Rich Moore (born May 10, 1963) is an American animation director and a business partner in Rough Draft Studios, Inc., where he serves as Sr. Vice President of creative affairs. He is one of a handful of artists who in the early 90s redefined prime time television animation with his work on The Simpsons. His directing credits include The Simpsons, Futurama, The Critic, Drawn Together, Spy vs. Spy (for MADtv) and Baby Blues. He was also the supervising director on Futurama and The Critic, overseeing the creative production of both shows. His most recent work was sequence director on The Simpsons Movie and animation executive producer on the Futurama DVD movies. He studied animation at California Institute of the Arts. Rich has received two Emmy Awards, an Annie Award, and a Reuben Award for his directorial work.^{[citation needed]}

Rich also recently served as a supervising director on the Fox television series Sit Down, Shut Up, which debuted in 2009.^[1] Moore is currently directing Wreck-It Ralph for the Walt Disney Animation Studios with a 2012 release date.^[2]

During his college years at CalArts, Rich narrated his friend Jim Reardon's student film Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown.

Directing credits[link]

[edit] The Simpsons

• "The Telltale Head"
• "Homer's Night Out"
• "Simpson and Delilah"
• "Treehouse of Horror"
• "Dead Putting Society"
• "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment"
• "Lisa's Substitute"
• "Stark Raving Dad"
• "Bart the Murderer"
• "Flaming Moe's"
• "Lisa the Greek"
• "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?"
• "A Streetcar Named Marge"
• "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie"
• "Marge vs. the Monorail"
• "The Front"
• "Cape Feare"

[edit] Futurama

• "Space Pilot 3000"
• "Hell Is Other Robots"
• "A Clone of My Own"
• "Anthology of Interest I"
• "Roswell That Ends Well"

[edit] Drawn Together

• "Clum Babies"
• "Alzheimer's That Ends Well"

Awards[link]

Emmy Award

• 2002–Outstanding Animated Program (Programming Less Than One Hour) for "Roswell That Ends Well"^[3]

Annie Award

• 2002–Directing in an Animated Television Production for "Roswell That Ends Well"^[4]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rich Moore at the Internet Movie Database

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Sarah Silverman
Silverman at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Take This Waltz
Birth name	Sarah Kate Silverman
Born	(1970-12-01) December 1, 1970 (age 41) Bedford, New Hampshire,[citation needed] United States
Medium	Stand up, Television, Film, Radio
Years active	1992–present
Genres	Blue comedy Black comedy Political satire
Influences	Steve Martin
Domestic partner(s)	Jimmy Kimmel (2002-2009) Alec Sulkin (2010)
Notable works and roles	Saturday Night Live Sarah Silverman on The Sarah Silverman Program
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics 2008 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American comedienne, writer, actress, singer and musician. Her satirical comedy addresses social taboos and controversial topics such as racism, sexism, and religion.

Silverman first gained notice as a writer and occasional performer on Saturday Night Live. She starred in and produced The Sarah Silverman Program, which ran from 2007 to 2010, on Comedy Central.^[1] She often performs her act mocking bigotry and stereotypes of ethnic groups and religious denominations by having her comic character endorse them in an ironic fashion.^[2][3]

Early life[link]

Sarah Silverman, the youngest of four daughters, was born in Manchester, New Hampshire. Her mother, Beth Ann Halpin, was George McGovern's personal campaign photographer and founded the theater company New Thalian Players.^[4] Her father, Donald Silverman, was a social worker by training who ran the discount clothing store Crazy Sophie's Outlet. She was raised without religion, though she is ethnically Jewish.^[5]

She appeared in community theater at age 12, most notably with Community Players of Concord, New Hampshire in Annie and also appeared on a local television show in the Boston area called Community Auditions at age 15. At seventeen, she performed stand-up comedy in a restaurant, singing a song she called "Mammaries."

