Annabelle Gurwitch | |
|---|---|
 Gurwitch at the Annapolis Book Festival in 2018 | |
| Born | Mobile, Alabama, U.S. |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Spouse | Jeff Kahn (1996–2019) |
| Children | 1 |
Annabelle Gurwitch is an American author, actress and television host most recognizable from her stint as a hostess on Dinner and a Movie on TBS, [1] and an activist associated with environmental issues [2] and secular humanism. [3] She also was recognized as one of the 100 Influential Women in Oncology by OncoDaily. [4]
Gurwitch was born to a Jewish family [5] in Mobile, Alabama, and grew up in Florida, graduating from Miami Beach High School in 1980. While there, she took acting classes with Jay W. Jensen. After high school, she attended The Experimental Theatre Wing at New York University.[ citation needed ]
Gurwitch began working as an actress Off-Broadway in New York City, including productions with Theater for a Young Audience at Henry Street Settlement, The Public Theater, the 20th Anniversary production of Uncommon WomenandOthers at Lucille Lortel. Her first long-running television role was as Gina Daniels on The Guiding Light in the mid 1980s.[ citation needed ]
Gurwitch's theater credits include: The World Premiere of Donald Margulies' A Coney Island Christmas [6] at The Geffen Playhouse, the West Coast Premiere of Go Back to Where You Are [7] by David Greenspan at The Odyssey, the West Coast premier of Women in Jeopardy [8] at EST Santa Barbara, productions with LA Theaterworks including Sixteen Wounded with Omar Metwally, Our Lady of 121 Street [9] opposite Laurence Fishburn and Adam's Rib [10] with Adam Arkin.
Her performance, off Broadway at the Joe Quintero Theater, in the title role of Murray Mednick's Joe and Betty garnered her a place in The New York Times "Top Ten Performances in Theatre of the Year 2002." She also appeared in the Los Angeles Times "Top Ten Performances of the Year in Theatre 2001."[ citation needed ]
She developed her solo show based on I See You Made an Effort, in workshops at the All for One Solo Fest, NY and Skylight Theater, Los Angeles, in 2017. It was featured in the subscription offerings at The Scottsdale Center of Performing Arts and The Temple Theater, at The Des Moines Performing Arts Center, amongst other touring locations. Her live appearances include: The Moth, Joe's Pub, House of Speakeasy, New York Comedy Festival, and the Thurber Spring Lecture Series.[ citation needed ]
Gurwitch co-wrote two episodes of the 1980s children's animated series ThunderCats . [11] Gurwitch and Paul Gilmartin were the original hosts of the TBS show Dinner and a Movie , which combined cooking instruction with the viewing of a feature film. Gurwitch served as co-host for six years, departing in 2002.
In 1996, she appeared in Encino Woman , a TV movie sequel to 1992's Encino Man . [12]
Other television hosting work included stints on Not Necessarily the News , Syfy's The Dream Team with Annabelle and Michael, VH1's Best Of..., series, Style Network's You're Invited, and Dot Comedy . She was the host of Wa$ted! on Planet Green for three seasons. [13]
Gurwitch has appeared on TV series including Miami Vice , Dexter , The Cleaner , Medium , State of Mind , The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman , Seinfeld and Boston Legal .
In 2002 Gurwitch appeared as the host of Meow TV, along with her cat Stinky, a show distributed on CD inside bags of Meow Mix. Meow TV presented itself as "Television By Cats, For Cats." [14]
In 2007 Gurwitch wrote, produced, directed, and appeared in the documentary film Fired!.[ citation needed ] It documents the experiences of twenty-five people, including Gurwitch, who were fired from various jobs. They recount their firings through interviews, skits, comedy routines, and filmed excerpts from the previously produced stage play of the same title. David Cross, Jeff Garlin, Bob Odenkirk and Anne Meara were all featured in addition to UAW workers, former US Secretary of Labor Bob Reich, economist Ben Stein and many other job seekers. The film was played at the US Department of Labor and labor film festivals around the country including the DC Labor FilmFest.
