Ariel Geltman Graynor (born April 27, 1983) is an American actress, known for her roles in TV series such as ''

I'm Dying Up Here ''I'm Dying Up Here'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by David Flebotte. The pilot was written by Flebotte and directed by Jonathan Levine. It premiered on Showtime on June 4, 2017. The series is executive produced by Fleb ...

'', ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...

'' and ''

Fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts * Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, known as "the Fringe" * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * The Fringe, the ...

'', in stage productions such as ''

Brooklyn Boy ''Brooklyn Boy'' is a play by American playwright Donald Margulies. The play premiered in 2004 at South Coast Repertory and then on Broadway in 2005. Plot Novelist Eric Weiss, critically celebrated but unsuccessful, "arrives" when his new, autobi ...

'' and ''

The Little Dog Laughed ''The Little Dog Laughed'' is a 2006 comedy play by Douglas Carter Beane. The four characters are an actor, Mitchell, his acerbic agent Diane, a hustler named Alex, and Alex's girlfriend Ellen. When Mitchell and Alex become involved in a physica ...

'', and in films such as '' Whip It'' and '' For a Good Time, Call...'' She also starred as Meredith Davis on the short-lived

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

television sitcom ''

Bad Teacher ''Bad Teacher'' is a 2011 American comedy-drama film directed by Jake Kasdan from a screenplay by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky. Starring Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Lucy Punch, John Michael Higgins and Jason Segel, the film tells the ...

'' in 2014.

Early life

Graynor was born April 27, 1983, in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of Joani Geltman, a parenting expert, and Greg Graynor, a contractor. Her mother is from a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family; her father is from a Polish and

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

background, and

converted to Judaism Conversion to Judaism ( he, גיור, ''giyur'') is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. " ...

. Graynor was raised Jewish. Her paternal grandfather's surname was changed from "Gryzna". She attended

Buckingham Browne & Nichols Buckingham Browne & Nichols School, often referred to as BB&N, is an independent co-educational day school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, educating students from pre-kindergarten (called Beginners) through twelfth grade. BB&N is regularly ranked am ...

, a private school in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

(Class of 2001), and Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut. During a June 29, 2017, CBS late-night interview with

Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...

, promoting ''

'', she mentioned she went to a prom with future congressman

Joseph Kennedy III Joseph Patrick Kennedy III (born October 4, 1980) is an American lawyer, politician and diplomat who currently serves as United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland since 2022. Prior to this, Kennedy served as the U.S. representative for fr ...

Career

Graynor first came to prominence as

Caitlin Rucker This is a list of fictional characters from the HBO series ''The Sopranos'', its video game '' The Sopranos: Road to Respect'' and its prequel film ''The Many Saints of Newark.'' Main characters Cast table Main character biographies Tony Sopran ...

on HBO's ''

''. Her film credits include ''

An American Crime ''An American Crime'' is a 2007 American crime horror drama film directed by Tommy O'Haver and starring Elliot Page and Catherine Keener. The film is based on the true story of the torture and murder of Sylvia Likens by Indianapolis single moth ...

'' (2007), which premiered in January 2007 at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

. She also appeared early in the second season of UPN's ''

Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series prem ...

'' as the daughter of a bus driver. She made her Broadway debut as 'Alison' in 2005's ''

'' after appearing in the world premiere at

South Coast Repertory South Coast Repertory (SCR) is a professional theatre company located in Costa Mesa, California. Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory, founded in 1964 by David Emmes and Martin Benson, is led by Artistic Director David Ivers and Managing Direc ...

. She also appeared in ''

''. Graynor played Elvina, a pop star, in ''

CSI: Miami ''CSI: Miami'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: Miami'') is an American police procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2002 until April 8, 2012 on CBS. Featuring David Caruso as Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Emily Procter as Dete ...

'', and was a recurring guest star on the Fox series ''

'', playing Agent Olivia Dunham's younger sister, Rachel. In 2008, Graynor appeared in the film ''

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist ''Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist'' is a 2008 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Peter Sollett and starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings. Written by Lorene Scafaria and based on the novel of the same name by Rachel Cohn and Da ...

'', and in October 2009, she also was in '' Whip It'', a comedy film directed by

Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, director, producer, talk show host and author. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a ...

and written by

Shauna Cross Shauna Cross is an American screenwriter, novelist and former roller derby athlete. She skated for the Los Angeles Derby Dolls under the pseudonym "Maggie Mayhem", and subsequently wrote the 2007 novel ''Derby Girl'', a fictionalized version of ...

, based on Cross' young adult novel ''

Derby Girl ''Derby Girl'' is a 2007 novel by Shauna Cross. It tells the story of Bliss Cavendar, a girl from the fictional town of Bodeen, Texas, whose mother wants her to compete in beauty pageants, and seeks escape in the world of roller derby. The book wa ...

''. In 2010, she appeared in the play ''Trust'' at the

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

Second Stage theatre company with

Sutton Foster Sutton Lenore Foster (born March 18, 1975) is an American actress, singer and dancer. She is known for her work on the Broadway stage, for which she has won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical twice, in 2002 for her role as Millie Dill ...

Zach Braff Zachary Israel Braff'Scrubs' Star Zach Braff Wows ...

, and

Bobby Cannavale Roberto Michael Cannavale (; born May 3, 1970) is an American actor. He is best known for various television roles, including leading roles in ''Third Watch'', ''Vinyl'', and ''Mr. Robot'', as well as recurring roles in ''Will & Grace'', which wo ...

. In the fall of 2011, she appeared on Broadway in the

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

-written segment of three one-act comedies collectively called '' Relatively Speaking''. She played Nina Roth in Allen's “Honeymoon Motel” segment. Ari Graynor January 2012 (cropped)

In 2012, Graynor starred in the comedy '' For a Good Time, Call...'', and is also credited as the film's executive producer. Graynor starred on Broadway opposite

Cheyenne Jackson Cheyenne David Jackson (born July 12, 1975) is an American actor and singer. His credits include leading roles in Broadway musicals and other stage roles, as well as film and television roles, concert singing, and music recordings. After beginni ...

Henry Winkler Henry Franklin Winkler, OBE (born October 30, 1945), is an American actor, comedian, author, executive producer, and director. After rising to fame as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the American television series ''Happy Days'', Winkler has ...

, and

Alicia Silverstone Alicia Silverstone ( ; born October 4, 1976) is an American actress. She made her film debut in the thriller ''The Crush (1993 film), The Crush'' (1993), earning the 1994 MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, and gained further prom ...

David West Read David West Read is a Canadian television writer, playwright, and producer. He is known for writing for the television series Schitt's Creek as well as author of the stage musical ''& Juliet''. He has received a Golden Globes and Emmy for his wor ...

's play '' The Performers'', which opened November 2012 at the

Longacre Theatre The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 220 West 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. Opened in 1913, it was desi ...

. She appeared in ''Yen'', a play by

Anna Jordan Anna Jordan (born 28 September 1979) is an English playwright, director, screenwriter and acting tutor. Her work has been presented at The Royal Court, Royal Exchange (Manchester) and internationally, with several productions of her plays in the ...

. ''Yen'' opened off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre on January 31, 2017, directed by Trip Cullman.Clement, Olivia
" 'Yen', with Oscar Nominee Lucas Hedges, Opens Jan. 31"
Playbill, 31 January 2017

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Graynor, Ari 1983 births Actresses from Boston American film actresses American people of Polish descent Jewish American actresses American television actresses Living people Trinity College (Connecticut) alumni 21st-century American actresses Buckingham Browne & Nichols School alumni 21st-century American Jews