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MAGGIE CARUSO
Played By Lennon Parham
Actor Bio
In USA’s comedy “Playing House,” Lennon Parham (“Best Friends Forever”) stars as Maggie Caruso, a woman who is determined to create a happy home for her baby, despite recently discovering her husband’s illicit online affair with a muscular German woman. She finds support when her best friend, Emma (Jessica St. Clair, “Best Friends Forever”), moves in to help her prepare for the birth of her first child. Parham co-stars and co-created the series along with St. Clair.
This is the second collaborative series from Parham and her writing partner and co-star, Jessica St. Clair. Their first series, "Best Friends Forever," aired in 2012 on NBC. Prior to that, Parham appeared in the cast of “Accidentally on Purpose" opposite Jenna Elfman. Additionally, she has had memorable guest appearances on critically-acclaimed series including "Parks and Recreation," "Arrested Development," "Mad Men," "How I Met Your Mother," "Funny or Die Presents" (in the recurring "Lady Refs") as well as "Children's Hospital" and "NTSF:SD:SUV."
Parham has also appeared in the feature "Confessions of a Shopaholic," and the independent films "Splinterheads" and "Hysterical Psycho," a comedy-horror film by Dan Fogler. Her one-woman show, "She Tried to Be Normal," ran in NY and LA and was selected for the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival in 2009.
The seeds for Parham's comedy career were sown on the stage of Parkview High School in Lilburn, Georgia. She got her start when she moved to New York and joined the New York offshoot of Chicago's revered comedy institution, The Second City, where she performed in their revue: "We Built This City on Rent Control.” Her breakout came while she trained at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater both in New York and LA, where she performed in "Showgirls: The Best Movie Ever Made." She still appears in the theater's signature "A.S.S.S.S.C.A.T. 3000" show as often as her schedule will allow.
A graduate of the University of Evansville in Indiana, Parham taught French for two years in Mississippi with Teach for America before starting her comedy career.
Lennon lives with her husband and daughter in Los Angeles.