Angela Kinsey

Early years

Kinsey was born in Lafayette, Louisiana. When she was two years old, her family moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, where her father worked as a drilling engineer. They lived there for twelve years, and she attended the Jakarta Intercultural School. During this time she learned Indonesian, a language she still occasionally speaks. Her family then returned to the United States and settled in Archer City, Texas.

Kinsey studied English at Baylor University, where she became a member of the Chi Omega sorority, "took as many theatre classes as possible," and participated in the "Baylor in London" program. In a 2007 interview with the Baylor student newspaper, she discussed the influence of her years at the university: "It was the perfect place for me to grow into who I am and take the belief system that I had and incorporate it into my life. It was a great place to go to school."

After graduating from Baylor University in 1993, Kinsey served as an intern on the NBC late night talk show Late Night with Conan O'Brien, which she described as an "awesome" experience. She worked for the show's band leader, drummer Max Weinberg. The experience inspired Kinsey to take a coast-to-coast road trip with a friend from New York City to California.

Career

Kinsey then moved to Los Angeles and took improvisation classes with The Groundlings and at iO WEST (formerly known as "Improv Olympic West"). Following a two-woman show at iO, she was an operator at 1-800-Dentist and made small one-episode appearances in various sitcoms. She voiced the character "Angela" on two episodes of King of the Hill. In early 2005, she auditioned for the role of receptionist Pam Beesly for the American version of The Office. After producers told her she was "a little too feisty for Pam" she was called back to audition for the role of Angela Martin, which she won. She also appeared on Monk as a murderer named Arlene Boras in Mr. Monk and the Naked Man (2007) and Mr. Monk's 100th Case (2008).

In June 2007, Kinsey shared in the Daytime Emmy Award "Outstanding Broadband Program – Comedy", for her work on The Office: Accountants, which is a series of webisodes.

Kinsey is one of several cast members of The Office to have a role in License to Wed, a film directed by Ken Kwapis, who often directed episodes of The Office. Kinsey updated her MySpace blog with behind-the-scenes anecdotes of upcoming episodes of the series. She has also taken to organizing The Office cast outings: "I remember watching Friends and thinking, 'They really enjoy each other.' We, in fact, hang out."

In summer 2011, she became the new spokesperson for Clairol hair products, appearing in television ads for Clairol Nice 'n Easy. Since 2014, Kinsey has starred in the Hulu comedy series The Hotwives, returning for season two in August 18, 2015.

Kinsey stars in the Netflix Original Series Haters Back Off as Bethany, the mother of the main character, Miranda Sings. She appears alongside YouTube star Colleen Ballinger, as Miranda, and Steve Little, as Miranda's uncle Jim. While the first season was met with relatively mixed reviews, Kinsey received critical acclaim for her performance.

Personal life

On June 18, 2000, she married writer and producer Warren Lieberstein. He is the brother of Paul Lieberstein, who played Toby Flenderson on The Office. She gave birth to their first child, Isabel Ruby Lieberstein, on May 3, 2008. On February 18, 2009, Us Weekly reported that Kinsey and her husband had separated. Her representative stated that the two continue to be friends. In June 2010, it was announced that Kinsey had filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences." The pair remain on good terms.

On August 4, 2016, Kinsey announced her engagement with her boyfriend on Instagram with a detailed summary of proposal. On November 13, 2016, Kinsey married her long-time boyfriend Joshua Snyder.

Kinsey is Presbyterian and attends Bel-Air Presbyterian Church. Kinsey said her grandmother does not watch The Office because she feels the protagonist Michael Scott is too "vulgar". Kinsey said, "She'll say to me, 'Baby, we're so proud of you, I'm proud of you, but I do not care for the show and I do not watch it.'"

Kinsey supports Alley Cat Allies, a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to transforming communities to protect and improve the lives of cats.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations