While studying history at Providence College, Garofalo entered a comedy talent search sponsored by the Showtime cable network, winning the title of "Funniest Person in Rhode Island." Her original gimmick was to read off her hand, which was not successful in subsequent performances. Dreaming of earning a slot on the writing staff of the TV show Late Night With David Letterman, she became a professional standup upon graduating from college with degrees in History and American Studies.[4] She struggled for a number of years, even working briefly as a bike messenger in Boston.[5]
The winner of numerous comedy awards and recognitions, she officially began her career in stand-up comedy in the mid-1980's during the pre-grunge era. Her appearance was often in line with very mid-1980's style: disheveled with thick black glasses and unkempt hair. Her comedy is often self-deprecating; she has made fun of popular culture and the pressures on women to conform to body image ideals promoted by the media.
Garofalo's comedy shows involve her and her notebook, which is filled with years' worth of article clippings and random observations she references for direct quotes during her act. Garofalo has said that she does not tell jokes as much as make observations designed to get laughs. She was part of the alternative comedy scene in Los Angeles in the early 1990s, appearing at Un-Cabaret and other venues and co-created the "Eating It" alternative stand-up comedy show, which ran at Luna Lounge on the Lower East Side of New York City between 1995 and 2005, frequently hosting the show and appearing as a performer.
She appeared on HBO's Comedy Half-Hour and Comedy Hour specials in 1995 and 1997, respectively, among similar subsequent appearances, including a one-hour stand-up special entitled entitled If You Will, performed at Seattle's Moore Theatre that aired on Epix in June 2010 and was released on DVD in September 2010.[6]
Garofalo's first movie role, filmed the year before she appeared on national television, was a brief comical appearance as a counter worker in a burger joint in Late for Dinner in 1991, but her real breakthrough into film came in Reality Bites (1994) as Winona Ryder's character's Gap-managing best friend Vickie.
Further television work and supporting roles in feature films included Bye Bye Love and Now and Then, and a leading role in I Shot a Man in Vegas, until 1996 when she was cast in the starring role in the romantic comedyThe Truth About Cats & Dogs, a variation on Cyrano de Bergerac which featured Uma Thurman in the top-billed but smaller role as a beautiful but vapid model, while Garofalo played a highly intelligent radio host. Initially an independent film, it became a studio movie when Uma Thurman was signed to play the shallow model. The film was a modest hit, but Garofalo detests it to this day, calling it anti-feminist (and admitting discomfort in the "ugly duckling" role).
Based on the success of this film, a producer then offered her the part of Dorothy Boyd in Jerry Maguire with Tom Cruise if she could lose weight; after trimming down, however, she learned that Renée Zellweger had won the part instead.[7]
She turned down the role of television reporter Gale Weathers in Wes Craven's Scream because she thought the film would be too violent: "I said I didn't want to be in a movie where a teen girl was disemboweled. I didn't know it turned out so good, and it was a funny movie."[8]
Following up The Truth About Cats and Dogs, Garofalo played the lead role in The Matchmaker, a 1997 romantic comedy film about the misadventures of a cynical American woman who reluctantly visits Ireland; it is Garofalo's first and only lead role to date. That same year, she played a supporting role as a deputy sheriff in the drama Cop Land, a police gangster film starring Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta and Robert DeNiro. In 1998, she performed her first voice-acting job playing "Ursula the Artist" in Disney's English dub of Studio Ghibli's Kiki's Delivery Service and briefly appeared in Permanent Midnight. In 1999, she starred as "The Bowler" in the film Mystery Men, about an underdog group of super heroes.[1]
A puppet version of Garofalo appeared (and was graphically killed off) in the 2004 movie Team America: World Police; while Garofalo was irritated by the parody, she was more upset by the filmmakers' lack of correspondence. "I ran into them in the street, Trey and the other guy, and I said to them, 'The least you could do is send me a puppet.' And they said OK, took my address down ... and never sent me a puppet! So while Team America bothered me, the fact they didn't send me my puppet, that bothered me even more."[9]
In 2005, she played the ex-wife of a man coping with the reverberations of a divorce in Duane Hopwood. In 2006, she performed Bridget the giraffe's voice in the computer-animated Disney feature film The Wild. In 2007, she provided the voice of Colette Tatou, a chef in the Pixar/Disney feature film Ratatouille, in which Garofalo affected a pronounced French accent for the role, appropriate for a character based on a French cook described as the world's best female chef.[10] She made cameo appearances in The Guitar in 2008 and Labor Pains in 2009, and starred in Bad Parents in 2012, a comedy about New Jerseysoccer moms obsessing over their children's experiences playing the sport. She starred in the 2015 film 3rd Street Blackout.[1]
Garofalo appears as herself in the documentary film Sticky: A (Self) Love Story, released on Amazon in 2016, in which she claims that she had to get drunk on tequila to do her masturbation scene in the film Truth About Cats and Dogs.[11][12][13][failed verification]
Her first exposure on national television came soon thereafter by way of her appearance as a stand-up comic on MTV's Half Hour Comedy Hour. Subsequently, her first television series debut was on the short-lived Ben Stiller Show on Fox in 1992, on which she was a cast member alongside longtime friends Bob Odenkirk and Andy Dick.
