Jenny Slate

Following her success on the NBC show, Slate released and starred in a 12-episode Mini-series on YouTube called Catherine, celebrating late 1980s and early 1990s soap-opera aesthetics.

Jenny Slate (born March 25, 1982) is an American actress, stand-up comedian, and writer.

Slate was born on March 25, 1982, in Massachusetts to Ron Slate, a businessman and poet who worked as vice president of global communications for the EMC Corporation and later as CEO of a biotech startup, and Nancy (née Gilson), a housewife who also made pottery.

She is the middle child of three, with an older sister, Abigail, and younger sister, Stacey.

She and her family are Jewish.

One of her grandmothers was born in Cuba and was raised in France.

After graduating from Milton Academy as valedictorian, Slate attended Columbia University as a literature major, where she helped form the improv group Fruit Paunch, starred in the Varsity Show and met Gabe Liedman, who would become her comedy partner.

Slate first met Liedman in 2000 while attending Columbia University.

They describe their relationship as a "nonsexual romance"; Slate says, "I like to think of us as kind of like [Seinfeld characters] Elaine Benes and George Costanza, but we like each other."

Slate graduated from Columbia in 2004.

She and Gabe Liedman formed the comedy duo Gabe & Jenny.

Their stand-up shows with Max Silvestri, "Big Terrific," were named best new variety show of 2008 by Time Out New York.

Throughout 2008 and 2009, Slate regularly performed her one-woman show Jenny Slate: Dead Millionaire at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (UCBT) in New York City.

Slate was a regular commentator on many VH1 "talking head" commentary programs.

She became more widely known as a cast member on the 35th season of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live between 2009 and 2010, followed by subsequent roles in the comedic series Bob's Burgers (2012–present), Parks and Recreation (2013–2015), House of Lies (2013–2015), and Kroll Show (2013–2015).

In early 2009, she had made several appearances on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon recurring sketch "7th Floor West", where she played an NBC page also named Jenny, who was later promoted to Fallon's assistant.

She had a recurring role in Bored to Death.

Slate's guest appearances on television programs include Bob's Burgers, Girls, The Whitest Kids U' Know, Important Things with Demetri Martin and Raising Hope.

Slate joined the cast of Saturday Night Live for the 2009–10 season.

In her first episode, she accidentally said "fucking" during her debut sketch "Biker Chick Chat", which was heard on the live broadcast, but removed from reruns.

In various sketches, she impersonated Hoda Kotb, Lady Gaga, Kristen Stewart, Ashley Olsen, and Olympia Snowe.

She was best known for Tina-Tina Cheneuse, an infomercial pitchwoman who advertises personalized doorbells, car horns, and alarm clocks.

Slate's contract was not renewed for another season.

Despite rumors to the contrary, Slate has insisted that her SNL termination was not due to cursing but rather simply because "I didn't click."

Following early acting and stand-up roles on television, Slate gained recognition for her live variety shows in New York City and for co-creating, writing, and producing the children's short film and book series Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2010–present).

In August 2010, she co-wrote and voiced the animated short film Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, which garnered viral success.

This led to Marcel the Shell with Shoes on, Two.

Slate also wrote a "Marcel"-themed children's book that was released on November 1, 2011.

She lent voice performances to the animated films 'The Lorax' (2012), Zootopia (2016), The Secret Life of Pets film franchise (2016–2019), The Lego Batman Movie, and Despicable Me 3 (both 2017), and she ventured into dramatic roles with her supporting performance as Bonnie in Gifted (2017).

She also appeared in the critically acclaimed science-fiction film Everything Everywhere All at Once, winning the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Her first major film role was as Zoe in Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked; more films followed in 2012, including the voice of Ted's mother in The Lorax.

Her first appearance in Parks and Recreation was in the 2013 episode "Bailout", in which she portrayed Mona-Lisa Saperstein.

On July 23, 2013, she appeared in Drunk History retelling the history of how Coca-Cola was made.

Slate's breakout role came with her leading performance in the coming-of-age comedy-drama film Obvious Child (2014), for which she won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress in a Comedy and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Independent Film Award.

In 2014, Slate starred in the comedy-drama film Obvious Child, which follows the life of a young stand-up comic as she grapples with an unplanned pregnancy and eventual abortion.

Slate went on to win the Critics Choice Award for Best Actress in a Comedy, Best Breakout Performance at the Newport Beach Film Festival, the Virtuosos Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and Best Comedic Actress at the Women Film Critics Circle Awards for her performance in the film.

Slate co-starred with Judy Greer and Nat Faxon in the first season of the FX series Married.

In 2015, Slate, Liedman, and Silvestri ended the show, citing their busy schedules, though they have since occasionally performed together.

Starting in 2017, Slate, who is Jewish, appeared on the animated Netflix series Big Mouth as the biracial Black–Jewish character Missy Foreman-Greenwald.

She exited the role in 2020 because she felt it should be played by a Black actress; Slate has continued to voice other characters on the show.