Riki Lindhome

Riki Lindhome enjoyed a varied and versatile career in movies, television, and live comedy improvisation as an actor, writer and director. Accomplished in drama, comedy and music, Lindhome's career launched with a major break from Tim Robbins, which got her discovered by Clint Eastwood, leading her into a featured role in "Million Dollar Baby" (2004), which won major acclaim and swept the Academy Awards. Lindhome's career transitioned from feature and television work to performing musical comedy, writing and directing her own short films, and interviewing stars on her own podcast about how they broke into the business.

Born Erika Joan Lindhome in Pennsylvania, on March 5, 1979, Lindhome grew up in Portville, New York, and went to Syracuse University, where she performed as part of the comedy ensemble "Syracuse Live." Lindhome was able to break into television without an agent representing her, and she transitioned from appearances on "Titus" (Fox 2000-02) and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (The WB 1997 - 2003) to starring in a play about the Iraq War directed by Tim Robbins, "Embedded" (2003). Four actors from the play, including Lindhome, were cast by Clint Eastwood in "Million Dollar Baby" (2004), which was a major triumph at the 77th Academy Awards, winning four Oscars, including Best Picture.

After Lindhome's film debut in "Baby," she worked steadily in movies, television and comedy, as well as writing and directing several short films. Lindhome later worked again with Eastwood, who directed her in "Changeling" (2008), an acclaimed period drama that starred Angelina Jolie. Her other feature work included "My Best Friend's Girl" (2008), and the remake of the terrifying horror classic "The Last House on the Left" (2009).

Along with her feature work, Lindhome kept up a steady television schedule, appearing on several episodes of "Gilmore Girls" (The WB / The CW, 2000-2007), as well as "Heroes" (NBC 2006-2010), "Pushing Daisies" (ABC 2007-09), "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS 2007 - ), "Criminal Minds" (CBS 2005 -), "Bones" (Fox 2005 - ), "$#*! My Dad Says" (CBS 2010-11), and more.

Lindhome also wrote and directed several short films. She directed her "Gilmore Girls" co-stars Alexis Bledel and Danny Strong in "Life Is Short" (2006). "Short" also featured Seth MacFarlane, creator of "Family Guy" (Fox, 1999 -). Lindhome wrote for the comedy shows "Funny As Hell" (HBO Canada 2011 - ), as well as "The Half Hour" (Comedy Central 2012 -).

In addition to her movie and television work, Lindhome performed musical comedy with her actress friend Kate Micucci, co-star of "Raising Hope" (Fox 2010 - ) and "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS 2007 - ), in the comedy duo Garfunkel and Oates. In the group, Lindhome called herself Garfunkel and Micucci called herself Oates, the joke behind the name being that they're the most famous second bananas in music history. Garfunkel and Oates songs included "Pregnant Women Are Smug" and "Weed Card."

Lindhome also hosted a podcast on The Nerdist called "Making It," where she interviewed people in the entertainment industry about how they charted their roadmap to success. Guests included comedian Tig Notaro, actor Colin Hanks, and "Broken Lizard" multi-hyphenate Jay Chandrasekhar.