Vanessa Bayer (born November 14, 1981) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for being a cast member on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' from 2010 to 2017, which earned her an

Emmy 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 ...

nomination. She co-created, co-executive produces, and has the lead role in 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 ''

I Love That for You ''I Love That for You'' is an American comedy television show created and executive produced by Vanessa Bayer and Jeremy Beiler for Showtime. The show stars Bayer as Joanna Gold, an aspiring host for shopping channel SVN, who lies that her child ...

'', which is loosely based on her experience as a survivor of

childhood leukemia Childhood leukemia is leukemia that occurs in a child and is a type of childhood cancer. Childhood leukemia is the most common childhood cancer, accounting for 29% of cancers in children aged 0–14 in 2018. There are multiple forms of leukemia t ...

. Bayer has appeared in such films as '' Trainwreck'' (2015), ''

Office Christmas Party ''Office Christmas Party'' is a 2016 American Christmas comedy film directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon and written by Justin Malen and Laura Solon, based on a story by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. The film stars an ensemble cast, including Jas ...

'' (2016), ''

Carrie Pilby ''Carrie Pilby'' is a coming-of-age novel by Caren Lissner, first published by Red Dress Ink in 2003, then re-released on July 1, 2010 for teenage readers under the new imprint Harlequin Teen. It was among the first novels published by Harlequi ...

'' (2016), ''

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

'' (2018), and '' Wander Darkly'' (2020).

Early life

Bayer was born in

Orange, Ohio Orange Village is a village in Cuyahoga County and an affluent eastern suburb of the Greater Cleveland area in the US state of Ohio. The population was 3,323 at the 2010 census. History Orange Township was settled in 1815 and established as ...

, a suburb of

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, and raised in nearby Moreland Hills.Moynihan, Rob. "''SNL''s Fab Four", ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'', March 7, 2011, Pages 44-45 She is the daughter of Carolyn and Todd Bayer. Bayer's family is

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 ...

, and she has stated that her Jewish upbringing "influenced erlife and comedy". She has a brother, Jonah, who is a music journalist and the guitarist of the punk supergroup

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. At age 15, she was diagnosed with

acute lymphoblastic leukemia Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a cancer of the lymphoid line of blood cells characterized by the development of large numbers of immature lymphocytes. Symptoms may include feeling tired, pale skin color, fever, easy bleeding or bruisin ...

(ALL). Bayer stated that while battling the disease, she discovered the meaning of

comic relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...

. "I don't know if it made me funnier, but it was so amazing, how it made everything be O.K.", she said. Bayer is a 2000 graduate of Orange High School. In 2004, she graduated from the Annenberg School for Communication of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, where she majored in communication and French. While attending college, Bayer interned on the television shows ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

'' and ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...

'' and participated in the cast of ''Bloomers'', an all-female musical and sketch comedy troupe.

Career

, Bayer was collaborating with her brother Jonah on the

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single i ...

''Sound Advice'' for Above Average. Bayer stars as Janessa Slater, a media coach who helps famous musicians change their image. She was part of the all-Jewish cast of

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre op ...

's stage show ''Jewsical: The Musical'', a musical that presented a comedic take on Jewish life and culture. She played the role of Kate Clark in the Chicago-based feature comedy ''Off the Cuff''. Bayer performed

improvisational Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

comedy at Chicago's

ImprovOlympic iO, or iO Chicago, (formerly known as "ImprovOlympic") is an improv theater and training center in central Chicago, with a former branch in Los Angeles, called iO West and in Raleigh, North Carolina called iO South. The theater taught and hosted p ...

, where she trained with ''SNL'' castmate

Paul Brittain Paul Brittain (born February 16, 1977) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2010 to 2012. Early life and education Brittain was born and raised in Naperville, Illinois.Moynihan, Rob. "''SNLs Fab ...

as well as the

Annoyance Theatre The Annoyance Theatre, or Annoyance Productions, is a theatre and associated ensemble based in Chicago, Illinois, that deals mainly in absurd and outrageous humor. Many people who have performed with the ensemble have gone on to become successfu ...

and The Second City.

''Saturday Night Live''

Bayer joined the cast of ''

'' as a featured player on September 25, 2010. Beginning with the 2012–2013 season, Bayer was promoted to repertory status. In 2014, she was nominated for an

American Comedy Award The American Comedy Awards were a group of awards presented annually in the United States recognizing performances and performers in the field of comedy, with an emphasis on television comedy and comedy films. They began in 1987, billed as the "f ...

for her work on the show, and in 2017, she was nominated for a

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre-, or even gender-, specific. Begin ...

