Jenny Slate
Encyclopedia
Jenny Slate is an American
actor and comedian best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live
from 2009–2010 and for her recurring role as Stella on the HBO comedy series Bored to Death
.
to parents Nancy Slate and Ron Slate, a Massachusetts
-based poet and author. She has two sisters, Abigail and Stacey, and is Jewish. After graduating from Milton Academy
as the valedictorian
, she attended Columbia University
, where she helped form the improv
group Fruit Paunch, and starred in the Varsity Show. Slate graduated from Columbia University in 2004.
. They describe their relationship as a "nonsexual romance", and Slate says "I like to think of us as kind of like Elaine Benes
and George Costanza
, but we like each other."
Prior to joining SNL, Slate was best known as a regular commentator on many VH1
talking head commentary programs. In early 2009 Slate had made several appearances on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
recurring sketch 7th Floor West where she played an NBC page
, later promoted to Fallon
's assistant (also named Jenny), and she also had recurring roles on HBO's Bored to Death
(as Stella) and on the FOX
sitcom Brothers
. Slate also starred in the 2009 short film Obvious Child.
Throughout 2008 and 2009 Slate regularly performed her one-woman show, Jenny Slate: Dead Millionaire, at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (UCBT) in New York City. She also performed the stage show at UCBT's Los Angeles
division for a number of weeks in early 2010.
In August 2010, Slate co-wrote and voiced the stop-motion short film "Marcel the Shell With Shoes On", directed by Dean Fleischer-Camp, about a shy, shoe-wearing shell, which garnered unexpected viral success. This led to a follow-up, "Marcel the Shell with Shoes on, Two," released on November 14, 2011.
Slate also wrote a "Marcel" themed children's book that was released on November 1, 2011.
for one season in 2009–2010. In her first episode, she accidentally said "fuck
ing" during her debut sketch "Biker Chick Chat," which was heard on the live broadcast, but removed from all future reruns. On SNL, she impersonated celebrities such as Hoda Kotb, Olympia Snowe
, Lady Gaga
, Ashley Olsen
(alongside Nasim Pedrad
as Mary-Kate Olsen
), and Kristen Stewart
. Her best known recurring character was Tina-Tina Chaneuse, an infomercial pitchwoman of unspecified Latino
heritage who advertises personalized doorbells, car horns and alarm clocks.
Despite having a recurring character, her contract was not renewed for another season and she (along with Will Forte
, who, after eight years, was leaving the show for other projects) left the show.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor and comedian best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
from 2009–2010 and for her recurring role as Stella on the HBO comedy series Bored to Death
Bored to Death
Bored to Death is an American comedy series, which premiered on HBO on September 20, 2009. , three seasons have aired, each consisting of eight episodes. The show was created by author Jonathan Ames, and stars Jason Schwartzman as a fictional Jonathan Ames – a writer based in Brooklyn, New York...
.
Early life
Slate was born in Milton, MassachusettsMilton, Massachusetts
Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 27,003 at the 2010 census. Milton is the birthplace of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and architect Buckminster Fuller. Milton also has the highest percentage of...
to parents Nancy Slate and Ron Slate, a Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
-based poet and author. She has two sisters, Abigail and Stacey, and is Jewish. After graduating from Milton Academy
Milton Academy
Milton Academy is a coeducational, independent preparatory, boarding and day school in Milton, Massachusetts consisting of a grade 9–12 Upper School and a grade K–8 Lower School. Boarding is offered starting in 9th grade...
as the valedictorian
Valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
, she attended Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, where she helped form the improv
Improvisational theatre
Improvisational theatre takes many forms. It is best known as improv or impro, which is often comedic, and sometimes poignant or dramatic. In this popular, often topical art form improvisational actors/improvisers use improvisational acting techniques to perform spontaneously...
group Fruit Paunch, and starred in the Varsity Show. Slate graduated from Columbia University in 2004.
Career
Alongside comedian Gabe Liedman, Slate is half of the comedy duo Gabe & Jenny. Their show with Max Silvestri, Big Terrific, was named best new variety show of 2008 by Time Out New York. She met Liedman in 2000 while attending Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. They describe their relationship as a "nonsexual romance", and Slate says "I like to think of us as kind of like Elaine Benes
Elaine Benes
Elaine Marie Benes is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Elaine's best friend is her ex-boyfriend Jerry Seinfeld; she is also good friends with George Costanza and Cosmo Kramer...
and George Costanza
George Costanza
George Louis Costanza is a character in the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Jason Alexander. He has variously been described as a "short, stocky, slow-witted, bald man" , "Lord of the Idiots" , and as "the greatest sitcom character of all time"...
, but we like each other."
