Rashida Leah Jones (born February 25, 1976) is an American actress, model, and musician, best-known for her portrayal of Louisa Fenn on Boston Public, Karen Filippelli on The Office and Zooey Rice in I Love You, Man. Jones currently stars in the series Parks and Recreation with Saturday Night Live alumna Amy Poehler.
Jones was born in Los Angeles, California, the youngest daughter of media mogul and musician Quincy Jones and his former wife, actress Peggy Lipton. Her father is African-American and her mother is Jewish, descended from immigrants from Ireland and Russia. She has an elder sister, Kidada Jones, and five half-siblings by her father’s other relationships. She was raised in Bel Air, California. According to her father, as a child Rashida was bitten by Michael Jackson’s chimp Bubbles.
In his autobiography, Jones’ 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. 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.” (more…)
