- published: 14 Apr 2016
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Elizabeth Claire "Ellie" Kemper (born May 2, 1980) is an American actress, comedian and writer best known for her role as Erin Hannon in NBC's The Office.
Kemper was born on May 2, 1980, in Kansas City, Missouri, the second of four children born to Dorothy Ann (née Jannarone) and David Woods Kemper. She is the granddaughter of Mildrid Lane Kemper, the namesake of the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis, for which the family donated $5 million. Ellie Kemper's father was chairman and chief executive officer for Commerce Bancshares, a bank holding company founded by the Kemper family (her paternal great-great-grandfather was banker William Thornton Kemper, Sr.). She is also the older sister of television writer Carrie Kemper. Kemper is of Italian (from her maternal grandfather) and German descent. The family moved to St. Louis when Ellie was five years old. She attended the Conway School in the St. Louis suburb of Ladue and then high school at John Burroughs School, where she developed an interest in theater and improvisational comedy. One of her teachers was actor Jon Hamm, with whom she appeared in a school play.