Sarah Silverman Biography

Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, and actress. Her satirical comedy addresses social taboos and controversial topics such as racism, sexism, and religion by having her comic character endorse them in an ironic fashion.

Silverman first gained notice as a writer and occasional performer on Saturday Night Live and starred in and produced The Sarah Silverman Program, which ran from 2007 to 2010 on Comedy Central. She has also had small parts in many movies including School of Rock, the leading role in Who's the Caboose? and in Wreck-It Ralph.

Early life

Silverman was born in Manchester, New Hampshire, to Beth Ann and Donald Silverman. Her mother and father divorced and remarried John O'Hara (deceased) and Janice, respectively. Silverman is the youngest of four siblings: Rabbi Susan, screenwriter Jodyne, and actress Laura Silverman. She is Jewish, though was not "raised with any religion." After graduating from The Derryfield School in Manchester, she attended New York University and continued her standup in Greenwich Village.

Career

1992"2007: Career beginnings and Jesus is Magic

Silverman first received national attention in the 1993"94 season of Saturday Night Live (SNL) as a writer and featured player. She was fired after one season where only one of the sketches she wrote survived to dress rehearsal, and none aired, although she did appear on the show as a cast member. Bob Odenkirk, a former SNL writer, explained, "I could see how it wouldn't work at SNL because she's got her own voice, she's very much Sarah Silverman all the time. She can play a character but she doesn't disappear into the character—she makes the character her." Silverman has stated that she was not ready for SNL when she got the job. She said that when she was fired it hurt her confidence for a year, but after that nothing could hurt her. Later, she was grateful that her SNL time was short because it didn't end up defining her. She parodied the situation when she appeared on The Larry Sanders Show episode "The New Writer" (1996), playing Sanders' new staff writer, whose jokes are not used because of the chauvinism and bias of the male chief comedy writer, who favors the jokes of his male co-writers. She appeared in three episodes of Larry Sanders during its final two seasons.

Silverman was a featured performer on the HBO sketch comedy show Mr. Show (1995"97) and played the leading role in the 1997 independent film Who's the Caboose?, involving a pair of New York comedians (Silverman and director Sam Seder) going to Los Angeles during pilot season to try to get a part in a television series; the movie features numerous young stand-up comedians, many of whom have since become famous, in supporting roles but never received a widespread theatrical release. Silverman and Seder later made a six-episode television series sequel entitled Pilot Season in which Silverman stars as the same character and Seder again directed. She also made TV program guest appearances, including on Seinfeld in the episode "The Money" (1997); Star Trek: Voyager in the two-part-time travel episode "Future's End" (1996); V.I.P. in the episode "48 Hours" (2002); Greg the Bunny as a series regular (2002); and on the puppet television comedy Crank Yankers as the voice of Hadassah Guberman (2003, 2007). She made her network standup comedy debut on the Late Show with David Letterman in July 2007. She had small parts in the films There's Something About Mary, Say It Isn't So, School of Rock, The Way of the Gun, Overnight Delivery, Screwed, Heartbreakers, Evolution, School for Scoundrels, and Rent, playing a mixture of comic and serious roles.

Silverman's concert film, Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic, based on her one-woman show of the same name, was released in 2005. Liam Lynch directed the movie, which was distributed by Roadside Attractions. It received 64% positive ratings based on 84 reviews on the film critics aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, and earned approximately US$1.3 million at the box office As part of the film's publicity campaign, she appeared online in Slate as the cover subject of Heeb magazine and in roasts on Comedy Central of Pamela Anderson and Hugh Hefner.

Silverman played a therapist in a skit for a bonus DVD of the album Lullabies to Paralyze by the band Queens of the Stone Age. Silverman also appears at the end of the video for American glam metal band Steel Panther's "Death To All But Metal." On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Silverman parodied sketches from Chappelle's Show, replaying Dave Chappelle's characterizations of Rick James and "Tyrone" as well as a Donnell Rawlings character based on the miniseries Roots. In 2006, Silverman placed 50th on Maxim Hot 100 List. In 2007, she placed 29th and appeared on the cover.

2007"2010: The Sarah Silverman Program

Silverman's television sitcom The Sarah Silverman Program debuted on Comedy Central in February 2007. The show proved to be a ratings success, scoring the highest premiere ratings of any Comedy Central show in three years, with 1.81 million viewers and the highest 18"49 rating of the night on cable. It portrays the day-to-day adventures of fictionalized versions of Silverman, her sister Laura, and their friends. A number of comedic actors from Mr. Show have appeared on The Sarah Silverman Program. Silverman was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for her acting on the show. At the awards ceremony, she wore a fake mustache. Comedy Central canceled The Sarah Silverman Program after three seasons.

