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Alexandrea Borstein (born February 15, 1971) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She is best known for voicing Lois Griffin in the animated comedy series ''
Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...
'' (1999–present), for which she won a
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 ...
. She gained further acclaim for starring as Susie Myerson in the comedy-drama series '' The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'' (2017–2023), which earned her two
Primetime Emmy Awards 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 ...
. Borstein also had lead roles as various characters on the sketch comedy series '' MADtv'' (1997–2009) and as Dawn Forchette in the medical comedy series '' Getting On'' (2013–2015). She had supporting roles in numerous films, including ''
Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
'' (2002), '' Bad Santa'' (2003), '' Kicking & Screaming'' (2005), '' Little Man'' (2006), '' Killers'' (2010), ''
Ted TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...
'' (2012), ''
A Million Ways to Die in the West ''A Million Ways to Die in the West'' is a 2014 American Western dark comedy film directed by Seth MacFarlane and written by MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild. The film features an ensemble cast including MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Am ...
'' (2014), ''
Love the Coopers ''Love the Coopers'' (titled ''Christmas with the Coopers'' in the UK and Ireland) is a 2015 American Christmas comedy-drama film directed by Jessie Nelson and written by Steven Rogers. The film stars an ensemble cast, including Alan Arkin, Jo ...
'' (2015), and ''
Extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
'' (2021).


Early life

Borstein was born in
Highland Park, Illinois Highland Park is a suburban city located in the southeastern part of Lake County, Illinois, United States, about north of downtown Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 30,176. Highland Park is one of several municipalities located o ...
, a city north of Chicago. She was raised in Deerfield, Illinois, before her family moved to Northridge, California, a neighborhood of Los Angeles. She graduated from
Chatsworth High School Chatsworth Charter High School is a charter secondary school located in Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California, U.S. History The campus was built with one-story buildings around a central quad as land was inexpens ...
in 1989. She has two older brothers. Her parents, Irv and Judy Borstein, are both mental health professionals. She has stated that she is of Hungarian and Mongolian descent. She is Jewish. Her father is from Atlanta. Her maternal grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, was born and raised in Budapest, Hungary, and immigrated to the United States after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Borstein is a graduate of San Francisco State University, where she studied
rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...
.


Career


1993–1998: Career beginnings and ''MADtv''

Borstein trained in improvisational comedy at the
ACME Comedy Theater The ACME Comedy Theatre is an American sketch comedy and improvisational theater located near Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, on La Brea near Wilshire's "Miracle Mile".Bronstad, Amanda (2002)Laughing matter: M.D. Sweeney has turned a bug fo ...
, near
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...
, where she met her writing partner and future husband Jackson Douglas. Shortly after they began working together on the animated series ''
The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper ''The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper'' is an animated television spin-off and a sequel of the feature film ''Casper'', which, in turn, was based on the Harvey Comics cartoon character of Casper the Friendly Ghost. Production At the time ...
'' and '' Pinky and the Brain'', Borstein left her position at an ad agency – where she had written print ads for Barbie – to become a full-time writer. In 1996, while still writing for ''Casper'', Borstein worked on the show '' Power Rangers Zeo'' as the voice of
Queen Machina ''Power Rangers Zeo'' is a television series and the fourth season of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, based on the 19th Super Sentai series '' Chouriki Sentai Ohranger''. It is the continuation of '' Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'', which aired ...
, the queen of the Machine Empire. In 1997, Borstein became a cast member on the third season of the sketch comedy show '' MADtv'' after being scouted by
talent agents Talent has two principal meanings: * Talent (measurement), an ancient unit of mass and value * Talent (skill), a group of aptitudes useful for some activities; talents may refer to aptitudes themselves or to possessors of those talents Talent may ...
. She originally joined the cast as a featured player, but was upgraded to the repertory mid-season. Borstein was best known on ''MADtv'' for her character Ms. Swan (owner of the ''Gorgeous Pretty Beauty Nail Salon''); her other recurring characters included Eracist Anne, "Stick Chick" Echo, singer Jasmine Wayne-Wayne, child prodigy Karen Goddard, lounge singer Shaunda, ''News at Six'' outside-the-studio reporter Sue Napersville, and Cordo the GAP troll. When
Seth Green Seth Benjamin Green ( ''né'' Gesshel-Green; born February 8, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and writer. Green's film debut came with a role in the comedy-drama film ''The Hotel New Hampshire'' (1984), and he went on to have supporting ...
made recurring appearances on the show as mean boss Mr. Brightling, Borstein would play his mother, Mama Brightling.


1999–2009: Further success and ''Family Guy''

