Andrea Kristen Savage (born February 20, 1973) is an American actress, comedian, and writer known for her roles in projects such as the

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...

mockumentary series '' Dog Bites Man'' (2006), the comedy film '' Step Brothers'' (2008), Hulu's reality TV parody series ''

The Hotwives ''The Hotwives'' is an American sitcom that premiered on July 15, 2014, on the video streaming website Hulu. Developed by Paramount Digital Entertainment as a parody of ''The Real Housewives'' reality television franchise broadcast on Bravo, th ...

'' (2014–2015), the HBO comedy ''

Veep ''Veep'' is an American political satire comedy television series that aired on HBO from April 22, 2012, to May 12, 2019. The series was created by Armando Iannucci as an adaptation of his sitcom ''The Thick of It''. The protagonist of ''Veep' ...

'' (2016–2017), and

TruTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps and reality shows. The channel was originally launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that fo ...

's comedy series '' I'm Sorry'' (2017–2019), which she also created.

Early life and education

Savage was born in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...

, the daughter of Sharon Lee () and Richard Savage. She is three quarters Ashkenazi Jewish and one quarter Greek descent (her maternal grandfather was of Greek origin). In her senior year of high school, she played Mame in ''

Mame MAME (formerly an acronym of Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) is a free and open-source emulator designed to recreate the hardware of arcade game systems in software on modern personal computers and other platforms. Its intention is to preserve ...

''. She graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

with a degree in government and a minor in law studies. She has performed stand-up comedy at

The Improv The Improv is a comedy club franchise. It was founded as a single venue in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City in 1963, and expanded into a chain of venues in the late 1970s. History Originally, it was a single venue founded in 1 ...

The Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy S ...

, The Ice House and other venues around Los Angeles.

Career

Savage began her acting career playing Renata Vargas, a Brazilian exchange student on ''

Sweet Valley High ''Sweet Valley High'' is a series of young adult novels attributed to American author Francine Pascal, who presided over a team of ghostwriters to produce the series. The books chronicle the lives of identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefi ...

''. Soon after, she joined

The Groundlings The Groundlings is an American improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school based in Los Angeles. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin, whose improvisational theater techniqu ...

theater, performing weekly in their company. Savage received starring roles in '' Significant Others'' as Chelsea and in '' Dog Bites Man'' as Tillie Sullivan. Then, she had a small role in '' Step Brothers'' opposite

Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show '' Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 2 ...

, following that with a comedy tour with Ferrell,

Zach Galifianakis Zachary Knight Galifianakis (born October 1, 1969) is an American actor and comedian. He appeared in ''Comedy Central Presents'' special and presented his show '' Late World with Zach'' on VH1. Galifianakis has starred in films including ''T ...

Demetri Martin Demetri Evan Martin ( el, Δημήτριος Ευάγγελος Μάρτιν, ''Dimitrios Evangelos Martin''; born May 25, 1973) is an American comedian, actor, writer, director, cartoonist and musician. He was a contributor on ''The Daily Show'' ...

, and

Nick Swardson Nicholas Roger Swardson (born October 9, 1976) ...

. She also appeared with

Woody Harrelson Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor and playwright. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for three Academy Award ...

in '' The Grand'' (2008). After taking time off to have her child, in 2010, Savage had a small role in the film ''

Dinner For Schmucks ''Dinner for Schmucks'' is a 2010 American comedy film directed by Jay Roach and based on Francis Veber's 1998 French film ''Le Dîner de Cons''. Starring Steve Carell and Paul Rudd, with Jemaine Clement, Jeff Dunham, Bruce Greenwood, and Ron ...

''. She also filmed two television pilots: ''The Strip'' created by Tom Lennon and

Ben Garant Robert Ben Garant (born September 14, 1970), credited earlier in his career as Ben Garant, is an American screenwriter, producer, director, actor and comedian. He has a long professional relationship with Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney-Silve ...

for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, and '' Wilfred'', a dark Australian comedy being redone for FX. In addition, Savage created and starred in a series of shorts for the HBO show ''

Funny or Die Presents ''Funny or Die Presents'' is a half-hour sketch comedy show that spawned from the comedy website Funny or Die, created by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. It premiered on HBO on February 19, 2010. Creation Funny or Die Presents was created in June ...

'' about a very pregnant woman trying to engage in some casual sex, as well as a series entitled "Reenactments of Actual Conversations from the Ladies Rooms of Hollywood". She was also seen in the cult hit ''

Party Down ''Party Down'' is an American sitcom created and primarily written by John Enbom, Rob Thomas, Dan Etheridge and Paul Rudd that aired on the Starz network in the United States in 2009 and 2010. The series follows a group of caterers in Los Ang ...

'' for Starz (Savage was originally cast as Casey Klein in the unaired pilot but because she was pregnant,

Lizzy Caplan Elizabeth Anne Caplan (born June 30, 1982) is an American actress. Her first acting role was on the television series ''Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000). She received wider recognition with roles in the films ''Mean Girls'' (2004) and ''Cloverfi ...

took the role when the show went into production). Soon after, she wrote television pilots for Comedy Central,

Fox Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

, and NBC (produced by

Jay Roach Mathew Jay Roach (born June 14, 1957) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the ''Austin Powers'' film series, '' Meet the Parents'', '' Dinner for Schmucks'', '' The Campaign'', '' Trumbo'', and '' Bombshell''. Roach also e ...

