Charlotte Dean is a

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

, and visual artist known for writing and co-directing the show ''

Charlotte's Shorts ''Charlotte's Shorts'' is a 90 minute live performance of Charlotte Dean's short stories. The show has traditionally been cast with current and past Groundlings, such as Tim Bagley, Jim Rash, Jillian Bell, Jordan Black (actor), Jordan Black, G ...

'', along with Emmy award writer, director, and producer

Tracy Newman Tracy Ann Newman (born December 12, 1942) is an American television producer, writer, comedian and musician. Newman is a founding member of the improvisational theater troupe The Groundlings (as is her sister, Laraine Newman). She was co-creator ...

Early life and education

Dean grew up surrounded by the

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

, spending much of her time as a child at the

improvisational Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

and

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

troupe and school

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

seeing her mother performing and teaching with the troupe formed by

Gary Austin Gary Austin (born Gary Moore; October 18, 1941 – April 1, 2017) was an American improvisational theatre teacher, writer, and director who founded The Groundlings theatre company in 1974. Early life Austin grew up in the Nazarene Church and in ...

in 1974.

Career

Dean began writing when she was a child, inspired by her father.https://charlottedean.wordpress.com After finishing high school she traveled to Mexico City, where she worked as a muralist and continued to write. Her visual artwork has been shown in Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, and

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. Some of her work is part of the Ryan James Fine Arts gallery collection in Kirkland, Washington. She started her blog ''Charlotte's Shorts'' in 2008 while in France with her husband, Ro Reyes. In 2014, she made her short stories into a 90-minute show directed by Dean and her mother, Tracy Newman. The show's most recent production in Los Angeles was on October 28, 2014, at The Groundlings, with her aunt,

Laraine Newman Laraine Newman (born March 2, 1952) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Newman was part of the original cast of NBC's sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from its inception in 1975 until her departure in 1980. Newman took an ...

was also performed at the

SF Sketchfest SF Sketchfest, or The San Francisco Comedy Festival, is an American comedy festival founded in 2002 by Bay Area actor-comedians David Owen, Janet Varney and Cole Stratton. It takes place every January and February in a variety of Bay Area venues ...

on January 31, 2015.

Personal life

Dean lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband. Together with her mother she runs a production company called Run Along Home Productions. Her son Logan was born in August 2017.

References

External links

* *http://patch.com/california/studiocity/back-by-popular-demaind-charlottes-shorts-featuring-snls-laraine-newman-and-members-of-the-groundlings *https://web.archive.org/web/20140903001356/http://groundlings.com/shows/show-details.aspx?showID=300 *http://www.huffingtonpost.com/xaque-gruber/tracy-laraine-newman-keep_b_5179304.html *http://www.timeout.com/los-angeles/comedy/charlottes-shorts {{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, Charlotte Living people American women writers American women illustrators American women children's writers American women children's book illustrators American children's book illustrators Jewish American children's writers Jewish women writers Bard College alumni Cornish College of the Arts alumni 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women Year of birth missing (living people)