Paula Pell

Paula Pell is an American comedy writer, producer, and actress. She worked as a writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 2013. For her work on SNL and 30 Rock, she has been recognized with a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program and six Writers Guild of America Awards. In 2019, Pell was honored with the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence.

Pell has produced, written, and performed in the TV series 30 Rock, A.P. Bio, Love, and Mapleworth Murders, and has worked as a writer for the awards ceremonies the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, and the MTV Video Music Awards. As a voiceover artist, she has voiced characters in Inside Out, Big Mouth, and Bless the Harts. Pell has also appeared in films and TV series, including Sisters, Other People, and Wine Country. From 2021 to 2024, Pell was a main cast member on the Peacock and Netflix original series Girls5eva.

Early life Pell wanted to be an actress from an early age. After graduating from the University of Tennessee, she took a job at Walt Disney World, working in the nightclubs of the resort's adults-only Pleasure Island section.

Career Pell was a writer for Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 2013, where she is the longest-tenured female writer in the history of the show. She created the characters Debbie Downer, the Culps, Justin Timberlake's Omeletteville mascot, and the Spartan Cheerleaders. She was also a producer and writer for the sitcom 30 Rock, and wrote the episodes "Argus" and "Floyd". In 2006, a pilot she wrote, Thick and Thin, was picked up by NBC for 13 episodes, with Pell as executive producer, but it never aired in the United States.

As an actress, Pell appeared in several episodes of 30 Rock as the wife of Pete Hornberger and played the mother of Ron Swanson in a 2011 episode of Parks and Recreation.

She has a small cameo in the 2013 comedy film Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. She co-created the web series Hudson Valley Ballers with fellow SNL writer and long-time friend James Anderson with whom she also co-stars. Tina Fey produced and starred in Pell's first feature screenplay, Sisters (2015). Pell played the Dream Director and Mom's Anger in the 2015 Pixar film Inside Out. From 2016–2018, she guest-starred in the TV series Love as Erika. She played a character based on Elaine Stritch in the mockumentary musical episode "Co-op" on Documentary Now!

Pell co-starred alongside several other Saturday Night Live alumnae in the 2019 Netflix original comedy Wine Country.

On August 10, 2020, the comedy-mystery Mapleworth Murders, which she also co-wrote and executive produced, aired on Quibi. Pell was nominated at the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for her performance. Between 2020 and 2021, Pell voiced several characters in the animated series Bless the Harts.

In 2021, she began starring as Gloria McManus in the Peacock comedy series Girls5eva.

Personal life Pell is openly gay. She was married for 17 years before getting divorced. She later married Janine Brito on November 13, 2020.

Filmography

Film

Producer and screenwriter

Awards and nominations