Mindy Kaling

Mindy Kaling Biography

Mindy Kaling is the stage name of actress Vera Mindy Chokalingam from US of Tamil-Bengali origin. She is an actress, comedian, and writer associated with television shows and as an actress, she is best known for portraying the character Kelly Kapoor in the U.S. TV series (sitcom) – The Office aired on network NBC during the period 2005 to 2013. She also served as the executive producer, writer and director of the popular sitcom. She is also associated with sitcom The Mindy Project, as its creator, lead actress, writer as well as executive producer. The show was successfully aired from 2012 to 2015 on Fox followed by Hulu. She has also authored a memoir, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, followed by Why Not Me?

Mindy was born on June 24, 1979 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S to a Tamil father and Bengali mother. Her father is an architect, while her mother, a gynecologist. The family emigrated in 1979, the same year Kaling was born. She has one elder brother and her mother passed away in 2012. She was a member of the improvisational comedy troupe "The Dog Day Players", during her studies at Dartmouth College. She was also associated with a cappella group "The Rockapellas" in those days. She completed graduation in playwriting in the year 2001.

After a brief stint as production assistant for three months, Kaling did stand-up in New York City. In 2002 she acted in the play Matt & Ben, where she served as a writer too. She portrayed Ben Affleck in the play, which was a major breakthrough. She also wrote a blog "Things I've Bought That I Love" under the name Mindy Ephron. She joined ‘The Office’ team at the age of 24 and since then she became a popular personality on television. Apart from ‘The Office’ and ‘The Mindy Project’, she has also appeared in a few more television shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm, Saturday Night Live etc. She made her film debut with - The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

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Updated: February 05, 2016