Amy Louise Sedaris (/ˌeɪ.miːsəˈdɛr.əs/;[1] born March 29, 1961) is an American actress, author, and comedian. She is known for playing the character Jerri Blank in the Comedy Centraltelevision series Strangers with Candy. Sedaris regularly collaborates with her older brother, humorist and author David Sedaris.
Contents[]
Personal life[edit][]
Sedaris was born in Endicott, New York, the daughter of Sharon (née Leonard) and Lou Sedaris,[2] and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, with her siblings, David, Lisa, Gretchen, Tiffany, and Paul ("The Rooster"). She is of half Greek descent; her father was Greek Orthodox and her mother was Protestant. She remains Greek Orthodox.[3][4]
As a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman, she described two experiences with bosses. At age 16, she worked at the local Winn-Dixie supermarket. She would make fake announcements over the loudspeaker, which prompted the head cashier to confiscate the microphone. After work, she egged the cashier's car in protest. Later, as a cocktail waitress at Zanies, a comedy night club in Chicago, she was five minutes late for a shift with ice cream cone in hand. Fired that night, she took her revenge on her boss: "I took his keys and I threw them in the snow. I heard he found them in the spring."[5]
Sedaris and her Strangers with Candy co-star Paul Dinello dated for eight years. Though their relationship ended, they have remained very close friends and Dinello made Sedaris godmother to his son.[6][7][8] Sedaris has never married, and has stated in several interviews that she has never wanted to be married or have children.[9]
Career[edit][]
Television[edit][]
A former member of Chicago-based Second City and Annoyance Theatre comedy troupes, her first major foray into television began in 1995 on the Comedy Central sketch show, Exit 57, which also starred Stephen Colbert and Paul Dinello.[10] The show was cancelled after three seasons.[10]
Beginning in 1999, Sedaris portrayed Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central series Strangers with Candy.[11] The show, which she co-wrote with Dinello and Colbert, was based on Sedaris's impression of 1970s motivational speaker Florrie Fisher.[12] The show ran for three seasons and would later inspire a full-length movie.[13]
Sedaris has made numerous guest appearances on a number of different TV programs, including Rescue Me, Monk, Wonder Showzen, Just Shoot Me!, Sex and the City, My Name Is Earl, The Closer, The Middle, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Raising Hope, and Sesame Street.[13] Sedaris also hosted the series Film Fanatic on Trio.[13]
Sedaris has appeared on many talk shows, including the Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, and WTF with Marc Maron.[13] In 2008 Sedaris appeared on Chelsea Lately during which she gave host Chelsea Handler a presentation concerning vaginal hygiene with the aid of a plush vagina created by fashion designer Todd Oldham.
In 2007, Sedaris was featured in Dolly Parton's first mainstream country music video in 14 years, "Better Get to Livin'."[14]
It was announced in October 2008 that Sedaris would be getting her own sitcom, produced by 20th Century Fox, which she will be creating, writing and starring in.[15] Also in late 2008, Sedaris did voiceovers in several commercials for the discount hair salon SuperCuts.[16][17]
In January 2009, Sedaris narrated the PBS special Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America, a six-hour documentary on comedians and comedy in American history.
In 2010, she appeared as a supporting character in the Canadian comedy series The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Fun Time Hour.[18] She also voiced Ms. Davis, the Woodview School's debate club teacher in the WordGirl episode "Cleanup on Aisle Eleven."
Sedaris can be seen with Paul Dinello in the "Mummified Hand" episode of the Science Channel show Oddities.
In 2011, she appeared in a series of commercials for Downy.
In 2013, she played the sex crazed sister Hershe Heartshe, in the adult swim surreal comedy horror show The Heart, She Holler.
[1][2]Sedaris entertaining the audience and fellow author David Rakoff as she gives direction on making brownies at the 2006 Texas Book Festival.===Film[edit]===
Sedaris has had small roles in a number of films, including Elf, School of Rock, Maid in Manhattan, Bewitched, Snow Angels, Full Grown Men, Old Dogs, Shrek the Third, and Chicken Little.[13]She also starred in the 2006 film adaptation of Strangers with Candy.[13] Sedaris also had a large role in the comedy, The Best and the Brightest with Neil Patrick Harris. She voiced Cinderella in Shrek the Third and reprised her role in Shrek Forever After. In 2008, Sedaris starred as principal Abby Hofman in Nickelodeon TV's Gym Teacher: The Movie, directed by her Strangers with Candy co-star Paul Dinello.[13]
Print and other work[edit][]
[3][4]Simple Times: Crafts for Poor Peoplebook signing event.
She coauthored the text-and-picture novel Wigfield with Paul Dinello and Stephen Colbert, published in 2003. As of 2005, Sedaris writes a monthly advice column in The Believer. She has written a guide to entertaining titled I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence, published in October 2006 by Warner Books. That light-hearted approach to cooking stayed on the New York Times best-seller list for more than 12 weeks, and currently has over 350,000 copies in print.
Her new book, Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People! (2010), includes a cover which can be easily made into a hat, as demonstrated, and worn, by David Letterman during her appearance on his Late Show in October 2010.
