Rachel Susan Dratch (born February 22, 1966) is an American actress and comedienne, perhaps best known as a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1999 to 2006.

Early life

Dratch was born in Lexington, Massachusetts, the daughter of Elaine, a transportation director, and Paul Dratch, a radiologist. She is a graduate of William Diamond Middle School and Lexington High School in Massachusetts. Dratch is also an alumna of Dartmouth College (class of 1988), where she majored in drama and psychology and was a member of the improvisational comedy group, Said and Done. She attended the National Theater Institute in the fall of 1986.

Career

Dratch was a member of the mainstage cast of The Second City comedy troupe for four years. She received the Joseph Jefferson award for Best Actress in a Revue for the latter two revues in which she performed: "Paradigm Lost," and "Promisekeepers, Losers Weepers." At Second City she performed alongside future SNL head writers Adam McKay and Tina Fey, as well as future 30 Rock performer Scott Adsit. The first incarnation of her SNL "Wicked" sketch was performed in Second City's Paradigm Lost. In addition to acting, Dratch also played the cello onstage. The theater also hosted the first incarnation of Dratch & Fey (her critically praised two-woman show with Tina Fey) which was later performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York, where it was dubbed "the funniest thing to be found on any New York comedy stage" by Time Out New York.