A chance meeting on the set of that show led her to being offered the role of Paula on The Larry Sanders Show on HBO, earning her two Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series[15] nominations in 1996 and 1997. For a time, she was actually working on both series simultaneously.[citation needed] After The Ben Stiller Show was cancelled, Garofalo joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (SNL) for its 1994–95 season.[16] She left SNL in March 1995 (mid-season) after only six months, saying that the experience left her "anxious and depressed", and that a sexist attitude pervaded the show. She said that many of the sketches were "juvenile and homophobic".[17] According to New York Magazine, Garofalo was "largely stuck in dull, secondary wife and girlfriend roles", and quoted her friends as saying that she considered the stint "the most miserable experience of [her] life."[18]
Following SNL, Garofalo appeared in a plethora of guest star roles: the grown-up daughter of the Buchmans on the final episode of Mad About You; Jerry Seinfeld's female counterpart (and, briefly, fiancée) Jeannie Steinman on Seinfeld; a recurring correspondent on Michael Moore's TV Nation, and a former girlfriend of Dave Foley's character on Newsradio. She provided the voice for the weekly telephone conversations between the series lead and an older friend (Garofalo) in Felicity. Two television pilots starring Garofalo, the 2003 ABC show Slice O'Life about a reporter consigned to sappy human interest stories appearing at the end of news broadcasts, and the 2005 NBC program All In, based on the life of poker star Annie Duke, were not picked up by their respective networks.
Throughout the 2005–06 television season, Garofalo appeared on The West Wing as Louise Thornton, a campaign adviser to the fictional Democratic presidential nominee.
In 2006, she provided the voice for the animated character "Bearded Clam" on Comedy Central's Freak Show. In 2007, she wrote a dedication for the mini-book included in the six-DVD box-set of the 1994 cult series My So-Called Life.
Garofalo had segments entitled "the disquisition" in several episodes of the 2007 season of The Henry Rollins Show which took place in her apartment, much in the same way Rollins' segments take place at his house.[citation needed] In 2009, Garofalo joined the cast of 24, where she starred as Janis Gold. In 2010, Garofalo joined the cast of Ideal as Tilly. She was a cast member of the Criminal Minds short-lived spinoff TV series Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior in 2011.[19]
Garofalo co-wrote a comedic New York Times bestseller with Ben Stiller in 1999, entitled Feel This Book: An Essential Guide to Self-Empowerment, Spiritual Supremacy, and Sexual Satisfaction, a spoof of the self-help books so prevalent at the time. She wrote her HBO Comedy Half-Hour along with similar appearances and programs, co-wrote some sketches on The Ben Stiller Show, wrote an episode of the television series Head Case, and wrote and directed a 2001 comedy short entitled Housekeeping.[21]
Garofalo has been open and outspoken regarding her progressive political views. She is a staunch feminist. In an interview for Geek Monthly magazine, she stated that she was raised in a conservative family.[22]
She became more prominent as a progressive when she voiced opposition to what became the 2003 Iraq War, appearing on CNN and Fox News to discuss it. She said that she was approached by groups such as MoveOn.org and Win Without War to go on TV, because these organizations say that the networks were not allowing antiwar voices to be heard. Garofalo and the other celebrities who appeared at the time said they thought their fame could lend attention to that side of the debate. Her appearances on cable news prior to the war garnered her praise from the left and spots on the cover of Ms. and Venus Zine. Garofalo has had frequent on-air political disputes with Bill O'Reilly, Brian Kilmeade, and Jonah Goldberg.[25]
Prior to the 2003 Iraq War, she took a position on the alleged threat posed by Saddam Hussein. For example, in an interview with Tony Snow on a February 23, 2003 episode of Fox News Sunday,[26] Garofalo said of the Iraqi dictator:
Yes, I think lots of people are eager to obtain weapons of mass destruction. But there's no evidence that he (Hussein) has weapons of mass destruction. There's been no evidence of him testing nuclear weapons. We have people that are in our face with nuclear weapons. We've got Iran and North Korea. We've got a problem with Pakistan. You know, I don't know what to say about that. There's a whole lot of people that are going nuclear. And I think that Saddam Hussein is actually, with the evidence, the least able to use nuclear weapons and the least obvious offender in that area at this moment.
