Rashida Leah Jones

[Mad Murdock]

Rashida Leah Jones (born February 25, 1976) is an American actress, model, and musician, best known for her portrayal of Louisa Fenn on Boston Public and Karen Filippelli on The Office.
Early life

Jones was born in Los Angeles, California, the youngest daughter of media mogul Quincy Jones and his former wife, actress Peggy Lipton. Jones's father is an African-American and her mother is Jewish, descended from immigrants from Ireland and Russia. Jones attended Hebrew school and made the National Honor Society.[1] Due to her Irish-born maternal grandmother, she also has Irish citizenship.[2]

In his autobiography, her father recalled how he would often find his 5-year-old daughter under the covers after bedtime with a flashlight reading five books at a time.[3] Around the same age, Jones was already playing classical concerts and winning awards. Her mother told Entertainment Tonight that Jones is "also a fabulous singer and songwriter, so she has inherited it (from Quincy), there's no question about it. Her dad's teaching her how to orchestrate and arrange too."[4]

When she was 14 years old, Jones' parents divorced and she subsequently lived with her mother before beginning college at Harvard University. She garnered attention with an open letter in response to scathing remarks made by Tupac Shakur about her parents' mixed marriage.[3] She later befriended Shakur, who was engaged to her sister Kidada Jones before he was killed.[3]

While attending Harvard, she initially was interested in becoming a lawyer, but lost interest as a result of watching the O.J. Simpson trial.[3] Instead, she became involved in theater. According to her freshman playbill biography at Harvard, she "enjoys bungee-jumping, parasailing, skydiving, and other extreme sports. She also likes to try to solve the economic problems of the world in her spare time."[5] She studied religion and philosophy at Harvard and graduated in 1997.

Though raised Jewish, she began practicing Hinduism in her early teens after her mother took her to an Ashram in India.[6] Today, however, she practices Judaism and told a reporter, "In this day and age, you can choose how you practice and what is your relationship with God. I feel pretty strongly about my connection, definitely through the Jewish traditions and the things that I learned dating the guy that I dated. My boyfriends tend to be Jewish and also be practicing."[1] Jones is an avid skydiver.

Career

Jones began the serious pursuit of an acting career in 1997, appearing in The Last Don. She has since appeared in Myth America, East of A, If These Walls Could Talk 2, and Little Black Book. She eventually landed the role of Louisa Fenn on Boston Public, which earned her an NAACP Image Award nomination. Though she only had a minor supporting role in the series, other opportunities quickly surfaced. She sought out roles in independent films as well as in theatre. She guest starred as Karen Scarfoli on Freaks and Geeks and played the part of the downstairs neighbor, Karen, on the Stella pilot on Comedy Central. She also played special government agent Carmen Merced on the TNT show Wanted.[7] She then played the female lead, Edie, on the seven episode drama NY-LON.[8].

In September of 2006, Jones joined the cast of The Office when it began its third season. She has since been cast in the upcoming Farrelly brothers produced comedy series Unhitched [9], which premiers on FOX on Sunday March 2nd, 2008 at 9:30 pm ET.

Other work

As a singer, Jones was a member and music director for Harvard's oldest co-ed a cappella group, The Harvard Opportunes. They performed an arrangement composed by Quincy Jones himself on the 1997 CD, Candy For The Children.[10] She sang backup on the tracks "Tangled" and "Secret" from Maroon 5's hit record, Songs About Jane.[3] She also sang on the track "Kiwi" on their album "It Won't Be Soon Before Long." She can be heard singing Madonna's "Dress You Up" in the Gap commercial "Everybody in Vests" directed by Pedro Romhanyi, as well as The O'Jays' "Love Train" in Peter Lindbergh's "Give Stripes" and "Crazy Stripes" commercials again for Gap.[7] Also as a singer, Jones appeared as guest on Tupac Shakur's tribute album The Rose That Grew From Concrete, on the track "Starry Night," which is accompanied by her father' vocals, Mac Mall's rapping, and her half-brother QD3's production. She also sang in some episodes of Boston Public and for charitable events such as the What A Pair Benefit to raise money for breast cancer research.[11]

Jones' written work has appeared in Teen Vogue. She also wrote chapter 36 of her father's biography Q: The Autobiography Of Quincy Jones. She has also co-composed the score for Hasty Pudding Theatricals while at Harvard in 1997.[12]

Rashida Jones has modeled for major clothing labels including Triple 5 Soul and The Gap. She has also appeared in editorials for magazines such as In Style and O Magazine.[7]

In the Foo Fighters' music video for "Long Road to Ruin", Jones plays the role of Susan Belfontaine.[13] She is playfully credited as Racinda Jules in the opening credits.

Awards

In 2002 Jones was chosen as one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People,"[7] which she also received in 2007, as well as one of Harper's Bazaar's "Best Dressed Women In America."[14] She was nominated for an NAACP Image Award[7] and also contributed to the Grammy Award winning audio version of Q: The Autobiography Of Quincy Jones.

Philanthropic efforts

Jones has worked to promote Peace Games, which teaches children to resolve conflict without violence. She has been a board member since 2004 and holds several annual benefits to raise money for the organization.[15]

Filmography

* The Last Don (1997) (mini) - Johanna
* Myth America (1998)
* East of A (2000) - Emily
* If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000) - Feminist
* Boston Public (2000-02) Louisa Fenn
* Roadside Assistance (2001) - Luci
* Full Frontal (2002)
* Now You Know (2002) - Kerri
* Death of a Dynasty (2003) - Layna Hudson
* Little Black Book (2004) - Dr. Rachel Keyes
* NY-LON (2004) - Edie Miller
* Wanted (2005) - Carla Merced
* The Office (2006-2007) - Karen Filippelli
* The Ten (2007) - Hostess
* Unhitched (2008) - Kate
* Chilled in Miami (2009) - Natalie

TV guest appearances

* Freaks and Geeks (2000) - "Karen Scarfolli" in episode: "Kim Kelly Is My Friend" (episode # 1.4)
* Chappelle's Show (2003) - "Pam" (episode # 1.5)
* Chappelle's Show (2004) - "Woman in 'Love Contract'" (episode # 2.4)
* Stella (2005) - "Karen" in episode: "Pilot" (episode # 1.1)

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