Amy Sedaris biography

Synopsis

Early Years

Born Amy Louise Sedaris on October 18, 1961, in Endicott, New York. One of six children, she is the daughter of Lou Sedaris, an IBM engineer, and his late wife, Sharon. Amy was the fourth child born into the family, and is the younger sister of the writer David Sedaris.

At a young age, Sedaris moved with her family to Raleigh, North Carolina. Sedaris credits much of her humor to her family and its inner workings. Her mother was a strong and sarcastic parent, who told great stories and was known for her sense of humor. She was beloved by her six children, and it was her attention the Sedaris kids all competed for. From that sibling rivalry, Sedaris discovered a fondness for the outrageous, wearing wigs and costumes. She also developed a knack for impersonating her parents and their friends.

Following her graduation from Jesse O. Sanderson High School, Sedaris, who'd started a small baking business with her mother, decided to leave North Carolina and join her older brother, David, in Chicago. There, Sedaris worked to hone her obvious natural talent for comedy at Second City, Chicago's famous improvisational troupe. The group is responsible for launching the careers of many young comedians, from Gilda Radner to Chris Farley. At Second City, Sedaris also met and begin working with two other comedians: Stephen Colbert and Paul Dinello.

Commercial Success

In the early 1990s, Sedaris left Chicago for New York City. Around this time, Sedaris' career started to blossom. With Dinello and Colbert, the three collaborated on a short-lived Comedy Central program, Exit 57. As her brother David's career began to gather momentum, the two siblings formed a play-writing team called The Talent Family, which they used to push out several projects.

Early in her career, Sedaris discovered a love for playing characters that were damaged in some sort of fashion, either physically or mentally. Often lovable, and in some cases charming, the characters were hardly conventional. Nowhere was that more apparent than in the Comedy Central cult favorite, Strangers with Candy, a spoof on the classic network after-school specials that were popular in the 1970s. The program, which debuted in 1999, was a collaborative project for Sedaris, Colbert and Dinello. The show featured Sedaris as Jerry Blank, a former drug addict and retired prostitute who returned to high school after a 30-year absence.

In addition, her work over the years has ranged from regular television appearances on programs such as Just Shoot Me, Monk, and Sex and the City. She's also worked in a number of films, including School of Rock (2003), ElfChicken Little (2005) and Shrek the Third (2007). In 2006, Sedaris, Colbert and Dinello brought Strangers with Candy to the big screen.