After graduating from The Derryfield School in Manchester, New Hampshire, she attended New York University and continued her stand-up in Greenwich Village.^[6][7][8][9]

Career[link]

[edit] 1993-2007: 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 because only one of the sketches she wrote survived to dress rehearsal, and none aired. 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."^[6] Silverman states she was upset when SNL fired her via fax. 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 last two seasons.

Silverman was a featured performer on the HBO sketch comedy show Mr. Show (1995–97). She made TV program guest appearances on Seinfeld, in the episode "The Money"; (1997) on Star Trek: Voyager, in the two-part time travel episode "Future's End" (1996); on V.I.P. in the episode "48¹⁄₂ Hours" (2002); on 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 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, distributed by Roadside Attractions. Rotten Tomatoes gave Jesus Is Magic a "fresh" rating of 64% with 54 positive reviews and 30 negative ones, with the "cream of the crop" giving it a rating of 67%.^[10] It made US$124,475 on its opening weekend, showing on seven screens. The box office performance led to an expanded release in as many as 57 theaters, resulting in a box office take of more than US$1.3 million.^[11] The DVD was released in June 2006. The soundtrack featured songs and standup from the movie, and previously unreleased songs.^[12] 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. The parody addressed a popular rumor that Silverman was the planned replacement for Chappelle after he left his popular television show. In 2006, Silverman placed #50 on Maxim Hot 100 List.^[13] In 2007, she placed #29 and appeared on the cover.^[14] She made the cover of The Observer in the United Kingdom, with an article naming her "the world's hottest, most controversial comedian".^[15]

[edit] 2007-2010: The Sarah Silverman Program

Silverman at the Tribeca Film Festival, 2007

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.^[1][16] 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 reappeared on The Sarah Silverman Program. Silverman was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award^[17] 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.^[18]

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, "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."^[19] 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."^[20]

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".^[21] 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".^[22] On September 13, 2008, Silverman won a Creative Arts Emmy for writing the song "I'm Fucking Matt Damon".^[23] 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."

In October 2008, Silverman visited the United Kingdom to promote the release of The Sarah Silverman Program on Paramount Comedy, but her media and stage performances failed to impress audiences. Her debut stand-up performance at the Hammersmith Apollo was widely panned by the critics and audiences alike. The performance bombed when Silverman's warm-up act failed to appear and Silverman rushed through a short 35–40 minute set. The heckling audience, who had been charged £40–50 a seat, refused to leave the theatre and Silverman, sporting a pair of after-show slippers, was forced to return to the stage for an impromptu question and answer session. Steve Bennett from comedy website Chortle declared that "minute for minute, there are sex phonelines that are cheaper than Sarah Silverman."^[24][25] In an interview on the How Was Your Week podcast, Silverman made one of her only public comments on the matter, claiming that the show had been one of the best of her life and that the audience reaction had been misreported by bloggers and the press.^[26]

Silverman at the 2010 Brooklyn Book Festival

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, and became a New York Times Best Seller. She received a $2.5 million advance for the book.

[edit] 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^[27] and was picked up by Magnolia for U.S. distribution in Summer 2012.^[28] Much was made of the fact that the movie features a full-frontal nude scene from Silverman,^[29] 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" rather than impossibly skinny ones.^[30] In interviews she warned fans not to expect too much.^[31] 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.^[26]

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.^[32] Arrested Development producer, Ron Howard was reported to have been personally involved in the development process of the series.^[33] It was to be loosely based on Silverman's life as a woman who had just ended a decade long live-in relationship.^[32] 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.^[34] However, NBC did not pick up the series for the fall 2012 season.^[35]

Controversy[link]

Racial slur[link]

In a July 2001 interview on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien Silverman used the ethnic slur "chink" 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.^[36][37] NBC and O'Brien apologized, but Silverman did not, later appearing on Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher 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.^[12] Silverman has since turned the complaint into grist for her stand-up act, saying that the experience helped teach her the important lesson that racism is bad: "And I mean bad, like in that black way."^[38]

[edit] The Aristocrats

A minor controversy arose over Silverman's performance in the documentary film The Aristocrats (2005). The film shows Silverman giving an apparently autobiographical account of her life as a child sex performer and mentions how 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, accused 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 to 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."^[39]

