Stephanie Courtney (born February 8, 1970) is an American actress and comedian, best known for playing the advertising character

Flo Flo or FLO may refer to: People * Flo (name), a list of people with the name Flo * Flo, nickname of LB1, a ''Homo floresiensis'' fossil Places * Flo, Norway, a village near Stryn, Vestland * Flo, Sweden, a historic parish near Grästorp, ...

in television and radio commercials for

Progressive Corporation The Progressive Corporation is an American insurance company. Progressive is currently the #2 auto insurer in the United States behind State Farm. The company was co-founded in 1937 by Jack Green and Joseph M. Lewis, and is headquartered in Ma ...

beginning in 2008. Courtney is also noted for her recurring roles on several television series, including the voices of Renee the Receptionist and Joy Peters on the

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representativ ...

and s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

comedy ''

Tom Goes to the Mayor ''Tom Goes to the Mayor'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim for Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. It premiered on November 14, 2004 and ended on September 25, 2006 with a t ...

'' (2004–2006), Marge on the

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

drama ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...

'' (2007), and Diane on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

comedy ''

Cavemen The caveman is a stock character representative of primitive humans in the Paleolithic. The popularization of the type dates to the early 20th century, when Neanderthals were influentially described as "simian" or "ape-like" by Marcellin Boul ...

'' (2007). She also appeared in the season 2 premiere of ''

Men of a Certain Age ''Men of a Certain Age'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Ray Romano and Mike Royce, that ran on TNT from December 7, 2009, to July 6, 2011. The hour-long program stars Romano, Andre Braugher, and Scott Bakula as thre ...

,'' and played Essie Karp in '' The Goldbergs''. Courtney was a member of

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 ...

, an improvisational and sketch comedy theater 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, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Early life and education

Courtney was born in Stony Point,

Rockland County, New York Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population is 338,329, making it the state' ...

, the youngest of three children of a high-school history teacher father and a singer mother. In 1992, she graduated with a degree in English from

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university in Binghamton metropolitan area, Greater Binghamton, New York, United States. It is one of the four uni ...

, where she played Elizabeth Proctor in ''

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1692 to 1693. Miller wrote ...

,'' affirming her decision to be an actress. After graduation, she moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where her roommate was future author and columnist Meghan Daum. While working as a secretary for

Smith Barney Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is an American Multinational corporation, multinational financial services corporation specializing in Broker, retail brokerage. It is the wealth & asset management division of Morgan Stanley. On January 13, 2009, ...

chairman Robert F. Greenhill, Courtney studied acting at the

Neighborhood Playhouse A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

. She moved to

, where she roomed with her sister, actress Jennifer Courtney. The two wrote and performed the sketch "Those Courtney Girls" in Los Angeles and at the Aspen Comedy Festival. She joined the training program of the

improvisation 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 ...

al and sketch comedy group

, and in 2004 became a member of its 30-person main company. There she met the theater's lighting director, Scott Kolanach, whom she married in 2008. During her early time in Los Angeles she worked odd jobs, including catering, to support herself. She has appeared in such films as ''

The Brothers Solomon ''The Brothers Solomon'' is a 2007 American surrealist comedy film directed by Bob Odenkirk and written by Will Forte. It features Will Arnett and Forte as the titular brothers, who set out to find romantic partners so they can give their comato ...

'', '' Blades of Glory'', '' The Heartbreak Kid'', ''

Melvin Goes to Dinner ''Melvin Goes to Dinner'' is a 2003 American film adaptation of Michael Blieden's stage play ''Phyro-Giants!'', directed by Bob Odenkirk in his directorial debut. Blieden wrote the screenplay from his stage play, and he also stars in the film ...

'', and '' Fred: The Movie''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Courtney, Stephanie Living people 1970 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians Actresses from New York (state) American film actresses American television actresses American voice actresses American women comedians Binghamton University alumni Comedians from New York (state) Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre alumni People from Stony Point, New York