Sarah Silverman | |
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 Silverman in 2016 | |
| Born | Sarah Kate Silverman (1970-12-01)December 1, 1970 (age 55) Concord, New Hampshire, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1988–present |
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Sarah Kate Silverman[1] (born December 1, 1970)[1] is an American stand-up comedian, actress and writer. She first rose to prominence for her brief stint as a writer and cast member on theNBCsketch comedy seriesSaturday Night Live during its19th season, between 1993 and 1994. She then starred in and producedThe Sarah Silverman Program, which ran from 2007 to 2010 onComedy Central. For her work on the program, Silverman was nominated for aPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.[2]
She has also acted in television projects such asMonk,Mr. Show andV.I.P. and starred in films, includingWho's the Caboose? (1997),School of Rock (2003),Take This Waltz (2011),A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014), andBattle of the Sexes (2017). She also voiced Vanellope von Schweetz inWreck-It Ralph (2012), andRalph Breaks the Internet (2018). For her lead role inI Smile Back (2015) she was nominated for aScreen Actors Guild Award. She released an autobiographyThe Bedwetter in 2010 which she adapted into anoff-Broadway musical in 2022.[3]
Her comedy roles address socialtaboos and controversial topics, includingracism,sexism,homophobia,politics, andreligion, sometimes having her comic character endorse them in asatirical ordeadpan fashion.[4][5] During the2016 United States presidential election, she became increasingly politically active; she initially campaigned forBernie Sanders but later spoke in support ofHillary Clinton at the2016 Democratic National Convention.[6][7] She hosted theHulu late-night talk showI Love You, America with Sarah Silverman from 2017 until late 2018.[8]
Silverman was born inConcord, New Hampshire, on December 1, 1970, to Beth Ann (née Halpin; 1941–2015) and Donald Silverman (1937–2023).[9] She lived inManchester, New Hampshire, andBedford, New Hampshire, as a child, attending McKelvie Middle School in the latter town.[10] Her mother had beenGeorge McGovern's personal campaign photographer and founded the theater company New Thalian Players, while Donald trained as a social worker and also ran a clothing store, Crazy Sophie's Outlet.[11][12] Silverman's parents divorced and later married others.[13][14] Silverman is the youngest of five children. Her sisters areReformrabbiSusan Silverman, writer Jodyne Speyer, and actressLaura Silverman; her brother Jeffrey Michael died when he was three months old.[15] She is ofAshkenazi Jewish descent[16] but considers herselfnonreligious.[17][18][19] Her ancestors were from Poland and Russia, and she has stated her maternal grandmother escapedthe Holocaust.[20][21] She was in attendance when women lit menorahs at theWestern Wall for the first time, in December 2014.[22]
Silverman's first stand-up comedy performance was in Boston at age 17. She described her performance as "awful".[23] After graduating fromThe Derryfield School in Manchester in 1989, she attendedNew York University for a year, but did not graduate. Instead, she performed stand-up inGreenwich Village.[13][24][25][26]
Silverman began her professional standup career in 1992.[27] Silverman was part of the1993–94 season of theNBC sketch comedy programSaturday Night Live (SNL) for eighteen weeks as a writer and featured player.[28] She was fired after one season. Only one of the sketches she wrote made it to dress rehearsal and none aired, though she did appear on the show as a cast member in sketches, usually in smaller supporting roles. FormerSNL writerBob Odenkirk remarked, "I could see how it wouldn't work atSNL because she's got her own voice, she's very much Sarah Silverman all the time. She can play a character but she doesn't disappear into the character—she makes the character her."[24] Silverman has retrospectively stated that she was not ready forSNL when she secured the job,[29] and that when she was fired, it hurt her confidence for a year but nothing could hurt her thereafter. She has cited herSNL stint as a key reason why she has been so tough in her career,[29] and later expressed gratitude that her time on the program was short as it did not wind up defining her.[30] She parodied the situation when she appeared onThe Larry Sanders Show episode "The New Writer" (1996), playing Sanders' new staff writer, whose jokes are not used because of the chauvinism and bias of the male chief comedy writer, who favors the jokes of his male co-writers. She appeared in three episodes ofLarry Sanders during its final two seasons.
