Amy Sedaris Biography

Amy Sedaris is a prolific comedian and actress and the younger sister of humorist David Sedaris. She was a member of Chicago’s Second City comedy troupe before moving to New York to write plays with her brother. Along with Stephen Colbert and others, she helped create the short-lived sketch comedy show Exit 57 (1995-96) for Comedy Central. A few years later she hit it bigger with the cable TV series Strangers With Candy (1999-2000). The spoof starred Sedaris as Jerri Blank, a rather hideous 46-year-old drug addict who returns to high school and tries to fit in. (A Strangers With Candy movie, also starring Sedaris, came out in 2005.) A petite blonde, Sedaris often plays against type as characters who are ironic, severe, or just plain squirrely. She had parts in the movies Maid in Manhattan (2002, with Jennifer Lopez), The School of Rock (2003, with Jack Black) and Jennifer’s Body (2009), among others, and did voices for the animated movies Shrek the Third (2007, as Cinderella) and Puss in Boots (2011, as Jill). Her books include I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence (2006) and The Book of Liz (2002, with her brother David Sedaris).