She is of Irish and Italian heritage,[8] and was raised Baptist.[9] Her parents worked in politics, and she credits her politically opposed parents (her mother was a Democrat, her father a Republican) in shaping her sense of humor, having grown up in a "blue-state/red-state, forever-clashing political household", as she called it in an interview with Washington Flyer.[citation needed] She has a younger brother, Fletcher.[5]
Her father, Paul O. Wilson, is a political strategist and consultant who runs campaigns for Republican party candidates.[10] Her mother, Kathy Higdon, was a women's rights advocate and served as the chairwoman of the National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC) throughout the 1980s.[5] Under Higdon's leadership, the NWPC endorsed Walter Mondale in the 1984 presidential election.[5]
Kathy Higdon Wilson retired from politics in the late 1980s; switching to a career in early childhood education, she began serving as the director of childcare and development centers in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1991.[5] She died of heart failure at age 54 in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on September 1, 2005.[5] Casey Wilson and her family have since continued to run the Kathy Wilson Foundation, a charitable organization honoring her mother's work in helping children with disabilities.[11]
Wilson's passion for performing began at an early age, and she has said that her first memorable exposure to theater came when her father took her to New York City to see a production of Cats, inspiring her to create her own plays.[12]
When Wilson was nine years old, her father built her a homemade stage in the family's backyard, where she put on plays with other children from the neighborhood. From there, she started taking singing and acting lessons as a teenager. She became involved in her high school's theater program, starring in (and occasionally directing) many of the school's plays and musicals, including a production of The Sound of Music, in which she played the lead role of Maria.[13]
While studying acting at the Stella Adler School of Dramatic Arts, Wilson originally set out to be a dramatic actress, but later started to focus on comedy at the suggestion of an acting teacher.[14]
After graduating from NYU in 2002, Wilson and her best friend from college, June Diane Raphael, began studying improvisational comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York City, where they eventually ran their two-woman sketch show for a number of years. Performing the long-running stage show opened doors for them as writers. After performing the show at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in 2005, they were hired by New Regency Pictures to write the film Bride Wars and landed a development deal with UPN to create a sitcom pilot.[15]
Wilson started her comedy career writing and performing with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (UCB) in New York and later in Los Angeles.[7] At UCB, she was a member of the Harold improv teams "Mr. and Mrs. All-Star", "Sentimental Lady", and "Hey, Uncle Gary!".[17]
Among her best-known work at UCB was the long-running two-woman sketch show Rode Hard and Put Away Wet, written and performed alongside her comedy partner and best friend June Diane Raphael; the show ran from 2003 to 2006 in New York and Los Angeles and was an official selection at 2005's US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado.[7] The two women, who first met in a clowning class during their freshman year at NYU,[18] went on to win the ECNY Award for "Best Comedy Duo" in 2005.[citation needed]
Wilson and Raphael's comedic partnership has since branched out into an active writing career in film and television. They co-wrote their first screenplay for the comedy Bride Wars, in which they also played supporting roles.[19] They landed a development deal with UPN in 2005 to create a half-hour comedy pilot. In 2007 they worked as writers and story editors on the Americanized version of Creature Comforts on CBS.[citation needed]
Wilson is a frequent contributor to the popular humor website Funny or Die, writing and starring in many viral videos for the site, including a series of political parodies where she plays Callista Gingrich.[citation needed]
Wilson again collaborated with her husband David Caspe (they met working together on Happy Endings, which Caspe created) on the NBC sitcom Marry Me, which aired for one season from 2014 to 2015. The series starred Wilson and Ken Marino as an engaged couple, and the premise was loosely based on Wilson and Caspe's relationship. She also starred for two seasons on the Hulu original series The Hotwives. The series is a parody of the reality television franchise The Real Housewives on Bravo. With season one (The Hotwives of Orlando) focused on Orlando, and season two taking place in Las Vegas (The Hotwives of Las Vegas), both seasons featured the same cast playing different roles in each season.[citation needed]
After auditioning in late 2007, Wilson was hired in January 2008 to join the cast of Saturday Night Live, succeeding departing cast member Maya Rudolph. However, due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, she did not make her first appearance as a cast member until the show returned in February 2008; she was the first new addition to the cast in over two years, and was also the first SNL cast member to have been born in the 1980s. Wilson's most memorable work on SNL included celebrity impressions of, among others, Rachael Ray, Elizabeth Dole, Elizabeth Taylor, Ginnifer Goodwin, Katy Perry, and Jennifer Aniston, as well as original characters such as Dusty Velvet, "the paralyzed stripper"; and Toni Ward, co-host of "The Cougar Den". After spending two seasons on SNL, Wilson was let go from the show before the start of the 2009–2010 season. When asked how she felt about her SNL departure in an October 2009 interview, Wilson said: "My mindset is good. I did it for a year and a half. I don't think it will ultimately define my career. And it wasn't the best fit for me."[28]
Notable characters on SNL
Wilson has performed as a number of notable characters on Saturday Night Live:
Dusty Velvet, a strip club dancer who was left paralyzed from the neck down following a freak Tilt-A-Whirl accident, and refuses to let it stop her from performing her act. She is only able to perform her "erotic moves" with the assistance of Donnie (played by Ashton Kutcher) the strip club manager.