Personal life[link]

Silverman's humor frequently references religion; in this photo, she is holding the Jesus Dress Up magnet set

Silverman has said that she does not consume alcohol, because it nauseates her. She 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 prescription drug Zoloft.^[8][40][41] She struggled with bedwetting from the time she was young until well into her teens and has stated that the last time she wet her bed was when she was fired from Saturday Night Live.^[12][41] 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.^[42] She referred to the relationship in some of her comedy, "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."^[6] In July 2008, Vanity Fair reported that the couple had split, ending their relationship of five years. However, in October 2008 it was revealed by Fox News and People magazine that they were on "the road back to being together."^[43] The couple attended the wedding of Howard Stern and Beth Ostrosky together,^[44] but split again in March 2009.^[45]

Silverman has stated she does not want to get married until same-sex couples are able to.^[46] She has also stated she doesn't want to have biological children to avoid the risk that they might inherit her depression.^[47] Silverman's biological sister Laura plays her sister on The Sarah Silverman Program. Another sister, Susan, is a rabbi who lives in Jerusalem, Israel with her husband and five children.^[48][49] Silverman is a fan of Jenny Lewis and appeared in Lewis' music video for the song "Rise Up With Fists!!" She is also a fan of comedian Steve Martin, who was one of her major inspirations as a younger comedian.^[15] Silverman enjoys playing Scrabble on the Internet. One of her regular opponents is Alyssa Milano, who lives in the same building that she does.^[40][50] She credited comedian Tig Notaro as one of her best friends in an interview in The Advocate.^[46]

She considers herself ethnically Jewish, which she has frequently mined for material, but says she is agnostic^[51] and does not follow the religion, claiming, "I have no religion. But culturally I can't escape it; I'm very Jewish."^[52][53] 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."^[54] In January 2010, Silverman was dating Family Guy producer/writer Alec Sulkin,^[55] but as of October 2010, they had broken up.^[56]

Solar energy[link]

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:

When I think about peace… and I think about the Jews and the Palestinians…. I think the only real solution is the classic buddy-movie formula… You take two enemies and they are forced to work together on some common goal and in the end they realize they aren’t that different. Right? So they’ve got to come together either for some common goal — how about solar power? [to applause] How about solar power!? How about powering the world with this beautiful sun they share?^[57]

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

Silverman protesting during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike

• Community Auditions (1985)
• Saturday Night Live (writer & cast member, 1993–1994)
• Mr. Show (featured performer, 1995)
• The Larry Sanders Show (1994–1996)
• Star Trek Voyager ("Future's End", two episodes, 1996)
• Brotherly Love - (Rosa "Pizza Girl" episode 1997)
• Seinfeld ("The Money", 1997)
• JAG (Blind Side "Lt. Schiparelli", 1997)
• Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist (voice as herself, "Alderman", 1998)
• Smog (unsold pilot, 1999)
• Late Last Night (1999)
• Futurama ("The Cryonic Woman", 2000; "Futurama: Bender's Big Score, 2007)
• Super Nerds (unsold pilot, 2000)
• Rocky Times (unsold pilot, 2000)
• Greg the Bunny (2002–2004)
• Crank Yankers (voice, 2002–2007)
• Frasier (Jane, "Maris Returns", 2003)
• Pilot Season (miniseries, 2004)
• Entourage (herself, 2004)
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force ("Robositter", 2004, credited as Big S)
• Drawn Together ("The Other Cousin", episode 1.5, 2004, Cousin Bleh)
• Monk (Marci Maven, "Mr. Monk and the TV Star", 2004)
• American Dad! ("Stan Knows Best", 2005, voice)
• Tom Goes to the Mayor ("Pipe Camp", episode 11, 2005)
• Celebrity Poker Showdown (twice, 2003–2004)
• Comic Relief (stand-up segment 2006)
• Monk (Marci Maven,Mr. Monk and His Biggest Fan, 2007)
• The Andy Milonakis Show (herself, 2007)
• The Sarah Silverman Program (2007–2010)
• Monk (Marci Maven, Mr. Monk's 100th Case, 2008)
• 8 out of 10 cats ("Herself", 2008)
• Friday Night with Jonathan Ross ("Herself", 2008)
• The Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget (2008) (pre-recorded video message)
• The Simpsons ("Stealing First Base", 2010, voice)
• Vitamin Water Commercial (Voice, 2010)
• Warren The Ape ("Black Lotus", 2010 as Herself)
• Bob's Burgers (two episodes, 2011 as Ollie)
• The Good Wife ("Getting Off", 2011 as Stephanie Engler)
• The League ("Thanksgiving", 2011 as Andre's sister, Heather)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sarah Silverman

