Andy Samberg
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Andy Samberg (born David A. J. Samberg; August 18, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, musician, producer and screenwriter. He is a member of the comedy music group The Lonely Island and was a cast member on ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...
'' from 2005 to 2012, where he and his fellow group members are credited with popularizing the ''SNL'' Digital Shorts. Samberg has starred in several films, including '' Hot Rod'' (2007), '' I Love You, Man'' (2009), '' That's My Boy'' (2012), ''
Celeste and Jesse Forever ''Celeste and Jesse Forever'' is a 2012 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Lee Toland Krieger and written by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack. The movie was released on August 3, 2012 in New York City and Los Angeles, with Rashida Jo ...
'' (2012), '' Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping'' (2016), and ''
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'' (2020). Samberg has also lead voice roles in ''
Space Chimps ''Space Chimps'' is a 2008 computer-animated science fiction comedy film directed by Kirk DeMicco in his directional debut, and written by DeMicco and Rob Moreland. It features the voices of Andy Samberg, Cheryl Hines, Jeff Daniels, Patrick W ...
'' (2008), the ''Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs'' film series (2009–2013), the ''Hotel Transylvania'' film series (2012–2022), ''
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'' (2016), '' America: The Motion Picture'' (2021), and '' Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers'' (2022). From 2013 to 2021, he starred as
Jake Peralta ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' is an American sitcom which premiered in September 2013 on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox, and later moved to NBC. The show revolves around the Detective#United States, detective squad of the fictional 99th Precinct of the ...
in the Fox, and later
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 ...
, police
sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...
'' Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' which he also produced. For his work on the show, he was awarded a
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy The Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy is a Golden Globe Award presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding perform ...
in 2013.


Early life and education

Samberg was born in
Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...
on August 18, 1978. His mother, Marjorie "Margi" ( née Marrow), is a retired teacher, who taught at John Muir Elementary School, and his father, Joe Samberg, is a photographer. He has two sisters, Johanna and Darrow. At age 5, he told his parents that he wanted to change his name to Andy. Samberg was raised in a
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family and considers himself "not particularly religious." He also has Italian heritage. He attended Chabot Elementary School with his future '' Brooklyn Nine Nine'' co-star Chelsea Peretti. In a 2019 episode of '' Finding Your Roots'', hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., Samberg discovered that his mother Marjorie, who was adopted by Jewish parents, is the biological daughter of a Sicilian
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
father named Salvatore Maida, who immigrated in 1925, and a German-Jewish refugee mother named Ellen Philipsborn, who had come to the US in 1938; they met in San Francisco. Samberg is a third cousin of U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and his adoptive maternal grandfather was industrial psychologist and philanthropist Alfred J. Marrow. Samberg graduated from Berkeley High School in 1996, where he became interested in
creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...
and has stated that writing classes "were the ones that eput all iseffort into... that's what ecared about and that's what eended up doing". He attended college at University of California, Santa Cruz for two years before transferring to
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...
(NYU)'s
Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...
, where he graduated in 2000. While at NYU, writer Murray Miller was his roommate.


Career


Acting and filmmaking

Samberg majored in
experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...
. He became an online star and made his own comedy videos with his friends Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone. When
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
was created in 2005, the streaming of their videos became much more widespread. Samberg became a featured player on ''Saturday Night Live'' in part because of the work he had done on his sketch comedy website TheLonelyIsland.com, which helped them land an agent and eventually get hired at ''Saturday Night Live''. Prior to joining its cast, Samberg was (and remains) a member of the comedy troupe the Lonely Island, along with Taccone and Schaffer. The trio began writing for ''Saturday Night Live'' in 2005 and released their debut album ''
Incredibad ''Incredibad'' is the debut studio album of the American comedy troupe The Lonely Island, released on February 10, 2009, through Universal Republic Records. Composed of writers and childhood best friends Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma T ...
'' in 2009. Samberg appeared in numerous theatrical films, commercials, music videos, and hosted special events, including the
2009 MTV Movie Awards The 2009 MTV Movie Awards were presented on Sunday, May 31, 2009, at the Universal Amphitheatre, Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California. Andy Samberg served as host for the 18th annual ceremony. Performers * Eminem — "We Made You" ...
. In 2012, Samberg delivered the Class Day speech at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, and he starred with Adam Sandler in '' That's My Boy''. The same year, he starred in ''
Hotel Transylvania ''Hotel Transylvania'' is an American animated media franchise created by comedy writer Todd Durham and produced by Sony Pictures Animation. It consists of four feature films, three short films, a flash-animated TV series, and several video ...
'' as the main character, Jonathan, a role he reprised for its sequels ''
Hotel Transylvania 2 ''Hotel Transylvania 2'' is a 2015 American computer-animated monster comedy film directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, written by Robert Smigel and Adam Sandler, and it is the second installment in the ''Hotel Transylvania'' franchise and the sequ ...
'' and '' Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation''. In September 2012, Samberg played Cuckoo in the BAFTA nominated
BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, cur ...
series ''
Cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separ ...
''; and, in 2013, he landed the role of Detective Jake Peralta in Fox's (now
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 ...
's) police sitcom '' Brooklyn Nine-Nine,'' which first aired on September 17 of the same year. Samberg won the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy The Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy is a Golden Globe Award presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding perform ...
in 2014 for his role as Peralta. Samberg hosted the
67th Primetime Emmy Awards The 67th Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best in U.S. prime time television programming from June 1, 2014 until May 31, 2015, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ceremony was held on Sunday, September 20, 2015 at the M ...
on September 20, 2015. Years later, he co-hosted the 76th Golden Globe Awards with
Sandra Oh Sandra Miju Oh (born July 20, 1971) is a Canadian–American actress. She is best known for her starring roles as Rita Wu on the HBO comedy '' Arliss'' (1996–2002), Dr. Cristina Yang on the ABC medical drama series ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2005 ...
on January 6, 2019. Samberg starred in Sleater-Kinney's "No Cities to Love" video along with other actors such as Fred Armisen, Elliot Page, and
Norman Reedus Norman Mark Reedus (born January 6, 1969) is an American actor best known for starring as Daryl Dixon in the AMC horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' (2010–2022). He also starred as Murphy MacManus in the film ''The Boondock Saints'' (19 ...
. On May 16, 2016, Samberg and the Lonely Island performed their 2009 hit "I'm on a Boat" with classroom instruments on '' The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'', as part of a recurring segment on the show.