Prior to joining SNL, Slate was best known as a regular commentator on many VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
talking head commentary programs. In early 2009 Slate had made several appearances on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon on NBC. The show premiered on March 2, 2009, as the third incarnation of the Late Night franchise originated by David Letterman....
recurring sketch 7th Floor West where she played an NBC page
NBC page
An NBC page is a person usually in his or her early twenties working in various departments of the NBC television network during a one-year period as a training ground for careers in television broadcasting and entertainment...
, later promoted to Fallon
Jimmy Fallon
James Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon, Jr. is an American actor, comedian, singer, musician and television host. He currently hosts Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, a late-night talk show that airs Monday through Friday on NBC...
's assistant (also named Jenny), and she also had recurring roles on HBO's Bored to Death
Bored to Death
Bored to Death is an American comedy series, which premiered on HBO on September 20, 2009. , three seasons have aired, each consisting of eight episodes. The show was created by author Jonathan Ames, and stars Jason Schwartzman as a fictional Jonathan Ames – a writer based in Brooklyn, New York...
(as Stella) and on the FOX
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
sitcom Brothers
Brothers (2009 TV series)
Brothers is a television sitcom, which ran on Fox from September 25, 2009 to December 27, 2009. It originally aired on Friday nights at 8:00 pm EST before moving to Sunday nights at 7:00 pm EST as part of the 2009 fall schedule.- Premise :...
. Slate also starred in the 2009 short film Obvious Child.
Throughout 2008 and 2009 Slate regularly performed her one-woman show, Jenny Slate: Dead Millionaire, at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (UCBT) in New York City. She also performed the stage show at UCBT's Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
division for a number of weeks in early 2010.
In August 2010, Slate co-wrote and voiced the stop-motion short film "Marcel the Shell With Shoes On", directed by Dean Fleischer-Camp, about a shy, shoe-wearing shell, which garnered unexpected viral success. This led to a follow-up, "Marcel the Shell with Shoes on, Two," released on November 14, 2011.
Slate also wrote a "Marcel" themed children's book that was released on November 1, 2011.
Saturday Night Live
Slate joined the cast of Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
for one season in 2009–2010. In her first episode, she accidentally said "fuck
Fuck
"Fuck" is an English word that is generally considered obscene which, in its most literal meaning, refers to the act of sexual intercourse. By extension it may be used to negatively characterize anything that can be dismissed, disdained, defiled, or destroyed."Fuck" can be used as a verb, adverb,...
ing" during her debut sketch "Biker Chick Chat," which was heard on the live broadcast, but removed from all future reruns. On SNL, she impersonated celebrities such as Hoda Kotb, Olympia Snowe
Olympia Snowe
Olympia Jean Snowe , née Bouchles, is the senior United States Senator from Maine and a member of the Republican Party. Snowe has become widely known for her ability to influence the outcome of close votes, including whether to end filibusters. She and her fellow Senator from Maine, Susan Collins,...
, Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
, Ashley Olsen
Ashley Olsen
Ashley Fuller Olsen is an American actress, fashion designer, producer, and author. She co-founded luxury fashion brand The Row and the more affordable line Olsenboye with her twin sister Mary-Kate Olsen and started her own fashion company called Elizabeth and James...
(alongside Nasim Pedrad
Nasim Pedrad
Nasim Pedrad is an Iranian-American comic actress currently appearing as a cast member on Saturday Night Live.-Early life:...
as Mary-Kate Olsen
Mary-Kate Olsen
Mary-Kate Olsen is an American actress, producer, author and fashion designer. She made her career debut in 1987 alongside her twin sister Ashley Olsen in the television series Full House...
), and Kristen Stewart
Kristen Stewart
Kristen Jaymes Stewart is an American actress. She is best known for playing Bella Swan in The Twilight Saga. She has also starred in films including Panic Room , Zathura , In the Land of Women , The Messengers , Adventureland and The Runaways .- Early life :Stewart was born and raised in Los...
. Her best known recurring character was Tina-Tina Chaneuse, an infomercial pitchwoman of unspecified Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
heritage who advertises personalized doorbells, car horns and alarm clocks.
Despite having a recurring character, her contract was not renewed for another season and she (along with Will Forte
Will Forte
Orville Willis Forte IV, better known as Will Forte , is an American actor, voice actor, comedian and writer best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2002–2010 and for starring in the SNL spin-off film MacGruber.-Early life:Forte was born in Alameda County, California, the son of...
, who, after eight years, was leaving the show for other projects) left the show.
Personal life
Slate lives in Brooklyn, New York and is engaged to filmmaker Dean Fleischer-Camp, who has directed many of Slate's short films, including "Marcel the Shell With Shoes On".External links
- Jenny Slate on TwitterTwitterTwitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
- Gabe and Jenny on MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- Gabe & Jenny on VimeoVimeoVimeo is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. It was founded by Zach Klein and Jake Lodwick in November 2004...