Jenny Slate

Slate was born on March 25, 1982, in Milton, Massachusetts, to Nancy (née Gilson) and Ronald "Ron" Slate,^[3][4][5] and has two sisters.^[6][7][8] She and her family are Jewish.^[9][10][11] After graduating from Milton Academy as valedictorian,^[12] Slate attended Columbia University as a literature major,^[9] where she helped form the improv group Fruit Paunch,^[13] starred in the Varsity Show,^[14] and met Gabe Liedman, who later was her comedy partner.^[15] Slate graduated from Columbia University in 2004.^[7][16][17]

She and Liedman formed the comedy duo Gabe & Jenny.^[18] Their stand-up shows with Max Silvestri, "Big Terrific", were named best new variety show of 2008 by Time Out New York.^[19] In 2015, Slate, Liedman, and Silvestri ended the show, citing their busy schedules,^[20] although they have since occasionally performed together. Slate first met Liedman in 2000 while attending Columbia University.^[21] They describe their relationship as a "nonsexual romance"; Slate says, "I like to think of us as kind of like (Seinfeld characters) Elaine Benes and George Costanza, but we like each other."^[12] Throughout 2008 and 2009, Slate regularly performed her one-woman show Jenny Slate: Dead Millionaire at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (UCBT) in New York City.^[22]

Slate was a regular commentator on many VH1 "talking head" programs with commentary.^[12] In early 2009, she made several appearances on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon recurring sketch "7th Floor West", where she played an NBC page, later promoted to Fallon's assistant.^[23] She had a recurring role in Bored to Death,^[16][24] and guest appearances on several television programs.

Slate joined the cast of Saturday Night Live for the 2009–10 season.^[13][23][25] In her first episode, she accidentally said "fucking" during her debut sketch, which was heard on the live broadcast, but removed from reruns.^{[26][27][28][29]} Amongst various impressions, she was best known for Tina-Tina Cheneuse, an infomercial pitcher who advertises personalized doorbells, car horns, and alarm clocks.^[30] Despite rumors to the contrary, Slate has insisted that her SNL termination was not due to cursing but rather simply because "I didn't click."^[31]

In August 2010, she co-wrote and voiced the animated short film Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. This led to Marcel the Shell with Shoes on, Two.^[32][33] Slate also wrote a "Marcel"-themed children's book that was released on November 1, 2011.^[34] Her first live film role was as Zoe in Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked; more films followed in 2012, including the voice of Ted's mother in The Lorax. Her first appearance in Parks and Recreation was in the 2013 episode "Bailout", in which she portrayed Mona-Lisa Saperstein. Then, Slate released her own 12-episode mini-series on YouTube called Catherine, celebrating late 1980s and early 1990s soap-opera aesthetics.^[35]

In 2014, Slate starred in the comedy-drama film Obvious Child, which follows the life of a young stand-up comic as she grapples with an unplanned pregnancy and eventual abortion.^[36] Slate won the Critics Choice Award for Best Actress in a Comedy,^[37] Best Breakout Performance at the Newport Beach Film Festival, the Virtuosos Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and Best Comedic Actress at the Women Film Critics Circle Awards for her performance in the film. She co-starred with Judy Greer and Nat Faxon in the first season of the FX series Married.^[38] Slate still appeared in a few episodes after season one. Sarah Burns took her place in the series.

Slate appeared as Liz B. in the recurring "PubLIZity" sketches in Kroll Show, as well as many other recurring and one-off characters, performing in some capacity in almost every episode until the series ended in 2015. In 2016, Slate voiced Dawn Bellwether in the Disney film Zootopia and Gidget in The Secret Life of Pets. She and her father co-wrote a book titled About the House, about their time living in Slate's childhood home in Milton, Massachusetts, which was published in December 2016.^[39]

From 2017 until 2019, Slate voiced the biracial character Missy Foreman-Greenwald on the animated Netflix series Big Mouth. Slate exited the role on June 24, 2020, writing on Instagram that "At the start of the show, I reasoned with myself that it was permissible for me to play Missy because her mom is Jewish and white—as am I. But Missy is also Black and Black characters on an animated show should be played by Black people."^[40] In 2017, Slate starred in the film Gifted as Bonnie Stevenson, the teacher of a 7-year-old mathematical genius. In October 2019, she released a stand-up comedy special on Netflix, titled Stage Fright.

Slate published her book titled Little Weirds, about her struggles with and thoughts about life and relationships, in 2019. In 2022, she appeared in the critically acclaimed science fiction film Everything Everywhere All at Once as Big Nose. Her character's original name was changed to Debbie the Dog Mom for the film's digital release due to its association with Jewish stereotypes.^[41] For their performance the cast won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Slate lived in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, before moving with filmmaker Dean Fleischer Camp to Los Angeles in the early 2010s.^[42] In September 2012, Slate married Fleischer Camp.^[43] They collaborated on the Marcel the Shell with Shoes On franchise, including the books, the short films, and later, the 2021 feature film. The pair announced their separation in May 2016. Slate started dating actor Chris Evans^[44] a couple of months later.

In September 2019, Slate announced she and art curator and author Ben Shattuck, owner of the Davolls General Store in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, were engaged.^[45][46] On February 3, 2021, Slate announced that she had given birth to a daughter in late 2020.^[47] After three attempts at a wedding were canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic,^[48] she and Shattuck married in their living room on New Year's Eve 2021. They planned to move back to Brooklyn in the fall of 2025. They had been living in Shattuck's childhood home in Dartmouth, and his parents lived down the street from them.^[49]

Slate is an agnostic.^[50]

• Slate, Jenny; Fleischer-Camp, Dean (2011). Marcel the Shell with Shoes On: Things About Me. Razorbill. ISBN 978-1-59514-455-3.
• Slate, Jenny; Fleischer-Camp, Dean (2014). Marcel the Shell: The Most Surprised I've Ever Been. Razorbill. ISBN 978-1-59514-456-0.
• Slate, Jenny; Slate, Ron (2016). About the House. Concord Free Press. ISBN 9780990805922.
• Slate, Jenny (2019). Little Weirds. Little, Brown and Company (published November 5, 2019). ISBN 978-0-316-48534-0.^[81]
• Slate, Jenny (2024). Lifeform. Little, Brown and Company (published October 22, 2024). ISBN 9780316263931.