In June 2007 she hosted the MTV Movie Awards. During her opening act, she commented on the upcoming jail sentence of Paris Hilton, who was in the audience, saying: "In a couple of days, Paris Hilton is going to jail... As a matter of fact, I heard that to make her feel more comfortable in prison, the guards are going to paint the bars to look like penises. I think it is wrong, too. I just worry she is going to break her teeth on those things." In September 2007 she appeared at the MTV Video Music Awards. Following the comeback performance of Britney Spears, Silverman mocked her on stage, saying: "Wow, she is amazing. I mean, she is 25 years old, and she has already accomplished everything she's going to accomplish in her life."

In January 2008 she appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to show Jimmy Kimmel, her boyfriend at the time, a special video. The video turned out to be a song called "I'm Fucking Matt Damon" in which she and Matt Damon sang a duet about having an affair behind Kimmel's back. The video created an "instant YouTube sensation." Kimmel responded with his own video a month later with Damon's friend Ben Affleck, which enlisted a panoply of stars to record Kimmel's song "I'm Fucking Ben Affleck". On September 13, 2008, Silverman won a Creative Arts Emmy for writing the song "I'm Fucking Matt Damon". Silverman guest-starred in a second-season episode of the USA cable program Monk as Marci Maven. She returned in the sixth season premiere and for the 100th episode of Monk. According to the audio commentary on the Clerks II DVD, director Kevin Smith offered her the role that eventually went to Rosario Dawson, but she turned it down out of fear of being typecast in "girlfriend roles." However, she told Smith the script was "really funny" and mentioned that if the role of Randal Graves was being offered to her she "would do it in a heartbeat." She also appears in Strange Powers, the 2009 documentary by Kerthy Fix and Gail O'Hara about cult songwriter Stephin Merritt and his band the Magnetic Fields. Silverman wrote a comic memoir, The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee, which was published in 2010.

2011"present: Take this Waltz and other projects

Silverman played a dramatic role alongside Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen in the film Take This Waltz, written and directed by Sarah Polley. The film was well received when it premiered in Toronto in 2011 and was picked up by Magnolia for U.S. distribution in summer 2012. Much was made of the fact that the movie features a full frontal nude scene from Silverman, which the actress has spoken about on several occasions. At the Toronto International Film Festival, she told the press she'd deliberately gained weight for the part, emphasizing that Polley wanted "real bodies and real women." In interviews she warned fans not to expect too much. However, she later told podcaster and author Julie Klausner that she had not really gained weight for the role, and that the statements were meant as self-deprecating humor.

A single-camera comedy pilot by Silverman was given the go-ahead by television network NBC in 2011 after a bidding war between multiple networks. Arrested Development producer Ron Howard was reported to have been personally involved in the development process of the series. It was to be loosely based on Silverman's life as a woman who had just ended a decade-long live-in relationship. The series was tentatively titled Susan 313 and received a put pilot commitment, which would require the network to pay a large fine if the pilot was not aired. However, NBC did not pick up the series for the fall 2012 season.

On September 20, 2012, Silverman made a public service announcement (PSA) criticizing new voter identification laws that create obstacles to the ability of certain U.S. populations to vote in the November presidential election, i.e., young, old, poor, and minority citizens. The project was financed by the Jewish Council for Education and Research (JCER) and was co-produced by Mik Moore and Ari Wallach (the pair that also co-produced The Great Schlep and Scissor Sheldon).

Silverman also provided the voice for Vanellope von Schweetz, one of the main characters in the 2012 Disney animated film, Wreck-It Ralph.

She is in the creative team that writes and produces the content for the YouTube comedy channel called JASH. The other partners are Michael Cera, Reggie Watts, Tim Heidecker, and Eric Wareheim (also known as Tim & Eric). The JASH channel premiered online March 10, 2013.

Controversy

Racial slur

In a July 2001 interview on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Silverman used the ethnic slur "chink" in explaining that a friend advised her to avoid jury duty by writing a racial slur on the selection form, "something inappropriate, like 'I hate chinks.'" Silverman said she decided that she did not want to be thought of as a racist, so "I wrote 'I love chinks'—and who doesn't?" Silverman said that the joke satirizes the racist thought process. Guy Aoki of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) objected to her use of the slur. NBC and O'Brien apologized, but Silverman did not. Later, appearing on Politically Incorrect in July and August 2001, Silverman questioned Aoki's sincerity, accusing him of exploiting the opportunity for publicity. On an episode of the show, Aoki appeared with Silverman and stated that he did not accept Silverman's explanation, saying that it was not successful satire and that comedians should consult with groups such as his before performing such material. Silverman stated in an NPR's Fresh Air interview that she was asked to repeat the joke on Politically Incorrect, among other places, but she eventually dropped the joke from her act because she felt it was becoming stale. Silverman has since turned the complaint into grist for her standup act, saying that the experience helped teach her the important lesson that racism is bad: "And I mean bad, like in that black way."

