On this day in comedy on June 24, 1979 Comedian, Actress, Writer, Producer, Director, Mindy Kaling (Vera Mindy Chokalingam) was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Raised by Hindu parents from India, Kaling didn’t fit the typical mold. She was a student of Latin from the time she was in the 7th grade, who studied the classics at Dartmouth and got into comedy via an improv troupe around campus. With thirst for the creative and a hunger to move forward, she created a comic strip for the college’s paper while working as an intern on Late Night with Conan O’Brien.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in playwriting, Kaling moved to Brooklyn and did stand-up. She toured with future Office cast mate, Craig Robinson as well as solo, but gave up stand-up because of the time required for the craft. Besides the house MCs were always mispronouncing her last name of ‘Chokalingam’ and making fun if it which is why she changed it to ‘Kaling’ in the first place (the change of Vera to Mindy came from her parent’s desire for her to have a nice, perky American name and since Mork & Mindy was on TV . . .). Anyway, instead of grinding it out in comedy clubs and on the road she took a job working as a production assistant on the psychic show, Crossing Over with John Edward; a gig she hated, but hey – she was in New York. That upside proved advantageous when she had a surprise Off-Broadway hit in the form of a play she co-wrote / co-starred with college friend, Brenda Withers, called Matt & Ben. It was a project they penned to entertain themselves about a fantasized version of the relationship between famous screenwriting buddies Matt Damon (Withers) and Ben Affleck (Kaling) and how they came to write their Academy Award winning script Good Will Hunting. Time magazine named it one of the “Top Ten Theatrical Events of the Year.”
Fortune kept grinning Kaling’s way soon after when a spec script she’d written landed her the job that opened the doors. Producer, Greg Daniels thought Kaling a fresh, original voice and hired her to help him adapt the British hit comedy, The Office into an American version. At age 24 she attacked the assignment with gusto and by the time the sitcom wrapped, Kaling had written over 20 episodes (as the only female on the staff) making her the most prolific writer from that staff and earning her multiple Emmy nominations. On camera she had established herself as a new pioneering comedy face in the role of office employee, Kelly Kapoor.
All this Office success led to a few well-deserved perks. At the end of season 7, Kaling resigned for season 8 with a stipulation she’d get full Executive Producer credit. She also made her directorial debut and a development deal for a future project which she exercised following the cancelation of The Office. That future project came to be known as The Mindy Project; where she acts, produces and writes. It originally aired on Fox and was picked up by Hulu once Fox cancelled it.
Surprisingly Kaling recites more than her own words. She made her acting film debut in The 40-Year Old Virgin. Other movies have included Unaccompanied Minors, License to Wed, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, No Strings Attached, The Five Year Engagement and This is the End. On the small screen she guest-starred on Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Muppets (as herself). She did voice work on Wreck -It-Ralph, Despicable Me and Inside Out and figured with so much going on she’d write her memoirs; which she did in 2011 and then a second autobiographical tome in 2015. That’s not all – she wrote a blog under the name Mindy Ephron (imagining herself as a long lost Ephron sister) because she’s trippy like that.
It’s her level of trippiness that’s propelled Kaling into the circle of reliable and emerging industry darlings. Throughout her career Mindy Kaling has received numerous award nominations; taking home three SAG Awards, two Gracie’s, an Asian Excellence Award, a Critic’s Choice Television Award, A Satellite Award, plus a Reader’s Choice Award. In 2013 Time magazine recognized her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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