Jenny Slate

Jenny Slate (born March 25, 1982) is an American actress, stand-up comedian, and writer. After early acting and stand-up roles on television, Slate gained recognition for her live variety shows in New York City and for co-creating the children's short film and book series '' Marcel the Shell with Shoes On'' (2010–2014) with Dean Fleischer Camp, whom she was married to from 2012 to 2016. Slate became more widely known as a cast member on the 35th season of ''Saturday Night Live'' in 2009, followed by her roles in the sitcoms ''Bob's Burgers'' (2012–present), '' Parks and Recreation'' (2013–2015), '' House of Lies'' (2013–2015), and '' Kroll Show'' (2013–2015).

Slate's breakout role came with her leading performance in Gillian Robespierre's coming-of-age dramedy film '' Obvious Child'' (2014), for which she won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress in a Comedy. She lent her voice performances in the animated films ''The Lorax'' (2012), ''Zootopia'' (2016), ''The Secret Life of Pets'' (2016), ''The Lego Batman Movie'' (2017), and ''Despicable Me 3'' (2017), and ventured into dramatic roles with her supporting performance in '' Gifted'' (2017). Slate appeared in the Daniels' critically acclaimed film ''Everything Everywhere All at Once'' (2022), winning the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Early life and education

Slate was born on March 25, 1982, in Milton, 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 and has an older sister, Abigail, and a younger sister, Stacey. She and her family are Jewish. One of her grandmothers was born in Cuba and grew up in France and the other one dressed like Nancy Reagan.
Slate says that she admired and related to funny people. She referenced Carol Burnett, Pee-wee Herman ( e"was a big one for me") and Madeline Kahn as influences. 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 later was her comedy partner. Slate graduated from Columbia in 2004, lived in Brooklyn, and began working in a bakery.

Career

She and 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''. In 2015, Slate, Liedman, and Silvestri ended the show, citing their busy schedules, although they have since occasionally performed together. 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." 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" programs with commentary. In early 2009, she 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. She had a recurring role in ''Bored to Death,'' and guest appearances on several television programs.

Slate joined the cast of ''Saturday Night Live'' for the 2009–10 season. In her first episode, she accidentally said "__" during her debut sketch, which was heard on the live broadcast, but removed from reruns. Amongst various impressions, she was best known for Tina-Tina Cheneuse, an infomercial pitcher who advertises personalized doorbells, car horns, and alarm clocks. 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."

In August 2010, she co-wrote and voiced the animated short film '' Marcel the Shell with Shoes On''. 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 live 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. Then, Slate released her own 12-episode mini-series on YouTube called ''Catherine'', celebrating late 1980s and early 1990s soap-opera aesthetics.

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. Slateon won 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. She co-starred with Judy Greer and Nat Faxon in the first season of the FX series ''Married''. Slate still appeared in a few episodes after season one. Sarah Burns took her place in the series.

Slate appeared 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 until the series ended in 2015. In 2016, Slate voiced Dawn Bellwether in the Disney film ''Zootopia'' and Gidget in ''The Secret Life of Pets''. She and her father co-wrote a book titled ''About the House'', about their time living in Slate's childhood home in Milton, Massachusetts, which was published in December 2016.

From 2017 until 2019, Slate voiced the biracial character Missy Foreman-Greenwald on the animated Netflix series '' Big Mouth''. Slate exited the role on June 24, 2020, writing on Instagram that "At the start of the show, I reasoned with myself that it was permissible for me to play Missy because her mom is Jewish and white—as am I. But Missy is also Black and Black characters on an animated show should be played by Black people." In 2017, Slate starred in the film '' Gifted'' as Bonnie Stevenson, the teacher of a 7-year-old mathematical genius. In October 2019, she released a stand-up comedy special on Netflix, titled ''Stage Fright''.

Slate published her book titled ''Little Weirds'', about her struggles with and thoughts about life and relationships, in 2019. In 2022, she appeared in the critically acclaimed science fiction film ''Everything Everywhere All at Once'' as Big Nose. Her character's original name was changed to Debbie the Dog Mom for the film's digital release due to its association with Jewish stereotypes. For their performance the cast won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Personal life

Slate lived in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, before moving with filmmaker Dean Fleischer Camp to Los Angeles in the early 2010s. In September 2012, Slate married Fleischer-Camp. They collaborated on the ''Marcel the Shell with Shoes On'' franchise, including the books, the short films, and later, the 2021 feature film. The pair announced their separation in May 2016. Slate started dating actor Chris Evans a couple of months later.

In September 2019, Slate announced she and art curator and author Ben Shattuck, owner of the Davolls General Store in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, were engaged. On February 3, 2021, Slate announced that she had given birth to a daughter in late 2020.

She told ''Live with Kelly and Mark'' in June 2025, that her daughter thinks the character she has played, Marcel the Shell (a seashell) is something Slate does similar to a game. Her daughter thinks that Marcel is a game she can have whenever she wants and doesn't know that it's "an Oscar nominated film that I worked really hard on. Her daughter said, "I want to make pancakes with you but I don't want to do it with you, I want to do it with Marcel. Tell me to put the egg in." Slate assented and said "Put the egg in." The reply came, "Marcel (do it as Marcel). Slate complied saying the phrase as Marcel. After three attempts at a wedding were canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic, she and Shattuck married in their living room on New Year's Eve 2021. They are moving back to Brooklyn in the fall of 2025. They had been living in Shattuck's childhood home in Dartmouth and his parents were living down the street from their house.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Podcasts

Awards and nominations

Bibliography

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Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Slate, Jenny
1982 births
Living people
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American screenwriters
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women singers
21st-century American women writers
Actresses from Brooklyn
Actresses from Massachusetts
American children's writers
American film actresses
American people of Cuban descent
American sketch comedians
American stand-up comedians
American television actresses
American television writers
American voice actresses
American women children's writers
American women comedians
American women screenwriters
Annie Award winners
Columbia College (New York) alumni
Comedians from Brooklyn
Comedians from Massachusetts
Hispanic and Latino American actresses
Hispanic and Latino American women comedians
Hispanic and Latino American stand-up comedians
Jewish American actresses
Jewish American comedians
Jewish women comedians
Milton Academy alumni
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Cobble Hill, Brooklyn
Upright Citizens Brigade Theater performers