
Semple's first screenwriting job was in 1992, for the television show Beverly Hills, 90210. Semple attended boarding school at Choate Rosemary Hall, then received a BA in English from Barnard College in 1986. The family moved to Los Angeles and then to Aspen, Colorado.

There her father, the screenwriter Lorenzo Semple, Jr., wrote the pilot for the television series Batman. Her family moved to Spain soon after she was born. Semple was born in Santa Monica, California. She is a 2013 recipient of the Alex Awards. Her television credits include Beverly Hills, 90210, Mad About You, Saturday Night Live, Arrested Development, Suddenly Susan, and Ellen. She is the author of This One Is Mine (2008), Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2012), and Today Will Be Different (2016). Maria Keogh Semple (born May 21, 1964) is an American novelist and screenwriter.