. Bayer departed ''SNL'' on May 20, 2017, after seven years on the show. Her recurring characters included: * Laura Parsons, a child actress always performing roles originally played by adults, including from ''

Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Eric Roth. It is based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson and ...

'', '' The Wolf of Wall Street'', ''

Brokeback Mountain ''Brokeback Mountain'' is a 2005 American neo-Western romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee and produced by Diana Ossana and James Schamus. Adapted from the 1997 short story of the same name by Annie Proulx, the screenplay was written by O ...

'' and ''

Dallas Buyers Club ''Dallas Buyers Club'' is a 2013 American biographical drama film written by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, and directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. The film tells the story of Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey), an AIDS patient diagnosed in the mi ...

'' * Brecky, a former porn star who creates homemade commercials to obtain free luxury items alongside

Cecily Strong Cecily Legler Strong (born February 8, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and producer. Strong is most notable for being a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2012 to 2022. She is also the longest-tenured female cast member in the s ...

* Rebecca Stern-Markowicz, a co-host of '' J-Pop America Fun Time Now'', which celebrates Japanese culture alongside Taran Killam and

Jason Sudeikis Daniel Jason Sudeikis ( ; born September 18, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. In the 1990s, he began his career in improv comedy and performed with ComedySportz, iO Chicago (Improv Olympic), and The Second City. In 200 ...

* Rosa, a housemaid, in "The Californians" * Miss Meadows, an unrealistically perky poetry teacher trying to connect with her delinquent students * Miley Cyrus (impersonation), on "The Miley Cyrus Show" * An unnamed director of talk show ''Mornin' Miami'' * Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy, who appears on ''

Weekend Update ''Weekend Update'' is a ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch and satirical news program that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest-running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typic ...

'' to perform a rehearsed speech with forced jokes about a given subject * One of three workshop elves who perform their jobs poorly in the hope that their master will "punish" them, alongside

Kenan Thompson Kenan Thompson (; born May 10, 1978) is an American actor and comedian. He has been a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' since 2003, making him the longest-tenured cast member in the show's history. He was also th ...

* Dawn Lazarus, an inept meteorologist who appears on ''Weekend Update'' and struggles to discuss the weather * The housewife who feeds her "hungry guys" Totinos.

Post-SNL career

Bayer appeared on ABC's ''

Single Parents A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner to assist in the upbringing or support of the child. Reasons for becoming a single parent include divorce, break-up, abandonment, becoming wid ...

'' in 2019 in a recurring role as Mia Cooper, the ex-wife of

Taran Killam Taran Hourie Killam (born April 1, 1982) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is known for his television work on ''The Amanda Show'', ''How I Met Your Mother'', ''MADtv'', ''New Girl'', ''Saturday Night Live'', and ''Single Parents''. ...

's character. Starting in 2018, she had a recurring role on NBC's ''

Will & Grace ''Will & Grace'' is an American television sitcom created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. Set in New York City, the show focuses on the friendship between best friends Will Truman (Eric McCormack), a gay lawyer, and Grace Adler (Debra Messing), ...

'' playing Amy, a former baker who loses her job because of Karen and subsequently works for Karen's baseball team. Bayer is the co-creator, co-executive producer, and star of the

comedy ''

'', which premiered on May 1, 2022, and is loosely based on Bayer's life as a survivor of childhood leukemia.

Philanthropy

After Bayer was diagnosed with leukemia as a teenager, the

Make-A-Wish Foundation The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in the United States that helps fulfill the wishes of children with a critical illness between the ages of and 18 years old. Make-A-Wish was founded in 1980 and headqua ...

granted her wish to send her family on vacation to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. In gratitude and recognition, Bayer is involved with the foundation. In 2015, she hosted the foundation's Evening of Wishes Dinner to help raise funds for wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses. In June 2019, she published the children's book ''How Do You Care for a Very Sick Bear?'', which teaches children how to support friends with long-term illnesses.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bayer, Vanessa 1981 births Living people People from Cuyahoga County, Ohio Actresses from Cleveland Comedians from Ohio American film actresses American television actresses American women comedians American sketch comedians American impressionists (entertainers) American voice actresses Jewish American female comedians Jewish American actresses Jewish American comedy writers Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania alumni 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American comedians