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sarah Silverman

• Sarah Silverman at the Internet Movie Database
• Sarah Silverman on Twitter
• Sarah Silverman on National Public Radio in 2010
• TheJC.com: Interview with Sarah Silverman
• Guardian interview
• AV Club article
• Nerve article

Jack McBrayer
McBrayer in New York, March 2007
Born	(1973-05-27) May 27, 1973 (age 39) Macon, Georgia, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, comedian
Years active	1995–present[1]

Jack McBrayer (born May 27, 1973) is an American actor and comedian. He gained national exposure for his characters on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He is best known for portraying Kenneth Parcell on the television series 30 Rock, a role for which he received an Emmy nomination in 2009.^[2]

Life and career[link]

McBrayer was born in Georgia and studied theater at the University of Evansville.^[3]

McBrayer worked at Second City and iO from 1995 to 2002,^[3] an experience that introduced him to 30 Rock creator Tina Fey and prepared him "100 percent" for his role in her show.^[1]

From 2002-2004, McBrayer appeared in over 80 sketches on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, often lampooning his own Southern upbringing by playing stereotypical hillbilly characters. On August 10, 2007 and September 20, 2008 he made a cameo appearance on Late Night playing his character (Kenneth Parcell) from 30 Rock. During the first appearance, O'Brien remarked to him, "I thought you were above this now." McBrayer also reprised his Kenneth the Page role twice (November 24, 2009 and January 13, 2010) after O'Brien's switch to The Tonight Show, and has appeared on Conan's Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour at stops in Eugene, Oregon, Universal City, California (on the Universal Studios lot where O'Brien taped Tonight), and the final tour stop in Atlanta, in his home state of Georgia.^[4][5]

McBrayer also had a minor recurring role as a waiter at the Bluth family's country club in Arrested Development.

In 2008, McBrayer was featured throughout the video for "Touch My Body" by Mariah Carey. During the shooting for the video, it is reported McBrayer accidentally hit Carey in the face with a Frisbee.^[3]

McBrayer also appears in the first episode in the fifth season of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! as a spokesman in a spoof advertisement for the fictional "Diarrhea-phragm."^[6] He works as a voice actor in the American animated series Ugly Americans.^[7]

McBrayer appeared in the 2010 film Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. He has a recurring role on the third season of Phineas and Ferb, playing the part of Irving, a fan of Phineas and Ferb. He also regularly appears in the skit "Knock Knock Joke of the Day" on the hit children's television show, Yo Gabba Gabba! since season 2.^[8]

Filmography[link]

Films[link]

Television[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jack McBrayer at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with McBrayer on The Sound of Young America
• Entertainment Weekly interview with Jack McBrayer and the actors who portray TV assistants Lloyd ("Entourage") and Marc ("Ugly Betty").

Jane Lynch
Lynch in 2008
Born	Jane Marie Lynch (1960-07-14) July 14, 1960 (age 51) Dolton, Illinois, U.S.
Residence	Los Angeles, California
Education	Thornridge High School
Alma mater	Illinois State University Cornell University
Occupation	Actress, comedian, singer, author
Years active	1981–present
Home town	Chicago, Illinois
Television	Two and a Half Men Glee The L Word iCarly
Spouse	Dr. Lara Embry (2010)[1][2]

Jane Marie Lynch (born July 14, 1960) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She obtained a Golden Globe Award, Emmy Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, People's Choice Award, and Satellite Award. Lynch also received the First Annual PlanetOut.com Short Movie Award, Florida Film Critics Circle Award, and Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival Jury Award. She is open about her lesbianism; in 2005, Lynch was named one of POWER UP's "10 Amazing Gay Women in Showbiz".