She also starred in theHBO sketch comedy seriesMr. Show (1995–1997) and had the leading role for the 1997 independent filmWho's the Caboose?, about a pair of New York comedians (Silverman and directorSam Seder) going to Los Angeles during pilot season to try to get a part in a television series; the film features numerous young comedians in supporting roles but never received a widespread theatrical release. Silverman and Seder later made a six-episode television series sequel titledPilot Season in which Silverman stars as the same character and Seder again directed. She made her network stand-up comedy debut on theLate Show with David Letterman on July 3, 1997.[31][32]
Silverman made several TV program guest appearances, including onStar Trek: Voyager in the two-part time-travel episode "Future's End" (1996);Seinfeld in the episode "The Money" (1997);V.I.P. in the episode "48+1⁄2 Hours" (2002);Greg the Bunny as a series regular (2002); and on the puppet television comedyCrank Yankers as the voice of Hadassah Guberman (since 2002). She had small parts in the filmsThere's Something About Mary,Say It Isn't So,School of Rock,The Way of the Gun,Overnight Delivery,Screwed,Heartbreakers,Evolution,School for Scoundrels,Funny People andRent, playing a mixture of comic and serious roles.
In 2005, Silverman released aconcert film,Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic, based on her one-woman show of the same name.Liam Lynch directed the film, which was distributed byRoadside Attractions. It received 64% positive ratings based on 84 reviews on thefilm critics aggregator Web siteRotten Tomatoes[33] and earned approximately $1.3 million at thebox office.[34] As part of the film's publicity campaign, she appeared online inSlate as the cover subject ofHeeb magazine and inroasts on Comedy Central ofPamela Anderson andHugh Hefner.
Silverman played a therapist in a skit for a bonus DVD of the albumLullabies to Paralyze by the bandQueens of the Stone Age. Silverman also appears at the end of the video for American glam metal bandSteel Panther's "Death To All But Metal". OnJimmy Kimmel Live!, Silverman parodied sketches fromChappelle's Show, replayingDave Chappelle's characterizations ofRick James and "Tyrone" as well as aDonnell Rawlings character based on the miniseriesRoots. In 2006, Silverman placed 50th onMaxim Hot 100 List.[35] In 2007, she placed 29th and appeared on the cover.[36]
Her television sitcom,The Sarah Silverman Program, debuted on Comedy Central in February 2007; the series had 1.81 million viewers[2][37] and portrayed the day-to-day adventures of fictionalized versions of Silverman, her sisterLaura, and their friends. A number of comedic actors fromMr. Show have appeared onThe Sarah Silverman Program. Silverman was nominated for aPrimetime Emmy Award[38] for her acting on the show. At the awards ceremony, she wore a fake mustache.[39][40][41][42][43] Comedy Central canceledThe Sarah Silverman Program after three seasons.[44]
In June 2007, she hosted theMTV Movie Awards. During her opening act, she commented on the upcoming jail sentence ofParis Hilton, who was in the audience, saying: "In a couple of days, Paris Hilton is going to jail. As a matter of fact, I heard that to make her feel more comfortable in prison, the guards are going to paint the bars to look likepenises. I think it is wrong, too. I just worry she is going to break her teeth on those things."[45] In September 2007, she appeared at theMTV Video Music Awards. Following thecomeback performance ofBritney Spears, Silverman mocked her on stage, saying: "Yo, she is amazing, man. I mean, she is 25 years old, and she has already accomplished everything she's going to accomplish in her life."[46]
In January 2008, she appeared onJimmy Kimmel Live! to showJimmy Kimmel, her boyfriend at the time, a special video. The video turned out to be a song called "I'm Fucking Matt Damon" in which she andMatt Damon sang a duet about having an affair behind Kimmel's back. The video created an "instant YouTube sensation."[47] She won aPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics at the60th Primetime Emmy Awards. Kimmelresponded with his own video a month later with Damon's friendBen Affleck, which enlisted a panoply of stars to record Kimmel's song "I'm Fucking Ben Affleck".[48] On September 13, 2008, Silverman won a Creative Arts Emmy Award for writing the song "I'm Fucking Matt Damon".[49] Silverman guest-starred in a second-season episode of theUSA cable programMonk as Marci Maven. She returned in the sixth-season premiere and for the100th episode. According to the audio commentary on theClerks II DVD, directorKevin Smith offered her the role that eventually went toRosario Dawson, but she turned it down out of fear of being typecast in "girlfriend roles". However, she told Smith the script was "really funny" and mentioned that if the role ofRandal Graves was being offered to her she "would do it in a heartbeat." She appeared inStrange Powers, the 2009 documentary by Kerthy Fix andGail O'Hara about cult songwriter Stephin Merritt and his bandThe Magnetic Fields. Silverman wrote a comic memoir,The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee, which was published in 2010.[50]
