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Paula Poundstone (born December 29, 1959) is an
American comedian.

Poundstone was born in Huntsville, Alabama and her
family moved to Sudbury, Massachusetts when she
was young (some sources incorrectly state
Poundstone was born in Sudbury). Poundstone was
placed in foster care in the 1970s; an experience
which later led her to act as a foster mother to
several children.

Poundstone dropped out of high school to pursue a
show business career. She worked as a stand-up
comedian in Boston for a few years and then
relocated to California. In 1984, Poundstone was
cast in the movie Hyperspace but she did not
follow through on a potential acting career.
Instead she became better known as a comedian and
began appearing on several talk shows. In 1989,
she won the American Comedy Award for Best Female
Stand-Up Comic. In 1990, she wrote and starred in
an HBO special Cats, Cops and Stuff and
subsequently won a Cable Ace Award for the show.
She worked as a political correspondent for the
Tonight Show during the 1992 Presidential campaign
and did the same for The Rosie O'Donnell Show in
1996. In 1993, Poundstone won a second Cable Ace
Award, began writing a regular column "Hey,
Paula!" for Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones
magazine (which lasted five years), and had a
variety show The Paula Poundstone Show on American
Broadcasting Company|ABC (which lasted only two
episodes). She was a regular panelist for the game
shows Hollywood Squares and To Tell the Truth. 

Poundstone became a foster mother in 1993. In
1997, she adopted two children, Toshia and
Allison, and later a third, Thomas.

On June 6, 2000, Poundstone drove her children to
an ice cream parlor. She later admitted she had
been drinking at the time. Her behavior at the
store was reported to the police. Poundstone
admitted herself into the Promises
(rehabilitation)|Promises rehabilitation center on
June 13. On June 27, she was arrested for one
count of child endangerment (for driving her
children while intoxicated) and three counts of
committing a lewd act on a child under the age of
14. Poundstone pleaded no contest to the
endangerment charge on September 12. The lewd acts
charges were all dropped before her hearing and
Poundstone has stated she was innocent of these
charges. A judge issued an order prohibiting
everyone involved in the incident from discussing
any details of it. One tabloid newspaper has
reported the charges derived from one of
Poundstone's foster children making a false
accusation against her after an argument. As a
result of the case, Poundstone was placed on five
years probation, was required to spend 180 days in
rehabilitation, and was barred from acting as a
foster mother. Poundstone was allowed supervised
visits to her own children after December 5, 2001
and they were returned to her custody in late
2002.

Poundstone's career was slowed by the incident but
she still continues to perform her stand-up act.
Also, she is currently a regular panelist on Wait
Wait... Don't Tell Me! 

There have been numerous speculations about
Poundstone's sexual orientation. She has a large
gay and lesbian fanbase and many fans assume she
is a lesbian. However, Poundstone has never
publicly stated whether she is gay or straight and
usually deflects questions on this issue by
stating she is not currently dating anyone, male
or female.