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Julia Anne Sweeney (born October 10, 1959) is an American actress and comedian. She gained fame as a cast member on the NBC
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 ...
series ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'' from 1990 to 1994. She played Mrs. Keeper in the film '' Stuart Little'' and voiced Brittany in '' Father of the Pride''. She appeared in the
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series '' Shrill'', the Showtime series '' Work in Progress'', and the Starz series ''
American Gods ''American Gods'' (2001) is a fantasy novel by British author Neil Gaiman. The novel is a blend of Americana (culture), Americana, fantasy, and various strands of ancient and modern mythology, all centering on the mysterious and taciturn Shad ...
''.


Early life

Sweeney was born and raised in
Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...
, the daughter of Robert Mark Sweeney and Jeraldine "Jeri" Sweeney ( Ivers). Her father was an attorney and federal prosecutor, while her mother was a homemaker. She has an Irish Catholic background. Sweeney is the oldest of five children; she had two brothers, William Robert "Bill" Sweeney, and Michael Ivers Sweeney, who both died, and has a brother, Jim Sweeney, and a sister, Meg Sweeney. As a child, she was drawn to imitating voices and inventing characters. She attended Marycliff High School and
Gonzaga Preparatory School Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane, Washington, is a Private school, private, Catholic Church, Catholic high school in the Inland Northwest. Colloquially nicknamed "G-Prep", the Jesuits, Jesuit school has been recognized for its college prepa ...
, where she appeared in a number of plays. She graduated with a double major in economics and European history from the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
, where she was student body vice president and became a member of
Delta Gamma Delta Gamma (), commonly known as DG, is a North American women's fraternity. It was established in 1873 at the Lewis School for Girls in Oxford, Mississippi. It has 151 collegiate chapters and more than 200 alumnae groups. The organization's exe ...
sorority. After graduation, Sweeney moved to Los Angeles, where she worked as an accountant for
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and
United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...
.


Career

In 1988, while still working as an accountant, Sweeney enrolled in classes with the
improvisational comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...
troupe the Groundlings, eventually being selected to be part of the troupe's Sunday Company. It was at the Groundlings that she began to develop characters, which she would later bring to the stage, film, and television. They include Mea Culpa, the title character of ''Mea's Big Apology'' (co-written by then-husband Stephen Hibbert), which won the Best Written Play Award from '' L.A. Weekly'' in 1988, and has been developed by Sweeney (in collaboration with Jim Emerson) into a screenplay; and the
androgynous Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex or gender expression. When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics in humans, it often r ...
Pat.


''Saturday Night Live''

At a Groundlings performance in 1989, she was offered her a spot as one of ''Saturday Night Lives featured players. She joined the regular ''Saturday Night Live'' cast the following year and remained with the show through four seasons, from 1990 to 1994. Her most popular character was Pat, whose impossible-to-determine
gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...
was the basis for Sweeney's popular ''It's Pat!'' sketches on ''Saturday Night Live'', and a later feature film of the same name, which was a critical commercial failure, costing $8 million to make but grossing only $60,822 at the box office.


Monologues


'' God Said Ha!''

After leaving the cast of ''Saturday Night Live'', Sweeney returned to Los Angeles where, shortly afterwards, her career was put on hold by a series of personal traumas. Her brother Michael was diagnosed with
lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...
, and shortly thereafter Sweeney discovered that she too had cancer. Her brother did not survive the cancer. Throughout the ordeal, Sweeney told stories of her experiences in serio-comic performances at L.A.'s
alternative comedy Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe ...
club, the Un-Cabaret, eventually developing the stories into a one-woman stage show called ''God Said Ha!'', which debuted at San Francisco's Magic Theater in 1995. ''God Said Ha!'' moved to Broadway, winning the 1996 New York Comedy Festival's Audience Award, and a CD recording of the show earned her a
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nomination for Best Comedy Album that same year.
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released a film version of the show in 1998, directed by Sweeney and produced by
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. The film earned the Golden Space Needle Award at the
Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is a film festival held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States, since 1976. It usually takes place in late May and/or early June. It is one of the largest festivals in the world, and feature ...
, and was released on DVD in 2003. Portions of the monologues from Un-Cabaret were featured on episode 9 of '' This American Life'' (then known as ''Your Radio Playhouse'') in January 1996. Since her initial monologue, she has appeared on three more ''This American Life'' episodes.


''In the Family Way''

Sweeney's second monologue chronicled the adoption of her daughter from China. ''In the Family Way'' started on stage in New York City in early 2003 at the Ars Nova Theatre. The show was directed by Broadway stage director Mark Brokaw, before migrating to the Groundlings Theatre in Los Angeles. Sweeney has also released a CD recording of ''In the Family Way'' and, in 2006, performed a 25-minute excerpt of the show at the Hollywood Bowl with a new orchestration written especially for her piece by composer Anthony Marinelli and performed by the
Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...
.


''Letting Go of God''

Sweeney's third autobiographical monologue is titled ''Letting Go of God''. In it, she discusses her Catholic upbringing, early religious ideology, and the life events and internal search that led her to believe that the universe can function on its own without a deity to preside over it; as well as her becoming an
atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
. Sweeney begins by sharing the account of when her mother told her that her birthday was really October 10 instead of September 10, and how traumatic it was to discover she was not a winsome
Virgo Virgo may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Virgo (film), a 1970 Egyptian film * Virgo (character), several Marvel Comics characters * Virgo Asmita, a character in the manga ''Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas'' * ''Virgo'' (album), by Virgo Four, ...
but really a Libra. An audio recording of ''Letting Go of God'' was released on CD in 2006, and it was filmed live on stage in May 2007.