The Aristocrats

A minor controversy arose over Silverman's performance in the documentary film The Aristocrats (2005). The film shows her giving an apparently autobiographical account of her life as a child sex performer and mentions that Joe Franklin, a New York radio and TV personality whose nostalgic programs have aired since the early 1950s, would ask her to perform privately for him in his apartment. Silverman looks at the camera and, in a deadpan voice, accuses Franklin of raping her. The film was edited in such a way that it appears as if Franklin knows what Silverman said about him. Later, after her clip, Franklin is shown stating, "Sarah Silverman is a young lady to watch." After the film came out, Franklin took offense at Silverman's using his name and considered suing her. A month later, the New York Times noted he remained undecided but said, "The best thing I could do is get Sarah better writers so she'd have funnier material."

Hammersmith Apollo performance

In October 2008, Silverman visited the United Kingdom to promote the release of The Sarah Silverman Program on Paramount Comedy, but her debut performance at the Hammersmith Apollo was widely criticized for its brevity. After the warmup act failed to appear and Silverman rushed through a short set, she was forced to return to the stage for an impromptu question-and-answer session following some heckling from the audience. Steve Bennett from the comedy website Chortle declared that "with this shockingly brief performance she delivers a stinging insult to the fans who had been so ready to laud her." In an interview on the How Was Your Week podcast, Silverman stated that the show had been one of the best of her life and that the audience reaction had been misreported by the press.

"Scissor Sheldon"

On July 16, 2012, Silverman set up a website called "Scissor Sheldon" on which she proposed to perform sexual acts with casino magnate Sheldon Adelson in exchange for his making a monetary contribution to the Barack Obama campaign for reelection. She stated that her reason for the proposition was that large numbers of wealthy Republicans were already supporting the Mitt Romney campaign for president. The site also has a page which lists some information about Adelson as well as calling him Romney's "sugar daddy."

"Black NRA"

In September 2013, Silverman appeared in a Funny or Die video claiming to be an NRA spokesperson promoting a new group, "The Black NRA." The video including black actors stating the Second Amendment is for everyone and sarcastically asking, "You don't have a problem with this do you?" Gun advocate and NRA spokesperson Colion Noir accused Silverman of bringing race into the gun debate: "Take a volatile social issue like the second amendment, subtly imply that the largest organization in defense of that amendment is racist, and then swipe your comedian plausible deniability card so you can wrap it in satire without consequence."Political activist and Daily Caller satirist, Jim Treacher, accused Silverman of being "incredibly racist." Treacher also pointed to a screenshot of Silverman pointing a gun to her neck, "One last note, Sarah. Actual gun-safety advocates "? which is to say, NRA members "? know that you never, ever do this, even if you know the gun is fake or unloaded or whatever. Even if it would be really fun to see what would happen next."

Personal life

Silverman currently lives in Los Angeles, California. She became a vegan at the age of ten. She has also said that she does not consume alcohol because it nauseates her. Silverman is open about her lifelong battle with clinical depression, which at one point led to her developing an addiction to Xanax. She credited her subsequent emotional health to taking the prescription drug Zoloft. She struggled with bedwetting from the time she was young until well into her teens and stated in a 2007 interview that she had wet the bed recently. Her autobiography, published in April 2010, entitled The Bedwetter, explores the subject, among others.

Silverman talked about having dated Dave Attell on one of her appearances on The Howard Stern Show. Silverman and Colin Quinn joked about having been romantically linked during her Saturday Night Live career. In her first appearance on the Stern show in June 2001, she said she was dating someone named Tom who wrote for SNL. Silverman was in a relationship that began in 2002 with comedian Jimmy Kimmel. She referred to the relationship in some of her comedy, joking: "I'm Jewish, but I wear this Saint Christopher medal sometimes; my boyfriend is Catholic—but you know... it was cute the way he gave it to me. He said if it doesn't burn a hole through my skin, it will protect me." In July 2008, Vanity Fair reported that the couple had split, ending their relationship of five years. However, in October 2008 the media reported they were on "the road back to being together." The couple attended the wedding of Howard Stern and Beth Ostrosky together, but split again in March 2009.

Silverman began dating American television writer Alec Sulkin in early 2010. The pair met via Twitter after she sent him a personal message. They split up months later (October 2010) but remain friends.

Silverman and comedian Kyle Dunnigan have been "in a relationship" since October 2011.