She gained fame in Christopher Guest's improv mockumentary pictures such as Best in Show^[3][4] and is currently known for playing the role of Sue Sylvester in the Fox musical comedy series Glee for which she has won both the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film.^[3][5] Other notable awards she has won for the series include the People's Choice Award for Favorite TV Comedy Actress, Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. Her television cameos include an appearance in the Nickelodeon situation comedy iCarly and the Showtime dark comedy series Weeds. Lynch had a recurring role in the Fox situation comedy Two and a Half Men and also has had notable roles in numerous mainstream comedies, such as Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Role Models, and The Three Stooges.

In 2010, Lynch married clinical psychologist Lara Embry, Ph.D., who has two daughters: Haden and Chase, aged eight and ten respectively.^[6]

Early life[link]

Lynch was born and raised in Dolton, Illinois, the daughter of a homemaker-secretary mother, Eileen (née Carney), and a banker father, Frank Lynch.^[7][8][9] Her father was of Irish descent and her mother was of Irish and Swedish ancestry.^[10] She was raised in a Catholic family and attended Thornridge High School.^[7] She received her bachelor's degree in theater from Illinois State University and her MFA in theater from Cornell University.

Career[link]

Early work[link]

Lynch spent fifteen years in Chicago, acting in the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and, at the time of her audition, was one of only two women picked to join The Second City comedy troupe.^[7][11] She then continued to hone her comical and improvisational skills at Annoyance Theater, playing Carol Brady in the theater's The Real Live Brady Bunch. Andy Richter played Mike Brady in the New York shows. He and Lynch became very good friends.^[12]

Films[link]

Lynch got her start in films in 1988, playing a small role in the film Vice Versa. In 1993, she had a secondary role as a doctor alongside Harrison Ford in The Fugitive.

During the 1990s, she made numerous television commercials, including one for Frosted Flakes for an adult audience, directed by Christopher Guest. A few years later, Guest would remember Lynch, as he cast actors for his dog show mockumentary, Best in Show (2000). Lynch played Christy Cummings, a butch lesbian personal dog handler to trophy wife Sheri Ann Cabot (Jennifer Coolidge). Since then, she has been a staple part of Guest's casts, appearing in the director's A Mighty Wind (2003) as porn actress-turned-folk singer Laurie Bohner and in For Your Consideration (2006) as an entertainment reporter.

Audiences and critics took notice of Lynch for her turn in Judd Apatow's The 40-Year-Old Virgin. She told Fresh Air's Terry Gross the role was originally intended for a man but, at the urging of Steve Carell's wife Nancy Walls, was offered to Lynch instead.^[13] Since then, she has had supporting roles in a series of films including Role Models, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Alvin & the Chipmunks, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Space Chimps, The Rocker, The Hammer, Another Cinderella Story, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and Spring Breakdown.^[14]

In Adventures of Power, a critically acclaimed comedy about air-drumming released in 2008, Lynch reunited with her former co-star Michael McKean (from For Your Consideration) in the role of Aunt Joanie and starring alongside Ari Gold, Adrian Grenier, Chiu Chi Ling, and Shoshannah Stern. Similar to her contribution as Sue Sylvester on the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee, Lynch's role as the encouraging Aunt Joanie to Power, a young musician who plays the air drums because he never had access to musical instruments, promotes the initiative to support music education.^[15]

In Julie and Julia, she played the role of Dorothy McWilliams, Julia Child's sister. Entertainment Weekly dedicated an article on their website toward the possibility of her performance receiving an Academy Award nomination.^[16][17]

Television[link]

Lynch has appeared in television roles for over a decade, including work in L.A. Law, Judging Amy, The West Wing, 7th Heaven, Desperate Housewives, Friends, Dawson's Creek, Felicity, Arrested Development, Lovespring International, Two and a Half Men, Weeds, Boston Legal, The L Word, Criminal Minds, Help Me Help You, Gilmore Girls, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Psych, Monk, and Party Down. She also starred with John Hannah and William Fichtner in 2002's MDs and has appeared in the crime drama Criminal Minds as Spencer Reid's schizophrenic mother.

