Bess Kalb is an American

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

-nominated writer for the ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

'' television show and journalist with ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' magazine. She is the author of the best-selling book ''Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A True (As Told to Me) Story'', which recounts the life of her grandmother, Bobby Bell.

Early life

Kalb was raised in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and

Westchester Westchester most commonly refers to Westchester County, New York, immediately north of New York City. __NOTOC__ It may also refer to: Geography Canada *Westchester Station, Nova Scotia, Canada United States *Town of Westchester, the original seat ...

. She later moved to San Francisco, California where she contributed articles to ''Wired'', GQ.com, ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...

'',

GOOD In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...

and other publications. In 2012, Kalb moved to Los Angeles to begin a comedy career. She is Jewish.

Career

Kalb began writing comedy for ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' in 2012; the show airs on the ABC Network. In addition, she wrote for the 2012

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

s ceremony with Kimmel as the host. In 2013, she was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series for her work alongside the rest of the writing team of ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' including

Tony Barbieri Anthony J. Barbieri (born August 26, 1963, in Framingham, Massachusetts) is an American comedic writer and performer. He is known for his appearances as the '' Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' character "Jake Byrd." Career Barbieri was the writer of the mon ...

, Jonathan Bines, Joelle Boucai,

Gary Greenberg Gary Greenberg is an American author and comedian. He is known for writing comedic material for Comedy Central. He has appeared on Comedy Central and Bravo. , he is a staff writer on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' on ABC Television. In 2012, he won a Prod ...

Sal Iacono Sal Iacono (born July 5, 1971), also known as Cousin Sal, is an American comedian, writer, and game show host. He is known for his roles on ''The Man Show'' and the late night television show ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!''. He is Jimmy Kimmel's cousin, h ...

, Eric Immerman, Josh Halloway,

Jimmy Kimmel James Christian Kimmel (born November 13, 1967) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the host and executive producer of ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', a late-night talk show that premiered on ABC on January 26, 2003, ...

, Jeff Loveness, Molly McNearney, Bryan Paulk, Danny Ricker and

Rick Rosner Richard Rosner (born c. 1941) is an American television producer best known for creating the television show ''CHiPs''.Staff report (September 15, 1977). CHiPs Debuts on NBC. He's also famous for being related to the one and only, Mark Rosner, ...

. Three years later, with Kimmel once again hosting the Primetime Emmy Awards, Kalb was part of the writing team. Her work with ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' earned her a Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Comedy-Variety Talk Series that year as well. Working with

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

, Kalb wrote for the Senator's Al Smith Dinner speech in February 2016. On May 28, 2017, Kalb's political-themed tweets gained the attention of President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, who blocked her account from his Twitter feed. In 2018, Kalb did a stand-up comedy routine introducing Hillary Clinton at a fundraiser for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense and then-candidate

Lucy McBath Lucia Kay McBath (née Holman; born June 1, 1960) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from Georgia's 6th congressional district. The district, once represented by Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, includes ma ...

(now a congresswoman). On March 17, 2020, Kalb released her first book, ''Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A True (As Told to Me) Story'', from Knopf. The book tells the story of her grandmother, Bobby Bell, from her own mother's migration from Russia, her birth on a kitchen table in a Brooklyn tenement, to her life in upscale New York suburbs of Westchester to her death at age 90. Kalb adds her own comedic observations of their relationship from their conversations and voicemails. ''Nobody Will Tell You This But Me'' was ranked No. 8 on the

American Booksellers Association The American Booksellers Association (ABA) is a non-profit trade association founded in 1900 that promotes independent bookstores in the United States. ABA's core members are key participants in their communities' local economy and culture, and t ...

Indie Bestseller Hardcover Non-Fiction list. The audiobook is narrated by the author and produced by Random House Audio. The film rights for the book were optioned by Sight Unseen Pictures, with

Elizabeth Chomko Elizabeth Chomko (born 1981) is an American playwright, film director, screenwriter and actress best known for the film ''What They Had.'' Early life Chomko grew up in Chicago, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Her family moved to Belgium when she ...

(''What They Had'') set to direct. Kalb will write the screenplay.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalb, Barbara 1987 births Living people American women television writers Writers Guild of America Award winners American television writers Writers from Manhattan Brown University alumni 21st-century American women Comedians from Manhattan