Nora Maharelle, part of the singing sisterly quartet The Maharelle Sisters who are regularly featured on The Lawrence Welk Show. Their otherwise flawless performances are always ruined by the fourth sister, Dooneese (played by Kristen Wiig), because of her off-key singing and freakish appearance.
Toni Ward, one of the cougars who co-hosts The Cougar Den. She is distinguished by her deep voice and offbeat methods for pursuing younger men. For example, she says that for Valentine's Day: "I'm going to suck down some Jello shooters and wander around USC's campus wearing a T-shirt that says: 'I'll pay you and this won't get messy.'"
Wilson lives in Los Angeles and is married to comedy writer David Caspe. They met in early 2010 when she auditioned for his ABC series Happy Endings. After working together on the show for over a year, they started dating in July 2011.[34] They got engaged over Labor Day weekend in September 2013 and were married on May 25, 2014, in Ojai, California.[35] They have two sons, Max Red Caspe (born May 2015)[36] and Henry Bear Caspe (born August 24, 2017).[37] When her son Max was four years old, he was diagnosed with celiac disease, an immune disorder affecting the small intestine.[38] Casey welcomed daughter Frances 'Frankie' Rose Caspe via surrogate in January 2023.
Wilson shares her family's interest in politics. She was a supporter of Hillary Clinton during the 2008 presidential election and volunteered on her campaign. She went on the road with the Clintons in the Midwest, speaking at and introducing Hillary and Bill Clinton at campaign rallies in Iowa and Indiana.[6]
Wilson and her family maintain the charitable Kathy Wilson Foundation, established in 2005, which focuses on children with disabilities. The foundation screens three- and four-year-olds in the Alexandria community for disabilities. Her father Paul Wilson serves as president, with Wilson and her brother Fletcher serving as vice presidents.[11] The foundation distributes donations and grants to local area preschools and childcare centers in Virginia every year.
Amy Poehler is an American actress and comedian. After studying improv at Chicago's Second City and ImprovOlympic in the early 1990s, Poehler co-founded the improvisational-comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade. The group moved to New York City in 1996, where their act became a half-hour sketch-comedy series on Comedy Central in 1998. Along with other members of the comedy group, Poehler is a founder of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.
Paul Christian Scheer is an American comedian, actor, filmmaker, and podcaster. Scheer is best known for his roles in FX/FXX's The League and Showtime's comedy series Black Monday. Scheer also co-created and starred in MTV's Human Giant, and Adult Swim's series NTSF:SD:SUV::, and has had recurring roles on ABC's Fresh Off the Boat and HBO's Veep.
Jerome Charles Minor Jr. is an American actor, comedian and writer known for his comedic roles in numerous television programs such as Mr. Show, Saturday Night Live, Trigger Happy TV, Delocated, Brickleberry, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Crossballs, The Hotwives of Orlando, Carpoolers, Community, Lucky Louie, and Dr. Ken.
Danielle Caroline Schneider is an American actress, writer, and improvisational comedian from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. She co-created and starred in the Hulu reality TV parody series The Hotwives and currently co-hosts the podcast Bitch Sesh.
Andrea Kristen Savage is an American actress, comedian, and writer known best known for creating, writing and starring in the hit show I'm Sorry (2017–2019). The show originally aired on TruTV, but became a hit when it streamed on Netflix. In 2022, she starred as Stacy Beale, opposite Sylvester Stallone in the series Tulsa King on Paramount+, which was quickly ordered for a second season. That same year she also starred in Look Both Ways on Netflix and Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe for Paramount+. Savage is also known for roles in projects such as the Comedy Central mockumentary series Dog Bites Man (2006), the comedy film Step Brothers (2008), Hulu's reality TV parody series The Hotwives (2014–2015), and the HBO comedy Veep (2016–2017). She also has appeared in Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Jamie Denbo is an American actress, writer, comedian and half of the comedy duo Ronna and Beverly with Jessica Chaffin. She also co-starred in the FX series Terriers and appeared in Spy, The Heat and Ghostbusters (2016).