''Saturday Night Live''

In September 2005, Samberg joined ''Saturday Night Live'' as a featured player and writer. Similarly, Schaffer and Taccone joined the show's writing staff. Though his live sketch roles were limited in his first year, he appeared in many prerecorded sketches including commercial parodies and various other filmed segments. On December 17, 2005, he co-starred with castmate Chris Parnell in the Digital Short show " Lazy Sunday", a hip hop song about a quest to see the film '' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe''. The short became an
Internet phenomenon An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
and garnered Samberg significant media and public attention. Acclaim continued, especially for "
Dick in a Box "Dick in a Box" is a song by the American comedy group The Lonely Island featuring American singer Justin Timberlake. The artists wrote the song with Katreese Barnes and Asa Taccone, who both produced it with Jorma Taccone. ''Saturday Night Li ...
", a duet with Justin Timberlake that won a Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. The video for his comedy troupe's collaboration with T-Pain, "
I'm on a Boat "I'm on a Boat" is a single (music), single from The Lonely Island's debut album ''Incredibad''. It was also featured as a ''Saturday Night Live'' SNL Digital Shorts, Digital Short. The song features Contemporary R&B, R&B singer T-Pain. The song, ...
", had over 56 million views on YouTube, after debuting on February 7, 2009. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award. Another digital short, " Motherlover", also featuring Timberlake, was released on May 10, 2009, to commemorate
Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in th ...
. Outside of his prerecorded segments, he participated in recurring live segments, such as his
Blizzard Man ''Blizzard Man'' is a recurring sketch by Andy Samberg on the American television program ''Saturday Night Live''. The sketch features Samberg as the title character who is brought in to recording studios to assist musicians with an in-progress ...
sketch. On June 1, 2012, Samberg's spokesperson announced that Samberg had left the show. He returned to the show to host the Season 39 finale in 2014 and to host the 40th anniversary special's Digital Short.


Personal life

Samberg is married to musician Joanna Newsom. He once described himself as a "superfan", and they met at one of her concerts. After five years of dating, Samberg proposed to her in February 2013, and they married on September 21, 2013, in Big Sur, California, with ''Saturday Night Live'' co-star Seth Meyers serving as Samberg’s groomsman. In March 2014, Samberg and Newsom purchased the
Moorcrest Moorcrest is a house in Beachwood Canyon, Los Angeles, California, United States. It was built in 1921 for the utopian Krotona Colony in Beachwood Canyon and was designed by Marie Russak Hotchener, an architect who designed several buildings for th ...
estate in the Beachwood Canyon area of
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, which was associated with various historical figures: in the 1920s, it was owned by the parents of actress
Mary Astor Mary Astor (born Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke; May 3, 1906 – September 25, 1987) was an American actress. Although her career spanned several decades, she may be best remembered for her performance as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in '' The Maltese ...
; and, prior to that Charlie Chaplin rented the estate. The couple also own a home in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
's
West Village The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The traditional boundaries of the West Village are the Hudson River to the west, West 14th Street to th ...
. They announced the birth of their daughter on August 8, 2017. Samberg, who grew up in the
East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties ...
, is a fan of the Oakland Athletics and the Golden State Warriors.


Filmography


Film


Television


Video games


Awards and nominations


References


External links

*
The Lonely Island



Short Movies with Andy Samberg
a
Channel 101

Samberg SNL video archive
a
Yahoo Screen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samberg, Andy 1978 births Living people 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American rappers American Ashkenazi Jews American baritones American comedy musicians American dramatists and playwrights American impressionists (entertainers) American Internet celebrities American male comedians American male dramatists and playwrights American male film actors American male rappers American male screenwriters American male television actors American male television writers American male voice actors American people of German-Jewish descent American people of Italian descent American people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American sketch comedians American television writers Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (television) winners Comedians from California Jewish American comedians Jewish American dramatists and playwrights Jewish American male actors Jewish American male comedians Jewish male comedians Jewish rappers Male actors from Berkeley, California Male actors from California Musicians from Berkeley, California People from Greenwich Village People of Sicilian descent Primetime Emmy Award winners Rappers from California Screenwriters from California The Lonely Island members Tisch School of the Arts alumni University of California, Santa Cruz alumni Writers from Berkeley, California