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Silverman played Geraldine alongsideMichelle Williams andSeth Rogen inTake This Waltz, written and directed bySarah Polley. The film was well received when it premiered at the2011 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)[51] and was picked up by Magnolia for U.S. distribution in summer 2012.[52] At TIFF, she told the press she had deliberately gained weight for the part, which required a nude scene, emphasizing that Polley wanted "real bodies and real women".[53] In interviews, she warned fans not to expect too much.[54] However, she later told podcaster and authorJulie Klausner that she had not really gained weight and that the statements were meant as self-deprecating humor.[55]
On September 20, 2012, Silverman made apublic service announcement (PSA) criticizing new voter identification laws that create obstacles to the ability of certain groups to vote in the November presidential election. The project was financed by theJewish Council for Education & Research (JCER) and was co-produced by Mik Moore[56] andAri Wallach (the pair that also co-produced The Great Schlep and Scissor Sheldon).[57]
Silverman voiced Vanellope von Schweetz, one of the main characters in the 2012 Disney animated filmWreck-It Ralph. She reprised the role in the 2018 sequelRalph Breaks the Internet. She is in the creative team that writes and produces the content for the YouTube comedy channel calledJash. The other partners areMichael Cera,Reggie Watts andTim Heidecker andEric Wareheim (also known asTim & Eric). TheJash channel premiered online March 10, 2013.[58][59][60][61] InSeth MacFarlane's western comedy film,A Million Ways to Die in the West, she played Ruth, a prostitute, who is in love with Edward (Giovanni Ribisi). It was released on May 30, 2014.[62]
Additionally, Silverman starred in a pilot forNBC calledSusan in 313, ordered for the 2012–2013 season but ultimately not picked up. Among those acting in the show wereTig Notaro,June Diane Raphael,Ken Leung,Jeff Goldblum, andHarris Wittels.Variety praised the pilot but noted that it was likely too niche for the network. Silverman herself said NBC probably made the right decision and that network television's structure may not have suited her.[63][64][65]
In 2013,HBO announced that Silverman would star withPatti LuPone andTopher Grace in a situation comedy pilot calledPeople in New Jersey, produced bySNL'sLorne Michaels.[66] The pilot was not picked up for a series order.
Before the second volume ofRWBY's Volume 2premiered in 2015, the show's staff had gotten word that Silverman would be the voice actor for Neopolitan. However, according to the show's companion book, the voice acting role "never solidified."[67]
From 2017 to 2018, she hosted theHulustreaming televisionlate-night talk showI Love You, America with Sarah Silverman. On October 10, 2019, she was featured in a 30-minute YouTube documentary calledLaughing Matters, created by SoulPancake in collaboration with Funny or Die, wherein a variety of comedians discuss mental health.[68]
After being unable to do stand-up shows during theCOVID-19 pandemic,[69] Silverman launchedThe Sarah Silverman Podcast in October 2020, in which she discusses topics ranging from her personal life to societal issues, politics and current events, as well as responding to listener call-ins.[70]
In 2022, she adaptedThe Bedwetter into anoff-Broadway musical. She wrote the book and lyrics to the musical. The production premiered at theAtlantic Theatre Company'sLinda Gross Theatre and ran from April 30 through July 10, 2022. The musical starredCaissie Levy andBebe Neuwirth and was directed byAnne Kauffman.[71] Silverman receivedDrama Desk Award andOuter Critics Circle Award nominations for her work.
In 2023, her stand-up comedy specialSomeone You Love premiered on theHBO streaming serviceMax. It was the first stand-up comedy special to premiere on Max. It was filmed at theWilbur Theater in Boston, and debuted her new song, "Something to Tell You". The special received a Golden Globe nomination, and won theWriters Guild of American Award for Outstanding Comedy/Variety Special.
In February 2024, she began hostingStupid Pet Tricks, a TV series on TBS. This comedy variety show is based on David Letterman's popular segment on hisThe Late Show with David Letterman. The series give pet owners a chance to showcase their own pet's silly antics. The show will have a ten-episode first season.
