Jessica Chaffin is an American actress, comedian, and writer best known as part of the comedy duo

Ronna and Beverly Ronna Marlene Glickman (née Levine) and Beverly Ginsberg (née Schiff, formerly Ginsberg, Kahn, Frisch) are the 50-something (born 1962) characters created and embodied by actors and comedians Jessica Chaffin and Jamie Denbo. They hosted a podc ...

with

Jamie Denbo Jamie Denbo (born July 24, 1973) is an American actress, writer, comedian and half of the comedy duo Ronna and Beverly with Jessica Chaffin. She also co-starred in the FX series ''Terriers'' and appeared in ''Spy'', '' The Heat'' and ''Ghostbu ...

. She is also known for her recurring roles as Coco Wexler on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

's ''

Zoey 101 ''Zoey 101'' is an American comedy drama television series created by Dan Schneider for Nickelodeon. It aired from January 9, 2005, to May 2, 2008. It focuses on the lives of Zoey Brooks (Jamie Lynn Spears), her brother Dustin (Paul Butcher (act ...

'', Marie Faldonado in the

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 Entertainmen ...

sitcom '' Man with a Plan'' and appearing in the films ''

Spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

'' and '' The Heat''. She starred as Beth in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

sitcom ''

Abby's ''Abby's'' is an American sitcom television series created by Josh Malmuth that aired from March 28 to June 13, 2019, on NBC. The series stars Natalie Morales, Neil Flynn, Nelson Franklin, Jessica Chaffin, Leonard Ouzts, and Kimia Behpoornia. In ...

''.

Early life

Chaffin was born and raised in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

. Her father 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, and her mother, who is of Scottish and English ancestry,

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. " ...

; Chaffin was raised Jewish. Her brother, Joshua Chaffin, is a writer for the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

''.

Career

She is a regular performer at the

Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (shorter UCB Theatre) is an American improvisational theatre company and training center founded by the Upright Citizens Brigade troupe members Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh. Prior to ...

in Los Angeles, often performing with her comedy partner

. From 2005 to 2008, Chaffin was known for playing Coco Wexler, the girls' dorm adviser on all four seasons of the Nickelodeon series ''

''. From 2008 to 2009, she also worked with

Amy Poehler Amy Poehler (; born September 16, 1971) is an American comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director. After studying improv at Chicago's Second City and ImprovOlympic in the early 1990s, Poehler co-founded the improvisational-comedy trou ...

as a writer and voice actor on the animated series ''

The Mighty B! ''The Mighty B!'' (stylized in all caps) is an American animated television series created by Amy Poehler, Cynthia True, and Erik Wiese for Nickelodeon. The series centers on Bessie Higgenbottom, an ambitious Honeybee girl scout who believes sh ...

'' playing several roles, including that of Portia's cousin, Chelsea. Then she popped up on various

TV shows A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

, including '' 90210'', ''

United States of Tara ''United States of Tara'' is an American television comedy-drama created by Diablo Cody, which aired on Showtime from 2009 to 2011. The series follows the life of Tara (Toni Collette), a suburban artist and mother coping with dissociative identit ...

'', ''

New Girl ''New Girl'' is an American television sitcom created by Elizabeth Meriwether and produced by 20th Television for Fox that originally aired from September 20, 2011, to May 15, 2018. The series revolves around a kooky teacher, Jessica Day (Zooey ...

'', '' Man with a Plan'', ''

Veep ''Veep'' is an American political satire comedy television series that aired on HBO from April 22, 2012, to May 12, 2019. The series was created by Armando Iannucci as an adaptation of his sitcom ''The Thick of It''. The protagonist of ''Veep'' ...

'', ''

Episodes Episodes may refer to: * Episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption. The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Gree ...

'', and '' Search Party'', and in the movies ''

'', ''

Pitch Perfect 3 ''Pitch Perfect 3'' is a 2017 American musical comedy film directed by Trish Sie and written by Kay Cannon and Mike White. A sequel to ''Pitch Perfect 2'' (2015) and the third and final installment in the ''Pitch Perfect'' franchise, the film f ...

