Rachel Brosnahan is an American actress. She is best known for playing the title role of an aspiring stand-up comedian in the Amazon Prime Video period comedy series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017–2023), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2018 and two consecutive Golden Globe Awards in 2018 and 2019. She has also appeared in the political thriller series House of Cards (2013–2015) and the drama series Manhattan (2014–2015).
Brosnahan was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Carol and Earl Brosnahan, who worked in children's publishing. Her mother is British, and her father is American and of Irish descent. From age four, Brosnahan was raised in Highland Park, Illinois. She has a younger brother and sister. She is a niece of fashion designer Kate Spade (née Brosnahan).
Though she is well known for playing a Jewish character on television (Mrs. Maisel in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Brosnahan does not practice Judaism and has no Jewish ancestors. She says she was "happily immersed" in Jewish culture thanks to the community of Highland Park.
She attended Wayne Thomas Elementary School and Northwood Junior High School. She performed in musical theater during junior high and high school. At Highland Park High School, she was on the wrestling team for two years and was a snowboarding instructor. When she was 16, she took a class with Carole Dibo, director of Wilmette's Actors Training Center, who is now her manager. Brosnahan graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2012.