''Julia Sweeney: Older and Wider''

After taking some years out of the limelight to be a suburban
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
housewife and mother, Sweeney returned with a fourth monologue in which she riffs on contemporary politics and religion, among other topics. The performance was so popular that it sold out its original six-day run at the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, as well as a one-week extension. Sweeney appeared at the 2019 CSICon put on by the Center for Inquiry (CFI), where she presented about half of the monologue for the conference attendees.


Other work

In a segment for ''This American Life'' in 1999, Sweeney describes one of her first jobs as a bartender's assistant, and how she began embezzling funds from her employer, and the consequences thereof. In 1992, Sweeney worked with the rock band Ugly Kid Joe, performing in the music video for their hit "Neighbor" and contributing introductory audio for two tracks, "Goddamn Devil" and " Everything About You". The latter was on the soundtrack to the Lorne Michaels movie ''
Wayne's World "Wayne's World" was originally a recurring sketch from the NBC television series ''Saturday Night Live''. The first "Wayne's World" sketch appeared in the 13th ''Saturday Night Live'' episode of the Saturday Night Live season 14, 1988–1989 seas ...
''. In 1994, she had a small role as "Raquel" in the movie ''
Pulp Fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence ...
''; other film roles include '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch'', '' Coneheads'', '' Vegas Vacation'', '' Clockstoppers'', '' Whatever It Takes'', and '' Stuart Little''. In 2000, she provided the voice of Wanda MacPherson in the short-lived
The WB The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on ter ...
/
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animated sitcom '' Baby Blues''. She was also the voice of Margo on the ABC animated series '' The Goode Family'', Dr. Glove on '' Back at the Barnyard'', Miss Tronica on '' Lloyd in Space'', and Sheri Squibbles in Pixar's 2013 animated film '' Monsters University''. A veteran of live television, Sweeney made her mark on primetime television as a series regular on ''
George and Leo ''George and Leo'' is an American sitcom television series starring Bob Newhart and Judd Hirsch that aired on CBS from September 15, 1997 to March 16, 1998. Synopsis Newhart and Hirsch starred as the respective title characters, widely dive ...
'' and '' Maybe It's Me'', and guest starred on ''
3rd Rock from the Sun ''3rd Rock from the Sun'' is an American television sitcom created by Bonnie and Terry Turner, which originally aired from January 9, 1996, to May 22, 2001, on NBC. The show is about four Extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrials who are on an e ...
'', '' Hope & Gloria'', '' Mad About You'', and '' According to Jim''. In 2004, she co-starred in two episodes of ''
Frasier ''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey (screenwriter), Peter Casey, and David Lee (scr ...
'', as Frasier's blind date turned litigious unwanted houseguest, Ann Hodges. She had a guest role on ''
Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...
'', and served as a consultant for its last three seasons, as well as consulting on season two of '' Desperate Housewives''. In 2019, she played a terrorist grandmother in season 6 of the American cop comedy series '' Brooklyn 99''. Sweeney met singer/songwriter Jill Sobule at a Technology Entertainment and Design (TED) conference, and performed together in 2008. They took the show, called ''Jill and Julia'', on the road in 2009 and 2010, performing in New York, Denver and other locations. It was an autobiographical mix of music, stories, and commentary. From 2009 to 2010, Sweeney was also part of the regular rotation of panelists for the NPR news quiz radio show '' Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'', in downtown Chicago. In 2021, Sweeney was cast in the third season of ''American Gods'' on Starz. Sweeney has long pushed for acceptance of people who are not religious, and in 2019 she was appointed to be on the board of directors of the Center for Inquiry. From 2019-2021, Julia Sweeney was a recurring character on Hulu's series, Shrill (TV series). She played the mother of Aidy Bryant. In 2025 Sweeney featured in '' We Are Pat'', a Ro Haber documentary about comedy, trans and non-binary identity and her SNL character.


Personal life

Sweeney is married to scientist Michael Blum. They live in Los Angeles near their daughter, whom they adopted from
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.


Works and publications

* Sweeney, Julia, and Zander, Christine. ''It's Pat!: My Life Exposed.'' New York: Hyperion, 1992. * Sweeney, Julia. ''God Said, "Ha!".'' New York: Bantam Books, 1997. * Barker, Dan and Sweeney, Julia. ''The Good Atheist: Living a Purpose-Filled Life Without God'' Ulysses Press, 2011. * Sweeney, Julia. ''If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother.'' New York : Simon & Schuster, 2013.


References


External links

* * * *
From ''Letting Go of God''

Julia Sweeney's 17 min Talk
at TED Conference (Feb. 2006)
Monterey, California Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a popu ...

''Saturday Night Live's Julia Sweeney''
interview from NPR
Julia Sweeney biography
at BigSpeak.com Motivational Speakers {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Julia 1959 births American atheists American bloggers American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American people of Irish descent Former Roman Catholics Living people Warner Records artists Actresses from Spokane, Washington Actresses from Chicago Gonzaga Preparatory School alumni University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni American women comedians 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses American voice actresses American women bloggers American sketch comedians 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians Comedians from Washington (state) Writers from Spokane, Washington