Jenny Slate Biography

Jenny Sarah Slate (born March 25, 1982) is an American actress, stand-up comedian, voice artist and author best known for her role as Donna Stern in Obvious Child, as well as being the co-creator of the Marcel the Shell With Shoes On short films and children's book series. She is also known for her season as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2009 to 2010 and for her appearances in shows such as House of Lies, Married, Parks and Recreation, Bob's Burgers, Hello Ladies and Kroll Show.

Early life

Slate was born Jenny Sarah Slate in Milton, Massachusetts on March 25, 1982 to Ron Slate (born 1950), a Massachusetts-based poet and author, and Nancy (ne Gilson), a ceramicist. She is the middle child of three, with two sisters named Abigail and Stacey. She was raised in a Jewish family. One of her grandmothers, whose family was from Russia and Turkey, was born in Cuba and raised in France.

After graduating from Milton Academy as the valedictorian, she 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. Slate graduated from Columbia University in 2004.

Career

Alongside Gabe Liedman, Slate was half of the comedy duo Gabe & Jenny. Their live stand-up shows with Max Silvestri titled Big Terrific were named best new variety show of 2008 by Time Out New York.

Slate first met Liedman in 2000 while attending Columbia University. 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." Throughout 2008 and 2009, Slate regularly performed her one-woman show titled Jenny Slate: Dead Millionaire at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (UCBT) in New York City.

Slate was best known as a regular commentator on many VH1 "talking head" commentary programs. In early 2009, she had made several appearances on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon recurring sketch "7th Floor West", where she acted out the role of an NBC page, also named Jenny, who was later promoted to Fallon's assistant. She also had a recurring role in Bored to Death and starred in Obvious Child. Slate has made guest appearances on television programs, such as 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 one season from 2009 to 2010. 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. During her brief time on the series, she impersonated celebrities (such as Hoda Kotb, Lady Gaga and Kristen Stewart) and became known for Tina-Tina Chaneuse, an infomercial pitchwoman who advertises personalized doorbells, car horns, and alarm clocks. Slate's contract was not renewed for another season and thus, she left the series.

In August 2010, she co-wrote and voiced 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. 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.

Slate appears as Liz B. in the recurring "PubLIZity" sketches in Kroll Show, as well as many other recurring and one-off characters, performing in some capacity in almost every episode, much like Jon Daly.

In September 2012, it was announced that Slate had been hired to write the script for a reboot of the Looney Tunes franchise for Warner Bros. The film was described as being a "live action / CGI hybrid". 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 Coca-Cola.

Slate co-starred with Judy Greer and Nat Faxon in the first season of the FX series Married. She left the series as a series regular in season two, but still appeared in a few episodes. Sarah Burns took her place in the series.

Personal life

In September 2012, Slate married filmmaker Dean Fleischer-Camp, with whom she collaborates on the Marcel the Shell With Shoes On books and short films. In May 2016, Us Weekly reported that they had ended their marriage earlier that month.

She previously lived in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn for many years before moving to Los Angeles in February 2012.

In an interview with MTV News in June 2014, when asked if she is a feminist, Slate stated, "Am I a feminist? Fuck yeah, I'm a feminist! I think that unfortunately, people who are maybe threatened by feminism think that it's about setting your bra on fire and being aggressive, and I think that's really wrong and really dangerous."

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Marcel the Shell with Shoes On	Marcel	Short film Also writer
2011	Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked	Zoe
2012	This Means War	Emily
	The Lorax	Mrs. Wiggins (voice)
2014	Obvious Child	Donna Stern	Newport Beach Film Festival Award for Breakout Actress Santa Barbara International Film Festival Award for Virtuoso Award Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Women Film Critics Circle Award for Best Comedic Actress Nominated"?Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead Nominated"?Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Performer Nominated"?Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor Nominated"?Seattle International Film Festival Award for Best Actress Nominated"?Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Breakthrough Performance on Camera Nominated"?Women Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screen Couple
	The Longest Week	Jocelyn
2015	Digging for Fire	Yoga Couple
2016	Zootopia	Assistant Mayor Bellwether (voice)
	The Secret Life of Pets	Gidget (voice)	Filming
	Joshy	Jodi
	My Blind Brother	Rose
	Brain on Fire		Filming
	Gifted	Bonnie	Filming
	Aardvark	Emily Milburton	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Starved	Member of Belt Tighteners	Uncredited Episode: "The Breatharians"
2008	The Whitest Kids U' Know	Trevor's Date	Episode #2.1
2009	Important Things with Demetri Martin	Bride	Episode: "Chairs"
	Late Night with Jimmy Fallon	Jenny the Page	8 episodes
	Brothers	Annette	2 episodes
2009-2010	Saturday Night Live	Various	22 episodes
	Bored to Death	Stella	5 episodes
2011	Ugly Americans	Jaclyn (voice)	Episode: "Lily and the Beast"
2012	Raising Hope	Joan	Episode: "Throw Maw Maw from the House"
2012-2016	Girls	Tally Schifrin	2 episodes
2012-present	Bob's Burgers	Tammy Larsen (voice)	17 episodes
2013	Hello Ladies	Amelia Gordon	4 episodes
	Super Fun Night	Helen-Alice	Unaired CBS pilot
2013-2015	Kroll Show	Liz / Denise / Various	7 episodes
	House of Lies	Sarah Guggenheim	9 episodes
	Parks and Recreation	Mona-Lisa Saperstein	8 episodes
	Drunk History	Herself	2 episodes
2014	Brooklyn Nine-Nine	Bianca	Episode: "Undercover"
2014-2015	Married	Jess	Series regular
2015	Star vs. the Forces of Evil	Pony Head (voice)	Episode: "Party with a Pony"
2016	Adventure Time	Huntress Wizard (voice)	Episode: "Flute Spell"
	Animals.	Snake (voice)	Episode: "Squirrels. Part I."
	Lady Dynamite	TBA