Biography
Launched to fame via a brief but memorable stint on "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 1975-), Jenny Slate went on to become a prolific animated voiceover artist, a sitcom regular and a critically-acclaimed actress with her leading role in indie dramedy "Obvious Child" (2014). Born in Milton, MA in 1982, Jenny Slate began her comedy career while studying Literature at Columbia University, co-founding the improv group Fruit Paunch and a long-running partnership with Gabe Liedman. Following various talking head appearances, a recurring stint as an NBC page on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (NBC, 2009-2014), Slate was selected to join the 35th season of comic institution "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 1975-) where she impersonated the likes of Lady Gaga and Kristen Stewart and originated the character of infomercial pitchwoman Tina Tina Cheneuse. However, she never really recovered from the F-bomb she dropped live on air in her first sketch in her first episode and she left the series after just a year. After playing Jason Schwartzman's love interest Stella in "Bored to Death" (HBO, 2009-2011), Slate teamed up with future husband Dean Fleischer-Camp to write animated short "Marcel the Shell with Shoes On" (2010), bagged her first feature film role as island castaway Zoe in "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" (2011) and played Reese Witherspoon's assistant in rom-com "This Means War" (2012). Slate then voiced Ted's Mom in "The Lorax" (2012), starred in and created web series "Catherine" (2013) and guested as actress Amelia Gordon in "Hello Ladies" (HBO, 2013-14) before lending her natural comic skills to several established shows. She played Jean-Ralphio's brilliantly ghastly twin sister Mona-Lisa on "Parks and Recreation" (NBC, 2009-2015), enjoyed a nine-episode spell as Doug's wife in "House of Lies" (Showtime, 2012-16) and was cast as the voice of frenemy Tammy in "Bob's Burgers" (Fox, 2011-) while also often stealing the show with characters such as incompetent showbiz agent Liz G. in "Kroll Show" (Comedy Central, 2013-15) and originating the role of free spirit Jess in "Married" (FX, 2014-15). Slate then became an indie awards favorite with her measured turn as a stand-up comic who chooses to have an abortion in "Obvious Child" (2014) and soon added to her filmography with love interest roles in relationship dramedies "The Longest Week" (2014), "Joshy" (2016) and "My Blind Brother" (2016). She also became an in-demand voiceover artist, lending her perky tones to princess Pony Head in "Star vs. The Forces of Evil" (Disney Channel, 2015-19), sheep assistant mayor Bellwether in "Zootropolis" (2016), Pomeranian Gidget in "The Secret Life of Pets" (2016), anti-heroine Harley Quinn in "The Lego Batman Movie" (2017) and Anti-Villain League director Valerie Da Vinci in "Despicable Me 3" (2017). Slate continued to show up on camera, too, taking supporting turns in psychological thriller "Brain on Fire" (2016) and biographical comedy "The Polka King" (2017), starring opposite off-screen boyfriend Chris Evans as teacher Bonnie Stevenson in "Gifted" (2017) and impressing with leading roles in multigenerational dramedy "Landline" (2017) and therapy drama "Aardvark" (2017). Slate's prolific streak continued with the voiceover roles of assistant U.S. ambassador Jane in Communist propaganda spoof "Comrade Detective" (Amazon Video, 2017), kind-hearted nerd Missy Foreman in "Big Mouth" (Netflix, 2017-), Miss Nanny in reboot "Muppet Babies" (Disney Channel, 2018-) and ostrich Mitzy in "The Ark and the Aardvark" (2020). On screen, she appeared as an injured police officer in dystopian thriller "Hotel Artemis" (2018), Life Foundation scientist Dr. Dora Skirth in superhero hit "Venom" (2018) and a painter who develops an unlikely bond with a Russian immigrant in Arctic circle drama "The Sunlit Night" (2018) before performing her stand-up special, "Stage Fright" (Netflix, 2019) and signing up to play Vanessa in Sofia Coppola's New York tale "On the Rocks" (2020).
