Megan Amram (born September 3, 1987) is an American

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

writer, producer, and performer. She is most known for her work as co-writer and producer for the NBC series ''

The Good Place ''The Good Place'' is an American fantasy-comedy television series created by Michael Schur for NBC. The series premiered on September 19, 2016, and concluded on January 30, 2020, after four seasons consisting of 53 episodes. Although the pl ...

''. Amram created and starred in the

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

, '' An Emmy for Megan'', which depicts Amram's quest to win an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

Early life and education

Amram was born and raised in Portland,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, and is

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish. She was educated at

Catlin Gabel School The Catlin Gabel School (Catlin Gabel, Catlin, or CGS) is a private preschool–12 school located in West Haven-Sylvan - Compare to addresses and school attendance boundary maps. - Despite the "Portland, Oregon" address, it is ''not'' in the City ...

and

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

where she graduated in 2010. While at Harvard, Amram wrote two of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals' comedy drag shows with her roommate and writing partner Alexandra Petri. She studied

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

for twenty years, and appeared as a violinist in an October 2018 episode of ''

'', a sitcom on which she was a staff writer.

Career

Previously, Amram was a writer on the Amazon series '' Transparent'', HBO's ''

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

'', and the final three seasons of the NBC comedy '' Parks and Recreation''. Her other past credits include writing for Adult Swim's ''

Childrens Hospital ''Childrens Hospital'' (originally titled ''Children's Hospital'' as webisodes) is an American dark comedy television and web series that parodies the medical drama genre, created by and starring actor/comedian Rob Corddry. The series began o ...

'', Fox's ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'', Comedy Central's '' Kroll Show'', the 83rd and

90th Academy Awards The 90th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2017, and took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was held on March 4, ...

, the 2012 MTV Movie Awards, the Disney Channel and contributing to Funny Or Die and the ''

Comedy Central Roast ''Comedy Central Roast'' is a series of celebrity roast specials that air on the American television channel Comedy Central. The first official ''Comedy Central Roast'' premiered on August 10, 2003. The network typically airs one or two roasts ...

s''. Her writing has appeared in

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

McSweeney's McSweeney's Publishing is an American nonprofit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. The executive director is Amanda Uhle. McSweeney's first publication was the literary journal'' Timothy McSw ...

, Vulture,

Vice Magazine ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. It was founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, and its founders later launched the youth media company V ...

and

The Awl ''The Awl'' was a website about "news, ideas and obscure Internet minutiae of the day" based in New York City. Its motto was "Be Less Stupid." History Founded in April 2009 by David Cho and former ''Gawker'' editors Choire Sicha and Alex Balk ...

, among others, and her first book ''Science... For Her!'' was published in November 2015 by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

. Along with her work as a writer, Amram has occasionally ventured into acting, with a 2011 appearance on '' RuPaul's Drag U'', and on

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

musical comedy series '' Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'' in an episode titled " I Need Some Balance" in January 2019. In 2018, Amram created, directed, wrote, and starred in the comedy web series, '' An Emmy for Megan'', which depicts Amram's quest to win an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

by meeting the minimum standards to qualify for an Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series category. The first series was nominated for two Emmy Awards, one in the Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series category and one in the Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series category for Amram. The second series was released in May 2019 and was nominated for two Emmy Awards: one in the Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series category and one, for

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His acting roles include Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–2023) as adult ...

, in the Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series category.

Controversy

In June 2020, tweets resurfaced of Amram making anti-Semitic, homophobic, and anti-Asian American jokes. In one tweet, she wrote "It's not politically correct to say 'retarded' anymore, you have to call them 'Asian-Americans'." In another, she said "If I had a time machine, I'd go back in time and kill Hitler and all of the Jews and gypsies and gay people." Amram later apologized in a statement saying: "... I am speaking from the heart and trying my best to communicate my sincere regret. I am deeply embarrassed and more apologetic than you can ever know."

Personal life

Amram currently resides in Los Angeles. In 2019, Amram joined other WGA writers in firing their agents as part of the WGA's stand against the ATA and the practice of

packaging Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a coo ...

Filmography

Television

Awards and nominations

Bibliography

* * * * * * Title in the online table of contents is "Elon Musk's new frontier : your body". ——————— ;Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Amram, Megan 1987 births Living people American women comedians Harvard University alumni American women screenwriters Catlin Gabel School alumni The New Yorker people Comedians from Portland, Oregon Writers from Portland, Oregon Screenwriters from Oregon 21st-century American comedians American women television writers American television writers Jewish American screenwriters Jewish women writers Jews from Oregon 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American Jews Jewish American comedians Jewish women comedians