Mary Lynn Rajskub is an American actress and comedian, best known for portraying Chloe
O'Brian in the Fox action thriller series 24.
Early life Rajskub was born in Detroit, Michigan and
raised in nearby Trenton.
Her father is a pipefitter of Czech descent, and her mother worked as a pharmacist's assistant.
Rajskub played the clarinet in a school band and portrayed Frenchie in the musical Grease.
One of her childhood inspirations was the television series Moonlighting.
She later moved to Los Angeles, California, where she worked as a waitress in a Hard Rock
Cafe and a ticket-taker at the Beverly Center movie theater.
Career Rajskub's first part was as an Oompa-Loompa
in a community theater production of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and her first
starring role was Raggedy Ann.
Her most notable role is CTU systems analyst Chloe O'Brian on 24, which she joined in 2003
at the start of the show's third season.
Her character was a hit with viewers and critics and was one of the few cast members to return
in the show's fourth season.
After being a regular guest star for two seasons, Rajskub became a main cast member in the show's
fifth season.
By the end of the series, she was the lead female, with top billing second only to Kiefer
Sutherland.
Her character also had the honor of saying the final words of the series in the season
8 series finale.
Rajskub and Sutherland appeared briefly as their 24 characters in a 2007 episode, "24
Minutes", of the Fox animated series The Simpsons.
In August 2013, it was announced that she will reprise her Chloe O'Brian role in the
2014 limited series 24: Live Another Day.
Rajskub was one of the original cast members of Mr. Show, but was "not allowed on the set
anymore" following her breakup with David Cross.
She appeared in Kelsey Grammer's The Sketch Show on Fox Television, The King of Queens
as a character named "Priscilla", a waitress at a pirate-themed kiddie restaurant in an
episode of Newsradio, and in numerous films including Mysterious Skin, Legally Blonde
2, Sweet Home Alabama, Dude, Where's My Car?, Man on the Moon, Punch-Drunk Love, The Anniversary
Party, Firewall, Little Miss Sunshine, music videos for Beck, Weezer and Sheryl Crow, as
well as portraying a blind girl in the film Road Trip.
Rajskub was part of a comic duo called Girls Guitar Club.
In 2006, she made a cameo appearance in "Partings", the 6th season finale of Gilmore Girls, where
she played a troubadour looking for her big break.
She has volunteered as an actress with the Young Storytellers Program.
She has an educational background as a painter, having attended the San Francisco Art Institute.
Rajskub has been nominated twice for a Screen Actors Guild Award; once in 2005, and again
in 2007 for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.
She guest starred on Flight of the Conchords episode "Prime Minister" as Karen, an Art
Garfunkel fanatic.
She guest starred as "Gail the Snail" in an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
titled "The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention", and reprised the role in the ninth season
finale, "The Gang Squashes Their Beefs".
In 2009, she also appeared in the film Julie & Julia as Sarah, one of Julie Powell's close
friends.
In 2010, Rajskub performed stand-up on John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show.
In June 2010, she appeared in the "Lovesick" episode during the second season of the USA
series Royal Pains.
From July through October 2010, she performed in her solo show, Mary Lynn Spreads Her Legs,
at the Steve Allen Theater in Los Angeles.
Reviewer F. Kathleen Foley of the Los Angeles Times wrote "that cheerfully vulgar title
sums up the overall tone, which is often breezily obscene".
The show, written by Rajskub with help from director/developer Amit Itelman, was inspired
by Rajskub’s experiences with pregnancy, childbirth and early motherhood.
In January 2011, Rajskub guest starred in the episode "Our Children, Ourselves" on the
second season of ABC's Modern Family.
In the fall of 2011, Rajskub appeared in the short-lived sitcom How to Be a Gentleman.
Also in 2011, Rajskub's webseries, Dicki, began airing on My Damn Channel.
Dicki is based on a number of people that Rajskub grew up with in and around Michigan.
The title character is a 40-year-old woman who lives at home with her parents, makes
crafts, and takes her art seriously.
Dicki has been one of My Damn Channel's most successful web series to date.
The first season concluded in November 2011, but a second season is currently in development.
Rajskub performed in the June 2012 edition of Don't Tell My Mother!, a monthly showcase
in which celebrities share true stories they would never want their mothers to know.
She currently hosts a podcast on the Nerdist Network called Kickin' it Mary Lynn Style.
In 2013, Rajskub appeared in the web series All Growz Up with Melinda Hill.
Personal life Rajskub dated David Cross, who introduced
her to Mr. Show, and left the show when they broke up after the end of the second season.
Afterwards, she dated music producer Jon Brion for five years until they broke up in the
fall of 2002.
Rajskub later dated comedian Duncan Trussell.
Rajskub met personal trainer Matthew Rolph when he approached her after one of her comedy
sets.
They began dating, and she became pregnant three months later.
Their son, Valentine Anthony, was born on July 24, 2008.
Rajskub married Rolph on August 1, 2009 in an impromptu wedding in Las Vegas.
Filmography Film
Television References
External links Mary Lynn Rajskub on Twitter
Mary Lynn Rajskub at the Internet Movie Database Mary Lynn Rajskub Interview on Fox News Radio
Stand-up comedy video Dicki, a series of wepisodes written by and
starring Mary Lynn Rajskub