Rashida Jones

Rashida Leah Jones (born February 25, 1976) is an American film and television actress, comic book author, screenwriter and occasional singer. She played Louisa Fenn on Boston Public and Karen Filippelli on The Office as well as roles in the films I Love You, Man, Our Idiot Brother and The Social Network. Jones currently stars on the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation as Ann Perkins.

Rashida Leah Jones (born February 25, 1976) is an American film and television actress, comic book author, screenwriter and occasional singer. She is perhaps best-known for her portrayal of Karen Filippelli on The Office and for her roles in the films I Love You, Man and The Social Network. As of 2009, Jones stars as Ann Perkins in the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation.

Jones was born in Los Angeles, California, the younger daughter of media mogul and musician Quincy Jones and actress Peggy Lipton. She has an older sister, Kidada Jones, and five half-siblings by her father's other relationships. Her father is African-American and her mother is Jewish, and she attended Hebrew school.[1] She was raised in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California.

In his autobiography, Jones's father recalled how he would often find his five-year-old daughter under the covers after bedtime with a flashlight reading five books at a time.[2] Jones also displayed musical ability at a young age by 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."[3]

Jones attended The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, California, where she made the National Honor Society and was voted "Most Likely To Succeed" by her classmates. Jones's parents divorced when she was 14 years old; her sister subsequently remained with their father while she moved to Brentwood with their mother.

In 1994, Jones garnered attention with an open letter responding to scathing remarks made by Tupac Shakur about her parents' interracial marriage.[4] She later befriended Shakur, who was engaged to her sister Kidada Jones before he was killed.[2] After high school, Jones left California to attend Harvard University.

At Harvard, Jones was a resident of Eliot House and belonged to the Hasty Pudding Theatricals, Harvard Radcliffe Dramatic Club, Harvard-Radcliffe Opportunes, Black Students Association and the Signet Society.[5] She was initially interested in becoming a lawyer but lost interest after being disillusioned by the O.J. Simpson murder case.[2] Instead, she became involved in the performing arts, and served as musical director for the Opportunes a cappella group, co-composed the score for the 149th annual Hasty Pudding Theatricals performance, and acted in several plays.[6] She studied Religion and philosophy and graduated in 1997.