Amy Sedaris
Amy Louise Sedaris (/sɪˈdɛərɪs/;[1] born March 29, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Most recently, she has appeared in both The Mandalorian (2019–2023) and The Book of Boba Fett (2022) as Peli Motto. She played Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central comedy series Strangers with Candy (1999–2000) and the prequel film Strangers with Candy (2005), which she also wrote.
Amy Sedaris
Sedaris appeared as Hurshe Heartshe in the Adult Swim comedy series The Heart, She Holler (2013–2014), as Princess Carolyn in the Netflix animated comedy series BoJack Horseman (2014–2020), and as Mimi Kanasis in the Netflix sitcom Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2020). She received further critical acclaim as the creator and star of the TruTV surreal comedy series At Home with Amy Sedaris (2017–2020) which earned her two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series.[2]
Sedaris has appeared in various films, including Maid in Manhattan (2002), School of Rock (2003), Elf (2003), Bewitched (2005), Chicken Little (2005), Shrek the Third (2007), Jennifer's Body (2009), Puss in Boots (2011), Chef (2014), Ghost Team (2016), Handsome (2017), and The Lion King (2019).
Early life[edit]
Sedaris was born in Endicott, New York,[3] the fourth of six children in a Greek Orthodox family.[4][5] Her parents were Sharon Elizabeth (née Leonard), a homemaker, and Louis Harry "Lou" Sedaris, an IBM engineer.[6][7][8][9] Her father was born in Cortland, New York to immigrants from Apidea in Greece, and her mother was Anglo-American from Binghamton, New York.[10][11] Sedaris' mother was Protestant and her father was Greek Orthodox.[12][13][5] Her paternal grandmother did not speak English and owned a shoe shining store in New York.[14] Sedaris' mother died of lung cancer in 1991, while her father passed away in 2021.[15][11]
When she was four, her family moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, where she grew up with her five siblings: Lisa, David, Gretchen, Tiffany, and Paul.[4][16][17] Her sister Tiffany died by suicide in 2013.[18] She recalled feeling weird in that new environment, as her family was not southern and followed Greek traditions.[14] As a child Sedaris liked playing dress-up and putting on plays for her family.[19] In her brother David's book Me Talk Pretty One Day, he noted that she would often assume characters to play pranks on her family. As a teenager, Sedaris' first job was at the local Winn-Dixie supermarket where she would make fake announcements over the loudspeaker,[20][21] and for a while she was determined to work at the local women's prison in Raleigh.[22] She attended Jesse O. Sanderson High School and was a Girl Scout until she graduated.[23][4]
At the age of 20, she and her mother worked together making and selling spanakopita. During that time, she was dating a man from Greece, and one evening after coming home from cooking, she found him unconscious on the kitchen floor. He had a brain aneurysm, and Sedaris spent the next three years caring for him.[15][22] When they eventually broke up, Sedaris moved to Chicago with her brother David, and took classes at Second City and Annoyance Theatre.[15] There she also worked as a waitress at Zanies Comedy Club.[24]
Career[edit]
Television[edit]
In the late 1980s, she was hired to perform with Second City's touring company. It was there she met Paul Dinello and Stephen Colbert with whom she often collaborated later in her career.[25] She and Dinello did not get along with Colbert at first,[26] – but they became close friends while touring together, discovering that they shared a similar comic sensibility.[27] Sedaris left Second City in 1993, and moved to New York City.[15] Sedaris' first major foray into television began in 1995 on the Comedy Central sketch series Exit 57; alongside Colbert and Dinello. For her performance she was nominated for the 17th CableACE Award for Best Comedy Actress and the series was nominated for Best Comedy Series. It ran for a total of two seasons.[28]
Beginning in 1999 Sedaris played Jerri Blank, a middle-aged woman who goes back to high school in the Comedy Central comedy series Strangers with Candy. The series, which she co-wrote with Dinello and Colbert was based on Sedaris's impression of 1970s-era motivational speaker Florrie Fisher. The show ran for three seasons. In 2005, a film adaptation was released, acting as a prequel to the series.
Sedaris went on to make numerous guest appearances on television programs, including Just Shoot Me! (2001), Sex and the City (2002–2003), Monk (2002–2003), Wonder Showzen (2005), My Name Is Earl (2006), Sesame Street (2006), Rescue Me (2007), The Closer (2009), The New Adventures of Old Christine (2009), The Middle (2010), Raising Hope (2011–2014), and The Good Wife (2012). She also hosted the series Film Fanatic on Trio.
Sedaris' talk show appearances include Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, 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. During an appearance on Chelsea Lately, she gave host Chelsea Handler a presentation on vaginal hygiene using a plush vagina created by fashion designer Todd Oldham.
Personal life[edit]
Sedaris has run a cupcake and cheeseball business, Dusty Food Cupcakes, out of her home kitchen. 'Dusty' was the name of her pet rabbit.[56][57] She lives in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City.[58]
Sedaris was in an eight-year relationship with actor/writer Paul Dinello. After their breakup, they remain close friends and Sedaris is godmother to his two children.[59][60][61] Sedaris has stated in several interviews that she has never desired to marry or have children.[62]