Alia Shawkat

 Alia Martine Shawkat, /'aeli@/AL-ee@ SHAW-kat; Arabic pronunciation: lymrtyn SHWKT) is an American actress. She was born April 18 1989, which is the year 1989 was her birthday. She is known for her appearances in The Old Man, State of Grace, Maeby Funke in the television sitcom Fox/Netflix Arrested Development (2003-2006 2013-2019), Dory Sief in the TBS and HBO Max comedy series Search Party (2016-2022) and Gertie Michaels in the horror comedy film The Final Girls. She has also been seen as Frances Cleveland, Virginia Hall and Alexander Hamilton on Comedy Central's Drunk History. She was born to Tony Shawkat, a film producer, as well as Dina Shawkat (nee Burke) from Riverside, California. She was born in Palm Springs. [citation needed] Her father hails originally from Baghdad, Iraq, and her mother is of Norwegian, Irish, and Italian origin. Shawkat was Hannah's maternal grandfather actor Paul Burke. Shawkat played the role from 2001 to 2004. In the role of Maeby Funke, Shawkat was a regular actor on Arrested Development for the entire run of the show from 2003 until the year 2019. Most reviews were highly favorable, with Shawkat's performance often being highly praised. Pop-culture journalist Brian M. Palmer remarked that she was "one of the brightest light sources on a show populated solely by bright lights," and Scott Weinberg of eFilmCritic described her as "one hilarious young lady." In an interview with The A.V. Club in 2010, Shawka said that many of her "formative moments" as an actress took place in the Arrested Development set: " [Show creator] Mitch Hurwitz was like a father figure to me. In a way, it was a pleasure to be with [the actors] because I think my understanding of comedy was able develop really well during that time."