Janeane Garofalo



American comedienne, actress, and the quintessential Gen X chick. Often cited as the real-life Daria.

Neither Jewish nor from New York. But she plays one on TV.

A stand up comic by trade, she was first discovered during a comedy talent search by Showtime. Her TV debut was on The Ben Stiller Show (the second one), which resulted in Garofalo and Ben Stiller getting cozy for a while. A lucky break landed her the role of Paula on The Larry Sanders Show, netting her two Emmy nominations.

Garofalo joined SNL during the 1994-95 season, where she incurred much the same fate as Sarah Silverman (typecast as Bit Characters and rocking the boat too much) and quit mid-season.

Her other notable 90's roles include Jerry's Distaff Counterpart on Seinfeld, a snarky Gap manager in Reality Bites, and starring alongside Uma Thurman in The Truth About Cats and Dogs. She continues to act on television.

In the 2000's, her acting has largely taken a backseat to her current work as a liberal political pundit, most prominently as host of her own show on the short-lived Air America Radio. Not that this was actually her choice... shortly after September 11, 2001, she went on Bill Maher's show and declared that in her opinion, the suicide bombers that had just killed over 3,000 innocent people had been "freedom fighters", and that Americans were the actual terrorists. The ensuing outrage resulted in the cancellation of a television show made for and starring her before it ever went to air, and put such a huge dent in her career that liberal talk radio is one of the only places she can find reliable work.

Janeane Garofalo provides examples of:

 * Ambiguously Jewish: Except she's not.
 * Asexuality: Self-proclaimed.
 * Better as Friends: Came to this conclusion with regards to herself + Ben Stiller.
 * Brainy Brunette
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Demoted to Extra: Her role in Southland Tales was cut down to a single second in a crowd shot, with no dialogue.
 * Meganekko
 * Nerds Are Sexy: At least that's what the film industry tells us is the case with her.
 * Old Shame: Her brief tenure on SNL certainly qualifies.
 * Her highest-grossing film, ironically enough. Garofalo liked The Truth About Cats and Dogs better when it was still a small indie production, in which her character ended up loveless and alone at the end.
 * One-Scene Wonder: Often appears in Cameos or tiny roles. See: Dogma and The Cable Guy below.
 * Overly Narrow Superlative: Has considered her being dubbed Funniest Person in Rhode Island in her early standup days a case of this.
 * Raised Catholic
 * Rebellious Spirit: The daughter of an oil executive, she attended school in Texas and was raised as a Catholic conservative. Flash-forward to her today, a poster child for every left-wing atheist on the east coast.
 * The Snark Knight
 * Soapbox Sadie: And not very good at it, either. She can really only manage when she's ranting unopposed. Her father has called into her shows several times to debate her on the "evils" of the oil industry. On at least one such occasion, Garofalo became so flustered and outraged that she was losing the debate that she stormed out of the studio.

Notable film roles:
"[deadpan] "There were no utensils in medieval times, hence there are no utensils at Medieval Times™. Would you like a refill of that Pepsi?""
 * Vicky Milner in Reality Bites (1994)
 * "Serving Wench" in The Cable Guy (1996)


 * Heather Mooney in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997)
 * Deputy Cindy Betts in Cop Land (1997)
 * Liz in Dogma (1997)
 * The Bowler in Mystery Men (1999)
 * Paloma Fineman in The Independent (2000)
 * Stith (voice) in Titan A.E. (2000)
 * Beth in Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
 * Officer Monica Romero in Big Trouble (2002)
 * Colette Tatou (voice) in Ratatouille (2007)

Notable television roles:

 * Paula on The Larry Sanders Show (1992-96)
 * The Ben Stiller Show (1992-93)
 * Saturday Night Live (1994-95)
 * Jeannie on Seinfeld (2 episodes, 1996)
 * Adult Mabel on Mad About You (series finale, 1999)
 * Sheila (voice) on King of the Hill ("Cheap Saks", 2003)
 * Louise Thornton on The West Wing (2005-06)
 * Janis Gold on Twenty Four (2009)
 * Tilly on Ideal (2011)
 * Beth Griffith on Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (2011)