Maria Bamford
Bamford in 2008
Born	(1970-09-03) September 3, 1970 (age 55) Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.
Education	Bates College University of Edinburgh University of Minnesota (BA)
Occupations	Actress comedian
Years active	1989–present
Spouse	Scott Marvel Cassidy ​ ​ (m. 2015)​
Comedy career
Medium	Stand-up television film
Genres	Observational comedy character comedy surreal humor alternative comedy black comedy
Subjects	Pop culture personal life mental health
Website	mariabamford.com

Maria Bamford (born September 3, 1970)^[1] is an American actress and stand-up comedian. Her work often uses self-deprecating and dark topics, including her dysfunctional family, depression, anxiety, suicide, and mental illness.

Her first comedy album and tour was The Burning Bridges Tour (2003), followed by eight more albums and specials. One of her first feature films is Lucky Numbers (2000), and she voiced characters on many animated shows, including Scorpi on Mixels, Shriek on CatDog, and many more on American Dad!, Ugly Americans, Adventure Time, and BoJack Horseman. Her film work includes Stuart Little 2 (2002), Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure (2003), Barnyard (2006), Heckler (2007), and Hell and Back (2015). She voiced Talking Ginger and Talking Becca in the Talking Tom & Friends web series. Her live action television work began in Louie (2012), Arrested Development (2013–2019), WordGirl (2007–2015), Big Mouth (2017–2025), Flatbush Misdemeanors (2021–2022), and Human Resources (2022–2023). In 2014, she won the American Comedy Award for Best Club Comic.^[2]

The 2016 Netflix original series Lady Dynamite, in which she plays the lead role, is based on her life. She voiced Tito, the Anxiety Mosquito, in Big Mouth and its spinoff, Human Resources.

In 2023, she released a memoir, titled Sure, I'll Join Your Cult.^[3]

The 2026 documentary Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story explores her life and career.