Maya Rudolph Could Be Her Famous Mother's Twin
Actor Maya Rudolph is perhaps best known to television audiences for being a cast member on the long-running NBC sketch comedy series "Saturday Night Live" for seven years in the 2000s (via ET). Her roles in hit films such as "Bridesmaids" and "Grown Ups” have helped her cement her place even more strongly as a mainstay in the comedy genre.
Beyond the screen, fans might already know that Maya has been in a long-term relationship with filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, with whom she shares four children. What fans might not know about Maya, however, is that she is the daughter of two celebrities herself.
The daughter of composer Richard Rudolph and late singer-songwriter Minnie Riperton, performing arts runs deep in Maya's veins. What's more, Maya and Riperton share a clear family resemblance — the duo look so much alike that we can see how the comedian could be mistaken for her famous mother's twin sister in undated photographs.
Maya Rudolph's mother was a star in her own right
Maya Rudolph's mother, Minnie Riperton, was a popular singer in the 1970s who died of cancer at just 31 years old in 1979, per The New York Times. Rudolph has paid tribute to her mother on multiple occasions, including during a photoshoot for a subsequent "Saturday Night Live" hosting appearance where she recreated two of Riperton's album covers (via Today). Twitter users were quick to recognize the connection. "Obsessed with all of Maya's bumpers but the tribute to her Mom was GORG," one netizen tweeted in response to Rudolph's "SNL" getups.
Despite her clear resemblance to Riperton, Rudolph — who is both Ashkenazi Jewish and Black — described feeling less connected to her identity as a Black woman. "Because my mom died when I was so young, that identity was torn apart, in a way," Rudolph stated In a 2015 sit-down with The Guardian. "I grew up without a lot of female identity, and specifically Black female identity. Some of it was naturally there. Some of it I just sort of made up. And some of it was probably lost."
Two of her daughters' names honor her mother
Maya Rudolph has continued to honor her mother with two of her own daughters' names. According to People, her three daughters with Paul Thomas Anderson are Pearl Minnie, Lucille, and Minnie Ida. The outlet notes the couple also has a son named Jack.
Both Pearl Minnie and Minnie Ida notably have "Minnie" as part of their names, although Pearl's middle name was first reported as "Bailey" following her birth (via People). The inclusion of "Minnie" is a clear nod to the girls' grandmother, Minnie Riperton.
It is also very possible that Pearl Minnie's name may have been given to her by her mother in honor of another famous female comedian with a decades-long career. The comedian Minnie Pearl, whose real name was Sarah Cannon, was known for her appearances throughout the mid-to-late-20th century as part of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, as given in Pearl's obituary in The New York Times.