Gurwitch's other films include Melvin Goes to Dinner and The Shaggy Dog .[ citation needed ]
She is the author of five books, most recently, You're Leaving When? which was published in March 2021. The book comically details her awkward and chaotic encounters with an eccentric French boarder. These encounters came after her decision to start renting bedrooms in her house to boarders to avoid having to sell it after her divorce. [15] In April 2017, Gurwitch published Wherever You Go, There They Are: Stories About My Family You Might Relate To. [16] [17] [18] [19]
I See You Made an Effort, published in 2014, [20] was a New York Times bestseller [21] and Thurber Prize for American Humor Writing finalist. The year Gurwitch was a finalist for the Thurber Prize marked the first time the three finalists were all female. [22] Gurwitch adapted this book as a solo show, first produced at the Skylight Theater [23] and then toured nationally in 2017. Included in this book is Autumn Leaves, a 2012 ebook Gurwitch published with Zola Books that recounts an erotic fantasy she once had about one of the staff members at an Apple Genius Bar. [24]
Gurwitch once worked for Woody Allen, but was fired during an encounter in which he said that she looked "retarded" among other insults. In 2006 she published a book of essays inspired by that dismissal called Fired!: Tales of the Canned, Canceled, Downsized, and Dismissed which subsequently became the Fired! documentary film.[ citation needed ]
Gurwitch and then-husband Jeff Kahn signed a six-figure deal with Crown to publish a memoir called You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up . The two adapted the book into a theatrical production, in association with Off-Broadway Booking.
Her essays and satire have been published in The New Yorker , [25] The New York Times, [26] Wall Street Journal, [27] The Los Angeles Times, [17] McSweeney's, [28] O Magazine, [29] among other publications. She was a regular commentator for NPR's All Things Considered . [30] She frequently makes appearances on NPR including on The Moth, [31] Ask Me Another [32] and Marketplace. [33]
Gurwitch is a contributing writer for NPR's Day to Day , The Los Angeles Times Magazine , The Nation , and she has written for Child , Publishers Weekly , Marie Claire , More , Men's Health , Glamour , Cooking Light , Premiere , Penthouse and Los Angeles .
Her essays have appeared in two anthologies: Note to Self: 30 Women on Hardship, Humiliation, Heartbreak, and Overcoming It All [34] and Rejected: Tales of the Failed, Dumped, and Canceled. [35]
Gurwitch has one child [36] and lives in Los Angeles. [37] She has written and given talks on how her southern Jewish roots have influenced her family life. [38] [39] [40] [41] On November 14, 2020, The New York Times published her opinion piece "The Coronavirus Saved My Life", describing how she went in for a Covid-19 test and came out with a stage 4 metastatic lung cancer diagnosis. [42]
Amber Rose Tamblyn is an American actress and author. She first came to national attention in her role on the soap opera General Hospital as Emily Quartermaine at the age of 11. She followed with a starring role on the prime-time series Joan of Arcadia, portraying the title character, Joan Girardi, for which she received Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Her feature film work includes roles such as Tibby Rollins from the first two The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Megan McBride in 127 Hours (2010), as well as the critically acclaimed film, Stephanie Daley opposite Tilda Swinton which debuted at The Sundance Film Festival and for which Tamblyn won Best Actress at The Locarno International Film Festival and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. In 2016, she made her directorial debut with the film Paint It Black starring Alia Shawkat and based on Janet Fitch's 2006 novel of the same name. In 2021 she starred opposite Diane Lane in FX's Y: The Last Man.
Susan Orlean is an American journalist, television writer, and bestselling author of The Orchid Thief and The Library Book. She has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1992, and has contributed articles to many magazines including Vogue, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Outside. In 2021, Orlean joined the writing team of HBO comedy series How To with John Wilson.
Sarah Kate Silverman 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 the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live during its 19th season between 1993 and 1994. She then starred in and produced The Sarah Silverman Program, which ran from 2007 to 2010 on Comedy Central. For her work on the program, Silverman was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
Ann K. Powers is an American writer and popular music critic. She is a music critic for NPR and a contributor at the Los Angeles Times, where she was previously chief pop critic. She has also written for other publications, such as The New York Times, Blender and The Village Voice. Powers is the author of Weird Like Us: My Bohemian America, a memoir; Good Booty: Love and Sex, Black & White, Body and Soul in American Music, on eroticism in American pop music; and Piece by Piece, co-authored with Tori Amos.
Encino Man is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Les Mayfield in his directorial debut. The film stars Sean Astin, with a supporting cast of Brendan Fraser, Mariette Hartley, Richard Masur, Pauly Shore, Megan Ward, Robin Tunney, Michael DeLuise, and Jonathan Ke Quan in his last American feature film until 2021. In the film, two teenagers discover and thaw a frozen caveman, who has to adjust to 20th-century society while teaching them life lessons of his own.
Miranda July is an American film director, screenwriter, actress and author. Her body of work includes film, fiction, monologue, digital presentations and live performance art.
Tales of Terror is a 1962 American International Pictures Gothic horror anthology film in colour and Panavision, produced by Samuel Z. Arkoff, James H. Nicholson, and Roger Corman, who also directed. The screenplay was written by Richard Matheson, and the film stars Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Basil Rathbone. It is the fourth in the so-called Corman-Poe cycle of eight films, largely featuring adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories and directed by Corman for AIP. The film was released in 1962 as a double feature with Panic in Year Zero!.