She has stated she does not want to get married until same-sex couples are able to. She has also stated she does not want to have biological children to avoid the risk that they might inherit her depression. Silverman's biological sister Laura played her sister on The Sarah Silverman Program.

An older sister, Susan, is a rabbi who lives in Jerusalem, Israel, with her husband, Yosef Abramowitz, the co-founder and president of Arava Power Company, and their five children.

Silverman is a fan of Jenny Lewis and appeared in Lewis's music video for the song "Rise Up With Fists!!" Steve Martin was one of her major inspirations as a younger comedian.

She considers herself ethnically Jewish, which she has frequently mined for material, but says she is agnostic and does not follow the religion, claiming, "I have no religion. But culturally I can't escape it; I'm very Jewish." Her humor has also touched on other religions. In 2009, she suggested the Pope sell the Vatican and use some of the money for luxurious housing and the remainder to stop world hunger, saying he would "get crazy pussy."

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1997	Who's the Caboose?	Susan	Film debut, Leading role
1998	Overnight Delivery	Turran
	Bulworth	American politics assistant #2
	There's Something About Mary	Brenda
1999	The Bachelor	Carolyn
2000	What Planet Are You From?	Woman on plane	Uncredited
	Screwed	Hillary
	The Way of the Gun	Raving Bitch
2001	Say It Isn't So	Gina
	Heartbreakers	Linda
	Evolution	Denise
2002	Run Ronnie Run	Network executive #3
2003	School of Rock	Patty Di Marco
2004	Hair High	Cherri	Voice
2005	The Aristocrats	Herself	Documentary
	Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic	Herself	Documentary
	Rent	Alexi Darling
2006	I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With	Beth
	School for Scoundrels	Becky
2007	Futurama: Bender's Big Score	Michelle	Voice
2008	Super High Me	Herself	Documentary, cameo
2009	Funny People	Herself	Cameo
2010	Saint John of Las Vegas	Jill
2011	Peep World	Cheri Meyerwitz
	The Muppets	Restaurant greeter	Cameo
	Take This Waltz	Geraldine
2012	Wreck-It Ralph	Vanellope von Schweetz	Voice
2014	A Million Ways to Die in the West	Laurel	Filming

Year	Television	Role	Notes
1993"1994	Saturday Night Live	Various	Writer and performer
1995	Mr. Show	Various
1994"1996	The Larry Sanders Show	Wendy
1996	Star Trek: Voyager	Rain Robinson	"Future's End" part 1 & 2
1997	Brotherly Love	Rosa
	Seinfeld	Emily
	JAG	Lt. Schiparelli
1998	Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist	Herself
1999	Late Last Night	Unknown
2000, 2013	Futurama	Michelle	voice, 2 episodes
2002"2004	Greg the Bunny	Alison Kaiser	Voice
2002"2007	Crank Yankers	Various	Voice
2003	Frasier	Jane	"Maris Returns"
2003"2004	Celebrity Poker Showdown	Herself	Twice
2004	Pilot Season	Unknown	Miniseries
	Entourage	Herself
	Aqua Teen Hunger Force	Robositter	Voice
	Drawn Together	Cousin Bleh
2005	American Dad!	Voice	"Stan Knows Best"
	Tom Goes to the Mayor	Voice	"Pipe Camp"
	Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson	Roaster	TV special
2005, 2007"2008	Monk	Marci Maven	3 episodes
2006	Comic Relief	Herself	Stand-up
2007	The Andy Milonakis Show	Herself
2007"2010	The Sarah Silverman Program	Sarah Silverman	Nominated " Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (2009)
2008	8 out of 10 Cats	Herself
	Friday Night with Jonathan Ross	Herself
	The Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget	Herself	Pre-recorded video message
2010, 2012	The Simpsons	Nikki	Voice, 2 episodes
2010	Warren the Ape	Herself
2011"2012	Bob's Burgers	Ollie	6 episodes
2011	The Good Wife	Stephanie Engler	"Getting Off"
	The League	Heather Nowzick	"Thanksgiving"
	Childrens Hospital	Britches	"Ward 8"
2012	Louie	Herself	2 episodes
	The Burn with Jeff Ross	Herself
2013	Comedy Central Roast of James Franco	Roaster	TV special

Year	Web	Role	Notes
2013	Equals Three	Herself
2013	YouTube Comedy Week Live	Herself

Solar energy

At the 2011 Israeli Presidential Conference in Jerusalem, in an interview with Yigal Ravid, Silverman spoke about her support for solar power as a project on which Israelis and Palestinians could work together. Silverman endorsed solar energy not only as good for the environment but as a peace-building industry as well. She said: </ref>}}