'', and ''

Fun Mom Dinner ''Fun Mom Dinner'' is a 2017 American comedy film directed by Alethea Jones, from a screenplay by Julie Rudd. It stars Katie Aselton, Toni Collette, Bridget Everett, Molly Shannon, Adam Scott, and Adam Levine. The film had its world premiere a ...

''. Chaffin has made guest appearances on television programs such as '' Weeds'', ''

Entourage An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to: Arts and entertainment * L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collecti ...

'', and ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired televisio ...

''. In December 2009, her comedy pilot ''Ronna & Beverly'' (based on the popular stage show she performs with Denbo at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre) aired on

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 ...

. ''Ronna & Beverly'' was eventually turned into a six-part comedy talk show, which was co-produced by

Paul Feig Paul Samuel Feig (; born September 17, 1962) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is known for directing films starring frequent collaborator Melissa McCarthy, including ''Bridesmaids'' (2011), '' The Heat'' (2013), ''Spy'' (2015) ...

and premiered on September 10, 2012 on Sky Atlantic HD in the United Kingdom. Together with Denbo, Chaffin created the ''

'' podcast. A follow-up podcast, ''Ask Ronna'', with Chaffin co-hosting with Bryan Safi was launched in 2019. Chaffin was a series regular on the first season of CBS sitcom '' Man With A Plan'' and starred in the

sitcom ''

''.

Podcasts

''Ronna and Beverly''

Chaffin and comedy partner

hosted a podcast, ''

'', on the

Earwolf Earwolf is an American comedy podcasting network founded by Scott Aukerman and Jeff Ullrich in August 2010. In 2011, they announced a partnership with Funny Or Die. It merged with podcast advertising network The Mid Roll in 2014, a separate compa ...

network from 2011 until 2017 wherein they interviewed celebrity guests, interacted with one another, and dispensed advice to listeners. Chaffin and Denbo developed their characters in 2006 when they were asked to host an all-Jewish 'Kosher Christmas Show' at the

. Live performances from the pair were frequently advertised as "seminars" in which their characters discuss the fictional book they co-authored, "You'll Do a Little Better Next Time: A Guide to Marriage and Re-marriage for Jewish Singles." After introducing the book, either Chaffin or Denbo would often add the clarification, "It says Jewish in the name, but it's for everyone!" Episodes of their eponymous podcast were released every two weeks by

. Guests included people working in comedy, as well as actors, authors, and filmmakers. The podcast premiered on May 25, 2011. In episode 161 on June 15, 2017 (not long after they started teasing the possibility of releasing weekly episodes), Ronna and Beverly suddenly announced they were taking off "for the summer." Since then, no new episodes have been released and the actresses have not appeared together in character. Jessica Chaffin has kept Ronna alive by appearing in character as a guest on other podcasts and by maintaining an Instagram account.

''Ask Ronna''

In November, 2019, Chaffin and co-host

Bryan Safi ''Attitudes! (formerly Throwing Shade)'' is a weekly comedy podcast based on discussions of women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights, progressive politics and pop culture. The podcast is hosted by ("Feminasty") Erin Gibson and ("Homosensual") Bryan Safi. ...

premiered a new podcast called '' Ask Ronna'', in which Chaffin continues to appear as Ronna Glickman. Safi and Chaffin's show focuses on requests for advice and questions from listeners, and often feature a celebrity guest. Chaffin, as Glickman, is a purveyor of artisanal coffees in conjunction with the '' Ask Ronna'' podcast.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaffin, Jessica 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actors from Newton, Massachusetts Actresses from Massachusetts American film actresses American people of English descent American people of Scottish descent American women podcasters American podcasters American television actresses American television writers American voice actresses American women comedians Jewish American actresses Jewish American female comedians Living people American women television writers Year of birth missing (living people) Writers from Newton, Massachusetts Upright Citizens Brigade Theater performers Screenwriters from Massachusetts 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American Jews