On May 20, 2025, Silverman's stand-up specialPostmortem premiered on Netflix. It largely dealt with Silverman grieving her parents, who died nine days apart in 2023. It was recorded at theBeacon Theater inNew York City.[72]
Silverman became avegetarian at age ten.[73] She is open about her lifelong battle withclinical depression, which at one point led to her developing an addiction toXanax. She credited her subsequent emotional health to taking the prescription drugZoloft.[25][17][74] She struggled withbedwetting from the time she was young until well into her teens and stated, in a 2007 interview, that she had wet the bed recently.[75]
Silverman's autobiography, published in April 2010, titledThe Bedwetter, explores the subject of bedwetting as well as other personal stories from her life. She stated she did not want to get married untilsame-sex couples were able to.[76] In 2014, she tweeted: "Just read that I wanna get married which is hilarious b/c I will never get married," adding, "Why would I want the govt involved in my love life? Ew. It's barbaric."[77]
She stated that she does not want to have biological children because "there's just millions of kids that have no parents" in the world and to avoid the risk that they might inherit her depression.[78] In 2017, Silverman also said that she has prioritized her artistic career, constantly on tour, instead of motherhood.[79]
Silverman's real-life sisterLaura played her sister onThe Sarah Silverman Program. Another older sister,Susan, is arabbi who lives inJerusalem with her husband,Yosef Abramowitz, the co-founder and president ofArava Power Company, and their five children.[13][80][81] Silverman considers herself culturally Jewish, which she has frequently mined for material, but says she isagnostic[18] and does not follow Judaism, stating, "I have no religion. But culturally I can't escape it; I'm very Jewish."[82][17]
In July 2016, Silverman spent a week in theintensive care unit atCedars Sinai Hospital withepiglottitis.[83][84][85][86]
She previously lived inWest Hollywood, California. She currently lives inLos Feliz and has a property inEast Village, Manhattan, New York City.[87][88]
In 2022, Silverman revealed on her own podcast that she hasmisophonia, having first noticed it when she was a teenager.[89]
Silverman has dated comediansKevin Brennan[90] andDave Attell.[91] She began datingJimmy Kimmel in 2002,[75] and referred to the relationship in some of her comedy, joking: "I'm Jewish, but I wear thisSaint Christopher medal sometimes; my boyfriend is Catholic – but you know ... it was cute the way he gave it to me. He said if it doesn't burn a hole through my skin, it will protect me."[24] In July 2008,Vanity Fair reported that the couple had split. However, in October 2008, the media reported they were on "the road back to being together".[92] The couple attended the wedding ofHoward Stern andBeth Ostrosky,[93] but split again in March 2009.[94] Sarah datedFamily Guy's executive producerAlec Sulkin briefly in 2010.[95]
At theEmmy Awards in August 2014, Silverman acknowledged she and Welsh actorMichael Sheen were in a relationship.[96] Silverman said in February 2018 that the two had broken up over the holidays.[97][98]
On Howard Stern'sSiriusXM radio show on November 17, 2020, she stated she was datingRory Albanese, the former showrunner ofThe Daily Show.[99]
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In 2001, Silverman used the racial slur "chink" in an ironic fashion in the context of a joke during a TV interview withConan O'Brien.[100]Guy Aoki of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) publicly objected to her use of the slur, and the two had an open discussion onPolitically Incorrect with Bill Maher.[101] Silverman defended the joke and did not apologize.[102] In an interview in the 2017 docu-seriesThe History of Comedy, Silverman stated that she learned a lot from the experience, including that her comedy style is not for everyone, but she does not want to be viewed as racist because that was not her intent.[103]
In a 2007 episode ofThe Sarah Silverman Program, her character woreblackface and said "I look like the beautifulQueen Latifah." Silverman said in 2019 that a resurfaced still from the sketch had recently caused her to be fired from an unnamed film.[104][105][106][107]
During theMTV Movie Awards in June 2007, which she hosted, Silverman joked in her opening monologue aboutParis Hilton going to jail for violating probation on an alcohol-related drunk-driving conviction, making Hilton – who was in the live audience – noticeably uncomfortable. She later apologized for the jokes.[108] Later that year, Silverman was criticized for mockingBritney Spears' "slutty clothes" and calling her two sons "adorable mistakes" at the2007 MTV Video Music Awards.[109] Her monologue garnered renewed criticism in 2021 shortly after the release of the documentaryFraming Britney Spears, in the wake of which Silverman expressed regret over her remarks and claimed that she had not seen Spears' performance before taking the stage.[110]
In 2019, Silverman received death wishes from two Baptist pastors over her 2005 routine "Jesus is Magic", where she joked about killing Jesus: "I'm glad the Jews killed Jesus. I'd do it again!" In response, Silverman condemned the pastors and the "manipulation of what can be true".[111]
In 2023, during theGaza war, Silverman was criticized for sharing anInstagram post on her story that supportedIsrael's restriction of food, water and electricity to Gaza. Silverman later took the post down, claiming she had not read it in full before posting.[112]
In 2015, Silverman signed an open letter which theONE Campaign had been collecting signatures for; the letter was addressed toAngela Merkel andNkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, urging them to focus on women, as they served as the head of theG7 in Germany and theAfrican Union in Ethiopia, respectively, which would start to set the priorities in development funding in advance of a main UN summit in September 2015 that would establish new development goals for a generation.[113]
Leading up to the2016 US presidential election, she became increasingly politically active. In 2015, Silverman endorsed Vermont SenatorBernie Sanders forPresident of the United States, saying: "He says what he means and he means what he says and he's not for sale." She had previously introduced Sanders at a rally in Los Angeles, California that drew an audience of over 27,500 people.[6]
She initially supported Sanders, but following the Democratic nomination later spoke in support ofHillary Clinton at the2016 Democratic National Convention.[6][7] In her convention speech, she urged other Sanders supporters to back Clinton and, later, amid boos from some Sanders supporters, said: "Can I just say? To the 'Bernie or Bust' people, you're being ridiculous".[114][115][116][7] In addition to discussing her regular use ofcannabis onConan[117] and at the66th Primetime Emmy Awards,[118] Silverman has been vocal in her opposition to racial bias and unfair arrests for cannabis possession. She supportssocial justice programs to find work opportunities for non-violent offenders and was a primary investor inLowell Herb Co,[119] aiming to end cannabis prohibition in the United States.
