Rashida Jones's Real Name: Rashida Leah Jones

Quick answer: Rashida Jones was born Rashida Leah Jones on February 25, 1976, in Los Angeles. She is the daughter of producer Quincy Jones and actress Peggy Lipton. She is best known as Ann Perkins on Parks and Recreation and Karen Filippelli on The Office (Library of Congress; Britannica).

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress name authority files her as "Jones, Rashida." Its citation describes her as "Rashida Leah Jones (born February 25, 1976); American actress, filmmaker and producer; born Los Angeles, California to actress Peggy Lipton and musician/record producer Quincy Jones." Britannica also lists "Rashida Leah Jones" as an alternate form of her name and gives the same birth date and city.

Britannica says Jones grew up in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, where Sidney Poitier was her godfather. Her father, Quincy Jones, who died in November 2024, worked with Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, and Miles Davis. Her mother, Peggy Lipton, who died in May 2019, starred in The Mod Squad and later appeared on Twin Peaks. Her parents separated when she was about 10 and divorced three years later. She stayed with her mother.

In a 2021 NPR interview quoted by Britannica, Jones said fame "can be a poison" for a household. She did not plan on show business and studied philosophy and religion at Harvard University. She considered law school but changed her mind after watching the O.J. Simpson trial. At Harvard she met Michael Schur, who later co-created Parks and Recreation.

Career highlights

After graduating in 1997, Jones began with small film parts and the miniseries The Last Don. She told the New York Post at 25 that she only "felt the negative repercussions" of nepotism, and she later said being biracial made casting harder early on.

Her first steady TV role was Louisa Fenn on Fox's Boston Public (2000–02). In 2006 she joined season three of NBC's The Office as Karen Filippelli, a love interest for John Krasinski's Jim Halpert. In 2009 she was cast as nurse Ann Perkins on Parks and Recreation, a show that Britannica says nearly faced cancellation several times before becoming a streaming hit.

On film she appeared in The Social Network (2010). She played the title role in TBS's police spoof Angie Tribeca (2016–18) and Joya Barris in Netflix's #blackAF (2020). She has also worked as a writer, director, and producer.

Name notes for searchers

Jones has always used her birth name professionally; Leah is her middle name. She is not related to the many other performers named Jones. Her famous last name comes from her father, Quincy Jones.