—Janeane Garofalo, Fox News interview
In March 2003, she took part in the Code Pink anti-war march in Washington, D.C. That autumn, she served as emcee at several stops on the Tell Us the Truth tour, a political-themed concert series featuring Steve Earle, Billy Bragg, Tom Morello, and others. Throughout the year, Garofalo also actively campaigned for Howard Dean. While on Fox News' program The Pulse, O'Reilly asked Garofalo what she would do if her predictions that the Iraq war would be a disaster were to turn out wrong. Garofalo stated:[27]
I would be so willing to say, 'I'm sorry'. I hope to God that I can be made a buffoon of, that people will say, 'You were wrong. You were a fatalist.' And I will go to the White House on my knees on cut glass and say, 'Hey, you and Thomas Friedman were right ... I shouldn't have doubted you ...'
—Janeane Garofalo, Fox News interview
Garofalo said she had misgivings in 2007 about the depiction of torture in the television series 24 but joined the cast because "being unemployed and being flattered that someone wanted to work with me outweighed my stance".[28]
In April 2009, Garofalo drew criticism from The Washington Times when she denounced Tea Party protests, which she referred to as racist.[29] She has continued to criticize Tea Party protesters.[30]
Air America Radio
In late March 2004, Garofalo became a co-host for Air America Radio's new show The Majority Report, alongside Sam Seder. The early days of Air America Radio are chronicled in the documentaryLeft of the Dial, which includes a debate between Garofalo and her conservative father Carmine, who was initially a regular guest on The Majority Report.[31]
During her filmed stand-up show in Seattle, If You Will, she says "I don't have a fear of intimacy, I have sort of a genuine lack of interest", adding jokingly, "which is not good for my boyfriend of ten years".[33]
Garofalo has struggled with alcoholism in her past, but says she quit drinking in 2001.[34][35]
Carolyn Laurie Kane is an American actress and comedian. She became known in the 1970s and 1980s in films such as Hester Street, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, Annie Hall, and The Princess Bride. She appeared on the television series Taxi in the early 1980s, as Simka Gravas, the wife of Latka, the character played by Andy Kaufman, winning two Emmy Awards for her work. She has played the character of Madame Morrible in the musical Wicked, both in touring productions and on Broadway from 2005 to 2014. From 2015 to 2020, she was a main cast member on the Netflix series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, in which she played Lillian Kaushtupper.
Alyson Lee Hannigan is an American actress and television presenter. She is best known for her roles as Willow Rosenberg in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003), as Lily Aldrin in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother (2005–2014) for which she won a People's Choice Award in 2009, and as Michelle Flaherty in the American Pie film series (1999–2012). Since 2016, Hannigan has hosted the television show Penn & Teller: Fool Us. She also provides the voice of Claire Clancy in the Disney Junior animated series Fancy Nancy (2018–present).
Reality Bites is a 1994 American romantic comedy-drama film written by Helen Childress and directed by Ben Stiller. It stars Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke and Stiller, with supporting roles by Janeane Garofalo and Steve Zahn. The plot follows Lelaina (Ryder), an aspiring videographer working on a documentary called Reality Bites about the disenchanted lives of her friends and roommates. Their challenges exemplify some of the career and lifestyle choices faced by Generation X.