June Diane Raphael is an American actress, comedian, and screenwriter. She has starred in TV comedy programs Burning Love, Adult Swim's NTSF:SD:SUV::, and Grace and Frankie. Notable film work includes supporting roles in Year One and Unfinished Business, as well as her 2013 Sundance film Ass Backwards, which she co-wrote and starred in with her creative partner Casey Wilson. She currently co-hosts both How Did This Get Made? alongside Jason Mantzoukas and her husband Paul Scheer, and The Deep Dive with Jessica St. Clair.
Michaela Watkins is an American actress and comedian. After several years performing with the Los Angeles comedy troupe The Groundlings, Watkins achieved widespread attention for her brief stint as a featured player on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live during its 34th season between 2008 and 2009. Since leaving SNL, she has starred on the Hulu series Casual and on the short-lived sitcoms The Unicorn and Trophy Wife. Watkins has also had recurring roles on other television series, such as The New Adventures of Old Christine, Catastrophe, Enlightened and Search Party and appeared in films such as The Back-up Plan (2010), Wanderlust (2012), Enough Said (2013) and Sword of Trust (2019).
Abby Elliott is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2008 to 2012, and has since starred on the Bravo comedy Odd Mom Out and the NBC sitcom Indebted. She is the daughter of actor and comedian Chris Elliott and sister of Bridey Elliott.
Jessica St. Clair is an American actress and improvisational comedian from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. With frequent collaborator Lennon Parham, she co-created and co-starred in NBC's Best Friends Forever and USA Network's Playing House. She currently is a lead voice on the Adult Swim animated comedy Royal Crackers.
Happy Endings is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from April 13, 2011, to May 3, 2013. The single-camera ensemble comedy originally aired as a mid-season replacement. The show was created by David Caspe. Caspe and Jonathan Groff served as the show's executive producers and showrunners.
Adam Saul Pally is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for starring as Max Blum in Happy Endings and as Dr. Peter Prentice in The Mindy Project. He also starred in Making History and was the executive producer of The President Show.
David Herbert Caspe is an American film and television writer. As a writer-producer, he is best known for his work in television as creator of sitcoms such as ABC's Happy Endings, the Showtime comedy Black Monday, and the NBC sitcoms Kenan and Marry Me. Other work includes writing the 2012 film That's My Boy and co-creating the YouTube Premium series Champaign ILL.
Seth Morris is an American actor, comedian, and writer known for his recurring roles on programs such as Go On, Happy Endings, The Hotwives of Orlando, The League, Kroll Show, and Childrens Hospital.
Kulap Tukta Vilaysack is an American actress, comedian, writer, director, and showrunner. She co-hosts the Add To Cart podcast with SuChin Pak on Lemonada Media. She was the co-host of the Who Charted? podcast on the Earwolf network from 2010 until 2018.
Elizabeth Laime is an American writer, actress and podcast host. She currently hosts the podcast Totally Laime formerly of the Earwolf network. Her former podcasts include Totally Married, a relationship advice show, and Totally Mommy, a show about parenting. She has written for the TruTV comedy series I'm Sorry, the NBC series The Village. and the ABC series A Million Little Things.
The Hotwives is an American sitcom that premiered on July 15, 2014, on the streaming service Hulu. Developed by Paramount Digital Entertainment as a parody of The Real Housewives reality television franchise broadcast on Bravo, the first season follows the lives of several fictional women residing in Orlando, Florida. The series' seven hotwives are inspired by several housewives that have been featured on installments of The Real Housewives.
Marry Me is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from October 14, 2014, to February 17, 2015. The remaining 4 episodes aired on Channel 4. The series stars Casey Wilson and Ken Marino and aired Tuesday nights at 9 pm (ET/PT)/8 pm (CT) as part the 2014–15 television season. Marry Me was created and executive produced by David Caspe with co-executive producers/director Seth Gordon and Jamie Tarses for Sony Pictures Television.
Tymberlee Hill is an American actress and comedian, best known for her roles on comedy programs such as Marry Me, Drunk History, The Hotwives, Search Party and Perfect Harmony.
Champaign ILL is an American comedy series, created by Jordan Cahan, David Caspe, Daniel Libman, and Matthew Libman, that premiered on December 12, 2018, on YouTube Premium. The series stars Adam Pally and Sam Richardson and is executive produced by Cahan, Caspe, the Libmans, and Jamie Tarses.
↑ Fleming, Michael (November 12, 2006). ""Bride" nears the altar". Variety. Reed Business Information. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
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