families that don’t have a voice. That includes pensions, health care, and being safe in any workplace. Actors such as , Amy Pietz, Nick Offerman, Stephanie Courtney, India De Beaufort, , and Arlen Escarpeta supported the movement as well.
19. Retta hosted the IMDb’s Red Carpet Emmy Coverage in September 2015, at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards event.
20. She always liked watching in movies and said that her perfect on-screen love interest would be him. On another occasion, she said would be the right choice, as he likes women of color.
21. Her cousin, a well known, multi-platinum artist , named her Mercedes-Benz car after Michael Fassbender.
22. She was set to share short stories at the Getty Museum event on March 24, 2019, along with well-known actresses  and .
23. Follow her on , , and .

Featured Image by Retta / Instagram