Allison Brooks Janney is an American actress. In a career spanning across film, television and theatre, Janney is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, six Critics' Choice Awards, a Golden Globe Award, seven Primetime Emmy Awards, seven Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for two Tony Awards.
Matchmaker or The Matchmaker may refer to:
Cloris Leachman was an American actress and comedienne whose career spanned more than seven decades. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nominated and, along with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, most awarded performer in Emmy history. She won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Daytime Emmy Award.
The Ben Stiller Show is an American sketch comedy series that aired on MTV from 1990 to 1991, and then on Fox from September 27, 1992 to January 17, 1993. The Fox program starred Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, Janeane Garofalo and Bob Odenkirk. Character actor John F. O'Donohue also appeared in every episode.
Vivica Anjanetta Fox is an American actress, producer and television host. Fox began her career on Soul Train (1983–1984). Then she eventually continued her career with roles on the daytime television soap operas Days of Our Lives (1988) and Generations (1989–1991), subsequently shifting to the prime-time slot starring opposite Patti LaBelle, in the NBC sitcom Out All Night (1992–1993). Fox's breakthrough came in 1996, with roles in two box-office hit films, Roland Emmerich's Independence Day and F. Gary Gray's Set It Off.
Molly Helen Shannon is an American actress and comedian, who was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 2001. In 2017 she won the Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film Other People.
Laura San Giacomo is an American actress. She played Cynthia in the film Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989) for which she won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female, Kit De Luca in the film Pretty Woman (1990), Crazy Cora in the film Quigley Down Under (1990), Nadine Cross in The Stand (1994), and Maya Gallo on the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me! (1997–2003). A BAFTA and two-time Golden Globe Award nominee, she also played the regular role of Rhetta Rodriguez on the TNT drama Saving Grace (2007–2010), and the recurring role of Dr. Grace Confalone on the CBS drama NCIS (2016–2019).
Vincent Anthony Vaughn is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker.
The Truth About Cats & Dogs is a 1996 American romantic comedy film directed by Michael Lehmann, starring Janeane Garofalo, Uma Thurman, Ben Chaplin and Jamie Foxx, and written by Audrey Wells. The original music score was composed by Howard Shore. Upon its release, the film garnered favorable reviews, with many critics describing its theme(s) as a modern reinterpretation of the Cyrano de Bergerac story.
Permanent Midnight is a 1998 independent drama film directed by David Veloz and starring Ben Stiller. The supporting cast features Maria Bello, Elizabeth Hurley, Owen Wilson, Cheryl Ladd and Janeane Garofalo.
Carol Denise Betts, known professionally as Niecy Nash, is an American actress, comedian and television host, best known for her performances on television.
Ben Chaplin is an English actor.
Jennifer Audrey Coolidge is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her roles as Jeanine Stifler in the American Pie film series (1999–2012) and as Paulette Bonafonté Parcelle in the Legally Blonde film series (2001–2003). She is a regular actor in Christopher Guest's mockumentary films, such as Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), For Your Consideration (2006), and Mascots (2016).
Leslie Louise Bibb is an American actress and model. She first appeared on television in 1996 with minor roles in a few series, and on film in 1997 with a small role in Private Parts. Her first recurring TV role was in The Big Easy (1997). For her role as Brooke McQueen on the WB Network dramedy series Popular, she received a Teen Choice Award for Television Choice Actress. She has appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Christine Everhart in Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), What If...? (2021), and several viral marketing campaigns in which the character hosts WHIH Newsfront. She appears as Grace Sampson/ Lady Liberty in the Netflix series Jupiter's Legacy (2021).
The Matchmaker is a 1997 American romantic comedy film starring Janeane Garofalo.
Alanna Noel Ubach is an American actress, known for her roles as Mamá Imelda in Coco (2017), Serena McGuire in Legally Blonde (2001), and Isabel Villalobos in Meet the Fockers (2004).
The seventh and final season of the American comedy-drama television series Younger premiered on Paramount+ on April 15, 2021. Though thought to be delayed until March 2021, filming began in mid-October 2020 and concluded in mid-February 2021.
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