Along with her brother David Sedaris, Amy has co-authored several plays under the name "The Talent Family": Stump the Host (1993), Stitches (1994), One Woman Shoe (1995), Incident at Cobblers Knob (1997) and The Little Frieda Mysteries. She also co-authored the play The Book of Liz with him, which has gone on to productions at such regional theatres as No Name Players.[19]
Her theater work includes a role as the stage manager in Paul Rudnick's play The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told.
In support of PETA's anti-fur campaign, Sedaris appeared as her "Strangers with Candy" character in an ad that read, "When you wear fur, people laugh at you, not with you."[20]
In addition to acting and writing, she runs a cupcake and cheese ball business, Dusty Food Cupcakes, out of her home kitchen.[21]
She was the host at the Annual Microsoft Company Meeting held at Safeco field in Seattle on September 28, 2010.
Bibliography[edit][]
- Sedaris, Colbert, Dinello. Wigfield: The Can-Do Town That Just May Not (Hyperion, May 19, 2004) ISBN 0-7868-8696-X
- I Like You : Hospitality Under The Influence (Warner Books, October 16, 2006) ISBN 0-446-57884-3
- "Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People" (Grand Central Publishing, November 2, 2010)
Filmography[edit][]
Film[edit][]
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Big Deals (TV movie) | Topaz Radulavitch | |
| 1997 | Bad Bosses Go to Hell | Trendy Boss | |
| Commandments | Scholar | ||
| 1998 | Wheels of Fury | Pepper Mills | |
| Strangers with Candy: Retardation, a Celebration (TV short) | Jerri Blank | ||
| Six Days Seven Nights | Robin's Secretary | ||
| 2001 | Jump Tomorrow | Other Student in Class | |
| 2002 | Maid in Manhattan | Rachel Hoffberg | |
| 2003 | Untitled New York Pilot (TV movie) | Connie | |
| School of Rock | Mrs. Haynish | ||
| Elf | Deb | ||
| 2004 | Neurotica | Renee | |
| My Baby's Daddy | Annabelle | ||
| 2005 | Strangers with Candy | Jerri Blank | |
| Bewitched | Gladys Kravitz | ||
| Romance & Cigarettes | Frances | ||
| Stay | Toni | ||
| Chicken Little | Foxy Loxy | (voice) | |
| 2006 | Full Grown Men | Trina | |
| I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With | School Therapist - Ms. Clark | ||
| 2007 | Snow Angels | Barb Petite | |
| Dedication | Cassidy's Mom | ||
| Shrek the Third | Cinderella | (voice) | |
| Puberty: The Movie | Paulie the Penis | (voice) | |
| 2008 | Gym Teacher: The Movie (TV movie) | Principal Hoffman | |
| 2009 | Space Buddies | Gravity | (voice) |
| Dance Flick | Ms. Cameltoé | ||
| Jennifer's Body | Needy's Mom | ||
| Tanner Hall | Mrs. Middlewood | ||
| Old Dogs | Condo Woman | ||
| 2010 | Beware the Gonzo | Diane Gilman | |
| The Best and the Brightest | Sue Lemon | ||
| 2011 | Puss in Boots | Jill | (voice) |
Television[edit][]
| Year(s) | Show | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995–1996 | Exit 57 | Various | 12 episodes |
| 1999–2000 | Strangers with Candy | Jerri Blank / Geraldine 'Jerri' Antonia Blank | 30 episodes |
| 2001 | Fling | The Receptionist | 2 episodes |
| Just Shoot Me! | Betsy Frayne | 2 episodes | |
| 2002–2003 | Sex and the City | Courtney Masterson | 4 episodes |
| Monk | Gail Fleming | 2 episodes | |
| 2004 | Ed | Kate McCormick | 2 episodes |
| The Wrong Coast | Various Celebrity Voices | ||
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Charlie Donato | ||
| 2005 | Wonder Showzen | Miss Amy | |
| 2006 | The Colbert Report | Abraxxia (segment "Tek Jansen") | (voice) |
| Sesame Street | Snow White | ||
| My Name Is Earl | Judy | ||
| 2007 | Andy Barker, P.I. | Rita Spaulding | |
| Rescue Me | Beth | 2 episodes | |
| 2008 | Yo Gabba Gabba! | Tooth Fairy | |
| 2009 | The Closer | Claire Howard | 2 episodes |
| American Dad! | Dr. Meg Penner | ||
| The New Adventures of Old Christine | Frances 'Frankenstein' | ||
| 2010 | The Middle | Abbie | |
| 2011 | Royal Pains | Nan | |
| SpongeBob SquarePants | Ma Angler | (voice) | |
| Raising Hope | Delilah | 2 episodes | |
| Bob's Burgers | Samantha | (voice) | |
| Hot In Cleveland | Heather / Heather Shaw | 2 episodes | |
| 2012 | The Good Wife | Stacie Hall | 3 episodes |
| American Dad! | Trish / Dr. Lizzy | ||
| 30 Rock | Visor Lady | ||
| 2013 | The Heart, She Holler | Hershe Heartshe |