Born September 28, 1964 in Newton, New Jersey, Janeane Garofalo is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist and writer. She is the former co-host on the now defunct Air America Radio’s The Majority Report. Garofalo continues to circulate regularly within New York City’s local comedy and performance art scene.
Janeane is the daughter of Joan and Carmine Garofalo. Her mother was a secretary, in the petrochemical industry, who died of cancer when Janeane was 24. Her father is a former executive at Exxon. Garofalo was raised as a conservative Catholic and is of Italian and Irish descent. She grew up in various places, including Ontario, California, Madison, New Jersey (where she graduated from Madison High School) and Katy, Texas. Garofalo is quoted as having disliked life in Houston because of the heat and humidity and the emphasis on prettiness and sports in high school.
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. She struggled for a number of years and had many jobs before breaking into show biz. She worked as a bike messenger, a show salesperson, waitress and temp secretary.
Garofalo officially began her career in stand-up comedy in the late 1980s during the pre-grunge era. Her appearance was often in line with late 1980s 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 comedy series which ran at Luna Lounge on the Lower East Side of New York City between 1995 and 2005. She did a one-hour stand-up special “If You Will,” at Seattle’s Moore Theatre, that aired on Epix in June 2010 and released on DVD in September 2010.
Janeane did sketches on “The Ben Stiller Show” (1992) (an Emmy winning, but canceled show). She would continue to collaborate with Ben Stiller in future projects. Janeane received 2 Emmy nominations for her work on “The Larry Sanders Show” (1992), developing her signature character: a smart, cynical woman with a razor wit. She was not happy with her “Saturday Night Live” (1975) stint in 1994, and was vocal about it. Transferring her persona from TV to big screen, she moved on to movies, basically playing the character she had defined for herself. In Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (1997), she portrayed a smart, cynical, successful businesswoman with a razor wit, and this time with swear words. Janeane continues to work in TV and movies, often collaborating with Ben Stiller in a number of movies like Mystery Men (1999), his easygoing style being a counterpoint to her caustic nature.
In 2009, Garofalo joined the cast of 24, where she starred as Janis Gold. Garofalo was a cast member of the Criminal Minds short-lived spinoff TV series Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior. In 2010, Garofalo joined the cast of Ideal as Tilly.
Janeane Garofalo Photo Gallery