Kenneth Turan is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the Los Angeles Times from 1991 until 2020 and was described by The Hollywood Reporter as "arguably the most widely read film critic in the town most associated with the making of movies".
Jenny Ann Biggs is an American actress and writer. She played Nina Ash on the television series Angel (2003–04). She appeared on the series Viva Laughlin (2007), Crash (2008), and Girls (2014). Mollen has published two collections of essays, and has written articles for various publications, including Cosmopolitan and Parents. She has appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list twice with her books I Like You Just The Way I Am (2014) and Live Fast Die Hot (2016).
Simon Rich is an American humorist, novelist, and screenwriter. He has published two novels and six collections of humor pieces, several of which appeared in The New Yorker. His novels and short stories have been translated into more than a dozen languages.
Annabelle's Wish is a 1997 American direct-to-video animated Christmas film that revolves around a young calf who aspires to fly and become one of Santa Claus' reindeer. Narrated by American country singer Randy Travis, it also stars voice actress Kath Soucie as the voice of Annabelle. Ralph Edwards Films released the film to video on October 21, 1997, followed by a television broadcast later that year on Fox.
Rachel Kushner is an American writer, known for her novels Telex from Cuba (2008), The Flamethrowers (2013), and The Mars Room (2018).
Ellen Frankel was the Editor-in-Chief of the Jewish Publication Society (JPS) from 1991 until 2009, and also served as CEO of the JPS for 10 years. She retired in 2009 to pursue her own writing and scholarly projects, serving as JPS's first Editor Emerita.
Annie Korzen is an American actress, comedian, writer and social media personality.
Jan Pringle Eliasberg is an American film, theatre, and television director and writer. Her debut novel, Hannah's War, was published by Little, Brown in 2020 and has sold 70,000 copies to date. Hannah's War has been called "a gripping cat-and-mouse tale of love, war, deception and espionage that you won't be able to put down." Kate Quinn, author of The Alice Network and The Rose Code. The Jewish Book Council stated, "That a novel that deals fluently with physics, espionage, and Jewish tragedy can also become a deeply affecting emotional tale – with a transcendent, redemptive vision of love – is a tribute to its hugely gifted author." Hannah's War was a Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award and has been acquired for film with Eliasberg adapting the novel for the screen and directing..
Sheila Nevins is an American television producer and former head of MTV Documentary Films division of MTV Entertainment Studios. Previously, Nevins was the President of HBO Documentary Films. She has produced over 1,000 documentary films for HBO and is one of the most influential people in documentary filmmaking. She has worked on productions that have been recognized with 35 News and Documentary Emmy Awards, 42 Peabody Awards, and 26 Academy Awards. Nevins has won 31 individual Primetime Emmy Awards, more than any other person. She is also a member of the board of directors for the Peabody Awards.
Celeste Ng is an American writer and novelist. She has released many short stories that have been published in a variety of literary journals. Ng's first novel, Everything I Never Told You, released on June 26, 2014, won the Amazon Book of the Year award as well as praise from critics. Ng's short story Girls at Play won a Pushcart Prize in 2012, and was a 2015 recipient of an Alex Award. Her second novel, Little Fires Everywhere, was published in 2017. The TV-miniseries based on the book premiered in 2020. Ng received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2020. Her most recent novel, Our Missing Hearts, was released on October 4, 2022.
Samantha Soule is an American actress. She is known for her role in the Netflix series Godless, as well as Nurse Jackie, The Blacklist, The Queen's Gambit and Tales of the City. She also appears in the Martin Scorsese film The Irishman. She is also known for her roles in Broadway plays, including Dinner at Eight, and Off-Broadway performances, which include The Other Thing and Killers and Other Family. As a film director, her movies, include Midday Black Midnight Blue, for which she also co-wrote the screenplay.
Rebecca Leah"Bekah"Brunstetter is an American writer. Her published plays include F*cking Art, which won top honors at the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival, I Used to Write on Walls, Oohrah!, Be a Good Little Widow, Going to a Place Where You Already Are, and The Cake, a play inspired by events leading to the US Supreme Court case Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. She is a founding member of The Kilroys, which annually produces The Kilroys' List. Her television work includes writing for I Just Want My Pants Back, Underemployed, Switched at Birth, and American Gods, and both writing and producing on This Is Us.
Encino Woman is a 1996 TV movie directed by Shawn Schepps. It tells the story of a cavewoman who awakes in 1990s Los Angeles and inadvertently becomes both a successful fashion model and a spokesperson for feminism. The film is a sequel to 1992's Encino Man, though none of the original cast reprise their roles. Numerous drag queens make cameos, including Jackie Beat and The Fabulous Wonder Twins. It aired on the ABC network on April 20, 1996.
