Janeane Garofalo

Janeane Garofalo (born September 28, 1964 in Newton, New Jersey), is an

Entertainment Career

Comedy

The winner of numerous comedy awards and recognitions, she officially began her career in stand-up comedy in the early 90s during the grunge era. Her appearance was often in line with grunge style: disheveled with thick black glasses and unkempt hair. Her comedy is often self-deprecating; she made fun of popular culture and the pressures put on women to live up to media-created body ideals.

Related Topics:
Stand-up comedy - 90s - Grunge - Popular culture

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Garofalo is a self-described pessimist: "I guess I just prefer to see the dark side of things. The glass is always half empty. And cracked. And I just cut my lip on it. And chipped a tooth." http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/janeanegar163727.html

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Garofalo's comedy shows involve her and her notebook, which is filled with years' worth of article clippings and random observations that she uses for reference during her act for direct quotes, as with new articles, and to enhance the unprepared, fully conversational nature of her standup. Garofalo feels she does not tell jokes but makes observations and hopefully gets laughs; this approach is very more amusing to many audience members than a memorized, potentially not unique set.

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TV

Her television series debut was on the short-lived The Ben Stiller Show on Fox in 1992, on which she was a cast member alongside longtime friends Ben Stiller, Bob Odenkirk, Andy Dick, and David Cross (who was a bit player). A chance meeting on the set of the show led her to be offered the role of Paula on The Larry Sanders Show on HBO, earning her two Emmy Award nominations in 1996 and 1997.

Related Topics:
The Ben Stiller Show - Fox - Ben Stiller - Bob Odenkirk - Andy Dick - David Cross - The Larry Sanders Show - HBO - Emmy Award

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Following The Ben Stiller Shows cancellation, Garofalo joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in its ill-fated 1994-95 season. As detailed in Tom Shale's book Live From Saturday Night and mentioned in Jay Mohr's ' Garofalo was unhappy on the show, citing weak material and a sexist atmosphere among the writers. She left in January 1995, mid-season.

Related Topics:
Saturday Night Live - Live From Saturday Night - Jay Mohr

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Garofalo has been offered many television series roles but has accepted few; for instance, she turned down the role of Monica, a role written with her or her type in mind and for which she was the first actress offered, on the hit NBC sitcom Friends. Two Garofalo-starring television pilots, an ABC show called Slice O'Life, about a reporter sentenced to sappy human interest stories that appear at the end of news broadcast, and an NBC program called All In based on the family life and professional successes of poker star Annie Duke, were not picked up by their respective networks.

Related Topics:
NBC - Friends - ABC - Annie Duke

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Garofalo has appeared on many comedy programs and over the past few years become a regular guest commentator on political talk shows. In spring 2003, Garofalo appeared on cable news over 100 times, speaking about the Iraq War. A variety of her comments spark controversies with conservatives, including a February 2005 appearance on MSNBC in which she denounced Republicans for ink-staining their fingers to show solidarity with Iraqi voters. Garofalo explained that she thought this disingenuous and compared it to a Nazi salute.

Related Topics:
Iraq War - MSNBC - Republican

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In 2005, she filmed a few episodes as a guest, appearing as campaign adviser to Jimmy Smits' character, on The West Wing.

Related Topics:
Jimmy Smits - The West Wing

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Movies

Garofalo's first critically-acclaimed starring role in film was in 1996 in The Truth About Cats and Dogs. The independent film, whose final script Garofalo admittedly abhorred, was a surprise hit, eventually becoming number one at the box office. The mid-1990s were what Garofalo has termed the height of her popularity. Before The Truth About Cats and Dogs, she was visible from television work and memorable supporting roles in films such as Reality Bites, Bye Bye Love and Now and Then and a leading role in I Shot a Man in Vegas. Garofalo has had a variety of leading, supporting, and cameo roles in films as diverse as Steal This Movie, Cop Land, Dog Park, Wet Hot American Summer, Clay Pigeons, Southland Tales, The MatchMaker, Sweethearts, 200 Cigarettes, Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion, Dogma, The Cable Guy, Permanent Midnight, Wet Hot American Summer, Duane Hopwood and The Search for John Gissing, among others. In April 2004 she was selected by Comedy Central as one of the 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time.

Related Topics:
The Truth About Cats and Dogs - Reality Bites - Bye Bye Love - Now and Then - I Shot a Man in Vegas - Steal This Movie - Cop Land - Dog Park - Wet Hot American Summer - Clay Pigeons - Southland Tales - The MatchMaker - Sweethearts - 200 Cigarettes - Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion - Dogma - The Cable Guy - Permanent Midnight - Duane Hopwood - The Search for John Gissing - 2004 - Comedy Central - 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time

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