Silverman again endorsed Bernie Sanders and campaigned for him for the2020 US presidential election.[120]
On September 23, 2020, she encouraged her Instagram followers to contactVoteRiders, a voter ID education organization, to make sure they have the necessary ID to vote".[121]
In July 2023, Silverman and two other authors sued the tech companiesOpenAI andMeta Platforms, alleging that the defendants' respective language modelsChatGPT andLLaMA were trained on the plaintiffs' books without permission or compensation and that they had obtained said books through an illegal venue.[122]
In October 2023, Silverman posted several social media posts and stories in support of Israel during theGaza war.[123] She also left theDemocratic Socialists of America after being a member for several years, citing their published response to the initial Hamas attacks and lack of support for Israel.[124][125]
| Title | Details |
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| Jesus Is Magic |
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| Songs of the Sarah Silverman Program: From Our Rears to Your Ears! |
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| We Are Miracles | |
| A Speck of Dust | |
| Someone You Love |
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| Year | Title | Label | Formats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Give the Jew Girl Toys | Interscope Records | Download |
| 2009 | Alan Cohen Experience:Your Mother Should Know | The Beatles Complete on Ukulele | |
| 2017 | 7-Inches for Planned Parenthood:Untitled (Live at Largo) | 7-Inches For Planned Parenthood | 7" pink vinyl, Download |
| 2019 | Walk off the Earth and Sarah Silverman:Video Killed the Radio Star | Walk off the Earth Ent. | Download |
| 2019 | Frightened Rabbit Harkins and Sarah Silverman:My Backwards Walk | Atlantic Records UK | Spotify |
| Year | Title | Label | Formats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee | Harper Audio | CD, Download |
| Year | Title | Tracks | Label | Formats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Crank Yankers: The Best Uncensored Crank Calls, Vol. 1 | "Jimmy & Jimmy's Mom: Penis Pump" | Comedy Central Records | CD, Download |
| Crank Yankers: The Best Uncensored Crank Calls, Vol. 2 | "Hadassah Guberman: Nanny Job"/"Waste Management" | |||
| 2003 | Crank Yankers: The Best Uncensored Crank Calls, Vol. 3 | "Hadassah: Lost $25 Chip" | ||
| 2005 | The Aristocrats | "A Glimpse of the Divine" | V2 Records | |
| 2011 | The Muppets | "Party of One" | Walt Disney Records | |
| 2017 | The Bob's Burgers Music Album | Tracks 52, 65 & 72 | Sub Pop Records | |
| 2018 | Ralph Breaks the Internet | "A Place Called Slaughter Race" | Walt Disney Records |
| Year | Play | Role | Theatre |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | The Bedwetter | Book and Lyrics | Linda Gross Theatre,off-Broadway |
The youngest of four girls growing up in a middle-class Jewish family in New Hampshire, her parents divorced when she was 6.
Some of the names here will be familiar only to die-hard fans; others, like Murphy, defined what was funny for generations of viewers.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Sarah Silverman kicked off the onslaught of 'staches, reviving her 2009 Emmys gag [...].
When you were nominated for an Emmy last year for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, one of the funniest moments of the ceremony was your fake mustache.
The DSA of which I was a proud lifetime member, has lost me forever.
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