While working on ''MADtv'', Borstein met
Seth MacFarlane Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, comedian, and singer. He is the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and ''The Orville'' (since 2017), and co-creator ...
, who was then preparing to launch the animated sitcom ''
Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...
'' on
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
. MacFarlane was originally supposed to create animated shorts for ''MADtv'', but declined in favor of creating an independent series. MacFarlane cast Borstein as the voice of character Lois Griffin. After the show's debut in January 1999, ''Family Guy'' was cancelled by the network twice in 2000 and 2002, but eventually returned in 2005. As well as her role as the voice performer for Lois and several other characters (including a brief appearance as Ms. Swan in a 2005 episode), she is also a
producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...
and staff writer. She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for the episode " Lois Comes Out of Her Shell" in 2013. In 2000, Borstein was cast as
Sookie St. James This is a list of characters for the comedy-drama television series ''Gilmore Girls''. Main characters Lorelai Gilmore Lorelai Gilmore, played by Lauren Graham, is the only daughter of Richard and Emily Gilmore. She is the mother of Lor ...
in the WB drama '' Gilmore Girls''. She portrayed Sookie in the pilot but her ''MADtv'' contract prevented her from continuing in the role. Borstein made recurring appearances on ''Gilmore Girls'' throughout the show's run, first as the
harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...
ist Drella and later as the stylist Miss Celine. As a film actor, she played Ms. Ungermeyer the school principal in '' The Lizzie McGuire Movie'' (2003), the best friend of
Halle Berry Halle Maria Berry (; born Maria Halle Berry; August 14, 1966) is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant and coming in sixth in the Mis ...
's character in '' Catwoman'' (2004), and an employee at
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
in '' Good Night, and Good Luck'' (2005). She also had a small role in the movie '' Bad Santa'' (2003) and an uncredited cameo as an obnoxious coffee shop patron in the Will Ferrell movie '' Kicking & Screaming'' (2005). On some commercials, she sometimes voices Olive Oyl from Popeye and
Betty Boop Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick.Pointer (2017) She originally appeared in the ''Talkartoon'' and ''Betty Boop'' film series, which were produced by Fleischer ...
. Borstein was a co-host of GSN's '' Celebrity Blackjack'' in 2004. She made at least three guest appearances, once as Lois Griffin, on the Comedy Central animated program '' Drawn Together''. Borstein was cast as a press secretary in the 2007 sitcom pilot '' The Thick of It'', but the series was not picked up for broadcast. She was seen in the 2009 comedy ''
For Christ's Sake ''For Christ's Sake'' is a 2011 comedy film directed by Jackson Douglas, Produced by Will Raee written by Jeff Lewis and starring Alex Borstein. Plot This film is about a small-town priest named Robert, who finds out his estranged brother grea ...
'', which was directed by her then husband Jackson Douglas. Borstein's production company is called Crackerpants, Inc. In 2007, it released the DVD ''Drop Dead Gorgeous (in a Down-to-Earth Bombshell Sort of Way)'', a recording of a live performance at the Alex Theatre with Teddy Towne as the opening act. The title comes from one of many female character breakdowns Borstein reads from to illustrate sexism in the industry.


2010–present: ''Getting On'' and ''The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel''

Borstein has made several supporting appearances in such comedic films as '' Killers'' (2010), ''
Dinner for Schmucks ''Dinner for Schmucks'' is a 2010 American comedy film directed by Jay Roach and based on Francis Veber's 1998 French film ''Le Dîner de Cons''. Starring Steve Carell and Paul Rudd, with Jemaine Clement, Jeff Dunham, Bruce Greenwood, and Ron Li ...
'' (2010), ''
Ted TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...
'' (2012), '' ParaNorman'' (2012), ''
A Million Ways to Die in the West ''A Million Ways to Die in the West'' is a 2014 American Western dark comedy film directed by Seth MacFarlane and written by MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild. The film features an ensemble cast including MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Am ...
'' (2014), and '' The Angry Birds Movie'' (2016). In 2010, Borstein joined the first season staff of the
Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
series '' Shameless'', as a writer and supervising producer. In its second season, she held the position of writer and consulting producer. She also guest-starred as Lou Deckner in numerous episodes of the series, beginning in the first-season episode "But at Last Came a Knock." She also appeared as a comedian contestant on IFC's short-lived comedy-driven game show '' Bunk'' in 2012. Borstein starred as Dawn Forchette on the
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
comedy series '' Getting On'', which is a remake of a UK series with the same name. The series has gained positive reviews and earned multiple
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 ...
nominations. It aired from 2013 to 2015. From 2017 to 2023, Borstein starred as Susie Myerson in the
Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...
historical comedy-drama series '' The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'', for which she received significant critical acclaim and won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.


Personal life

Borstein met actor and writer Jackson Douglas while she was studying improv at the ACME Comedy Theatre. Douglas proposed to her during the taping of a ''MADtv'' sketch and they were married in 1999. Douglas filed for divorce in October 2014 and it was finalized in 2017. Borstein was pregnant while she recorded the DVD commentary for the ''Family Guy'' episode "
Stewie Kills Lois "Stewie Kills Lois" and "Lois Kills Stewie" are a two-part episode of the sixth season of the animated comedy series ''Family Guy'', which was originally produced for the end of Season 5. Respectively, both parts are the fourth and fifth episod ...
"; she joked about naming her baby Stewie. She and Douglas have a son and a daughter. Borstein, who is a carrier of
hemophilia Haemophilia, or hemophilia (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a longer time after an injury, easy bruising, ...
herself, is a longtime advocate for the National Hemophilia Foundation.


Religious beliefs

According to Borstein, "We do
Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...
every Friday night. I'm not omeonethat goes to temple all the time—I'm a High Holidays temple goer, and that's about it. But there are traditions," she said in an interview. "Having a mother and a grandmother who are Holocaust survivors, I feel a large responsibility to continue that culture and those traditions—not necessarily the dogma, but what it feels like to be Jewish. I want to instill that in my kids."


Filmography


Film


Television


Video games


Web


Radio


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* *
SuicideGirls interview with Alex Borstein
{{DEFAULTSORT:Borstein, Alex 1971 births Living people Actresses from Chicago American comedy writers American film actresses American sketch comedians American people of Hungarian descent American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent American people of Mongolian descent American television actresses American voice actresses American women comedians American women television writers Comedians from Los Angeles Comedians from Illinois Jewish American actresses Jewish American comedians Jewish female comedians Jewish American screenwriters Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy Award winners People from Highland Park, Illinois San Francisco State University alumni Screenwriters from Illinois Writers from Chicago 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American screenwriters People from Deerfield, Illinois People with haemophilia 21st-century American Jews American actors with disabilities