); as well as the screenplay ''Girls Weekend'' for Castle Rock Films. She also filmed opposite

Hilary Swank Hilary Ann Swank (born July 30, 1974) is an American actress and film producer. She first became known in 1992 for her role on the television series '' Camp Wilder'' and made her film debut with a minor role in ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1992 ...

in the film ''

You're Not You ''You're Not You'' is a 2014 American drama film directed by George C. Wolfe and written by Shana Feste and Jordan Roberts, based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Michelle Wildgen. The film stars Hilary Swank, Emmy Rossum and Josh Duhamel. I ...

''. Her directorial debut was in 2012 when she shot her satirical PSA '' Republicans, Get in My Vagina'', which she wrote and also starred in, alongside

Kate Beckinsale Kathrin Romany Beckinsale (born 26 July 1973) is an English actress and model. After some minor television roles, her film debut was ''Much Ado About Nothing'' (1993) while a student at the University of Oxford. She appeared in British costume ...

and

Judy Greer Judith Therese Evans (born July 20, 1975), known professionally as Judy Greer, is an American actress. She is primarily known as a character actress, who has appeared in a wide variety of films. She first rose to prominence in a variety of suppor ...

. This premiered on ''

Real Time with Bill Maher ''Real Time with Bill Maher'' is an American television talk show that airs weekly on HBO, hosted by comedian and political satirist Bill Maher. Much like his previous series ''Politically Incorrect'' on Comedy Central and later on ABC, ''Real ...

'' on HBO and is one of Funny Or Die's most successful video shorts of all time. In 2013, Andrea wrote a TV pilot for ABC/Sony produced by

Jamie Tarses Sara James Tarses (March 16, 1964 – February 1, 2021) was an American television producer and television studio executive. She was the president of ABC Entertainment from 1996 to 1999, the first woman and one of the youngest people to hold suc ...

, as well as another pilot for Comedy Central, ''River Dogs'', produced by Will Ferrell's

Gary Sanchez Productions Gary Sanchez Productions was an American film and television production company founded by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. History Gary Sanchez Productions was founded in 2006 by comedians and filmmakers Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. The company ...

. She also acted opposite

John Leguizamo John Alberto Leguizamo Peláez (; ; born July 22, 196013:04) is an American actor, comedian, and film producer. He has appeared in over 100 films, produced over 20 films and documentaries, made over 30 television appearances, and has produced ...

as "Juicy" in an untitled John Leguizamo pilot for ABC. Savage's other television credits include starring roles in the

FOX Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

pilot ''Rebounding'' and ''Lies & The Wives We Tell Them To'' on NBC. Additionally, she has recently appeared on other popular comedies such as ''

Modern Family ''Modern Family'' is an American family sitcom television series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan for the American Broadcasting Company. It ran for 11 seasons, from September 23, 2009, to April 8, 2020. It follows the lives of th ...

'', ''

House of Lies ''House of Lies'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Matthew Carnahan. The show, which premiered on Showtime on January 8, 2012, is based on the book ''House of Lies: How Management Consultants Steal Your Watch and Then Tel ...

'', and ''

The League ''The League'' is an American sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, Illinois, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football leagu ...

''. Savage also starred alongside

Danielle Schneider Danielle Caroline Schneider (born January 1, 1975) is an American actress, writer, and improvisational comedian from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. She co-created and starred in the Hulu reality TV parody series ''The Hotwives'' and current ...

Tymberlee Hill Tymberlee Hill is an American actress and comedian, best known for her roles on comedy programs such as '' Marry Me'', ''Drunk History'', ''The Hotwives'', '' Search Party'' and '' Perfect Harmony''. Career Hill grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia ...

Angela Kinsey Angela Faye Kinsey (born June 25, 1971) is an American actress. She played Angela Martin in the sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2013) and appeared in the sitcoms '' Your Family or Mine'' (2015) and ''Haters Back Off'' (2016–2017). Since ''The ...

Kristen Schaal Kristen Joy Schaal (; born January 24, 1978) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for her voice roles as Louise Belcher on ''Bob's Burgers'' and Mabel Pines on ''Gravity Falls''. She's also known for playing Mel on '' ...

, and Casey Wilson in the Hulu original series ''

''. The series is a parody of the reality television franchise ''

The Real Housewives ''The Real Housewives'' is an international reality television franchise that consists of 57 programs; 11 American installments, 20 international installments and 26 spin-offs. Most of the franchise documents the personal and professional lives ...

'' on Bravo. Season one (''The Hotwives of Orlando'') focused on Orlando, while season two (now titled ''The Hotwives of Vegas'') took place in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

with the same cast playing new characters. In 2016, she began appearing as Senator (and later

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

) Laura Montez on ''

'', who first appears as the running mate of the titular Veep's opponent, before ultimately becoming president in a complex manipulation of constitutional procedure. In 2017, she created the semi-autobiographical

comedy '' I'm Sorry'', in which she also stars. The series premiered on July 12, 2017. In 2019, she launched a

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

, ''Andrea Savage: A Grown-Up Woman #buttholes''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
TheCinemaSource.com
- interview with Andrea Savage
Bio
on ComedyCentral.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Savage, Andrea 1973 births Living people 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American comedians Actresses from California American comedy writers American film actresses American people of Greek descent American television actresses American television writers American women comedians American women podcasters American podcasters American women television writers Comedians from California Cornell University alumni Harvard-Westlake School alumni Jewish American actresses Jewish American female comedians 21st-century American Jews