Beginning 2009, Lynch appeared on the Fox series Glee. She won glowing reviews for her role as the aggressive cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester. Mary McNamara of the LA Times wrote, "Lynch alone makes Glee worth watching."^[18] Before her work with Glee, she was a series regular on the Starz comedy Party Down. Though the series was renewed for a second season, Lynch would not be returning, due to her work on Glee.^[19]

Lynch has garnered numerous accolades and awards throughout her career, particularly for her role as Sue Sylvester. In 2005, for example, Lynch was named as one of POWER UP's "10 Amazing Gay Women in Showbiz." On December 15, 2009, Lynch received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film for her role on Glee; she lost to Chloë Sevigny. The series itself also received nominations in three other categories.^[20] On August 29, 2010, Lynch won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series.^[21] And in January 2011, Lynch was awarded the Golden Globe in The Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film Catergory.

In addition to her current work on Glee, Lynch continues to pursue other projects. Lynch hosted Saturday Night Live on October 9, 2010; the news of her hosting was accidentally broken to her by her Glee boss, Ryan Murphy, by text message.^[22] Lynch also guest starred on the Nickelodeon show iCarly as Pam Puckett, Sam Puckett's mother, in the episode "iSam's Mom".

Other work[link]

Lynch wrote and starred in the award-winning play Oh Sister, My Sister. Originally produced in 1998, the play kicked off the Lesbians in Theater program at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center in 2004.^[23]

She starred in Comcast's XFinity ads, mainly with two different laptops and two different colored Persian cats. She also stars in LG Corp.'s Text Ed campaign to educate drivers about the dangers of texting while driving.^[24]

Lynch's first experience hosting an awards show was in 2010 when she hosted the 2010 VH1 DoSomething Awards.^[25] It was announced that she will be hosting the 2011 VH1 DoSomething Awards, airing on VH1 on August 18.^[26] Lynch hosted the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards on September 18, 2011, only the third woman in Emmy history to host the awards show solo.^[27] According to September 19's Hollywood Reporter Lynch hosting the Emmys did not help ratings, as viewing was down 8% year over year and eight million less people watched the Emmys as watched Michael Vick's return to Atlanta on Sunday Night Football on NBC (21.5 million for Eagles-Falcons, 13.5 million for the Emmys).^[28]

(l-r) Governor appointee Don Norte, Dr. Lara Embry, Jane Lynch, and Norte's husband, gay activist Kevin Norte, at Autum P-FLAG 2010's Charitable Event at The London Hotel, West Hollywood, California.

Happy Accidents, was released Fall 2011 by Hyperion Voice. Lynch was inspired to write the book after reflecting upon the successes of her past year and wishing she could have told her more anxious, younger self to not worry as much.^[29] The memoir also includes detail about her years as an alcoholic and her success in battling this addiction.^[30] Lynch is openly lesbian, and married Lara Embry in 2010.^[31] A self-proclaimed animal lover, Lynch has two dogs and a cat.^[32] She has recorded a PSA for PETA encouraging the adoption of shelter animals.^[33] On February 23, 2012, it was announced that she would be the commencement speaker for Smith College's class of 2012 where she received a honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts.

In March 2012, Lynch was featured with Martin Sheen, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Brad Pitt in a performance of Dustin Lance Black's play, '8' — a staged reenactment of the federal trial that overturned California's Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriage — as Maggie Gallagher.^[34] The production was held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre and broadcast on YouTube to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights.^[35][36]

Filmography[link]