Jenny Slate
Jenny Slate (born March 25, 1982) is an American actress, stand-up comedian, and television writer. Following early acting and stand-up roles on television, Slate gained recognition for her live variety shows in New York City and for co-creating, writing, and producing the children's short film and book series Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2010–present). She became more widely known as a cast member on the 35th season of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live between 2009 and 2010, followed by subsequent roles in the comedic series Bob's Burgers (2012–present), Parks and Recreation (2013–2015), House of Lies (2013–2015), and Kroll Show (2013–2015).
Jenny Slate
Slate's breakout role came with her leading performance in the coming-of-age comedy-drama film Obvious Child (2014), for which she won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress in a Comedy and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Independent Film Award. She lent voice performances to the animated films The Lorax (2012), Zootopia (2016), The Secret Life of Pets film franchise (2016–2019), The Lego Batman Movie, and Despicable Me 3 (both 2017), and she ventured into dramatic roles with her supporting performance as Bonnie in Gifted (2017). She also appeared in the critically acclaimed science-fiction film Everything Everywhere All at Once, winning the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
Starting in 2017, Slate, who is Jewish, appeared on the animated Netflix series Big Mouth as the biracial Black–Jewish character Missy Foreman-Greenwald. She exited the role in 2020 because she felt it should be played by a Black actress; Slate has continued to voice other characters on the show.
Early life and education[edit]
Slate was born on March 25, 1982, in Massachusetts[2] to Ron Slate,[3] a businessman and poet who worked as vice president of global communications for the EMC Corporation and later as CEO of a biotech startup,[3][4][5] and Nancy (née Gilson), a housewife who also made pottery.[6] She is the middle child of three, with an older sister, Abigail, and younger sister, Stacey.[7][8] She and her family are Jewish.[6][9][10] One of her grandmothers was born in Cuba and was raised in France.[11]
After graduating from Milton Academy as valedictorian,[4] Slate attended Columbia University as a literature major,[6] where she helped form the improv group Fruit Paunch,[12] starred in the Varsity Show[13] and met Gabe Liedman, who would become her comedy partner.[14] Slate graduated from Columbia in 2004.[7][15][16]
Personal life[edit]
Slate lived in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, before moving with filmmaker Dean Fleischer Camp to Los Angeles in the early 2010s.[41] In September 2012, Slate married Fleischer-Camp.[42] They collaborated on the Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, on both the books, the short films, and later the 2021 feature film. The pair announced their separation in May 2016. She dated actor Chris Evans for a brief period.[43]
In September 2019, Slate announced her engagement to art curator and author Ben Shattuck, owner of Davolls General Store.[44][45] On December 10, 2020, Slate revealed on Late Night with Seth Meyers that she was expecting her first child with Shattuck.[46] On February 3, 2021, Slate announced that she had given birth to a daughter.[47] Shattuck and Slate married in their living room on New Year's Eve 2021, their fourth attempt at a wedding after the first three were canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic.[48]