Vanessa Bayer

Vanessa Polster Bayer (born November 14, 1981) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for being a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2010 to 2017, which earned her an Emmy nomination. Bayer also appeared in films such as Trainwreck (2015), Office Christmas Party (2016), Carrie Pilby (2016), and Ibiza (2018).

Vanessa Bayer
Bayer at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in 2015
Born
Vanessa Polster Bayer

(1981-11-14) November 14, 1981
Orange, Ohio, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Pennsylvania
Occupation
Years active2009–present

Early life

Bayer was born and raised in Orange, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, to a Reform Jewish family.[1] She is the daughter of Carolyn (née Polster) and Todd Bayer.[2] She has a brother, Jonah, who is a music journalist and the guitarist of the punk supergroup United Nations.[3][4]

At age 15, she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Bayer stated that while battling the disease, she discovered the meaning of comic relief. "I don't know if it made me funnier, but it was so amazing, how it made everything be O.K.", she said.[5]

Bayer graduated from Orange High School in 2000[6] and attended the University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in communication and French,[7] graduating in 2004.

Career

As of 2012, Bayer was collaborating with her brother Jonah on the web series Sound Advice for Above Average. Bayer stars as Janessa Slater, a media coach who helps famous musicians change their image.[8][9][10]

While attending college, Bayer interned on the television shows Sesame Street and Late Night with Conan O'Brien and participated in the cast of Bloomers, an all-female musical and sketch comedy troupe.[11] Bayer was part of the all-Jewish cast of Second City's stage show Jewsical: The Musical, a musical that presented a comedic take on Jewish life and culture.[12]

Bayer played the role of Kate Clark in the Chicago-based feature comedy Off the Cuff.

Bayer performed improvisational comedy at Chicago's ImprovOlympic, where she trained with SNL castmate Paul Brittain[1] as well as the Annoyance Theatre and Second City.[13]

In 2019, Bayer played Mia Cooper, the ex-wife of Taran Killam's character, in a recurring role on ABC's Single Parents. Starting in 2018 Bayer has played Amy, a former baker who loses her job because of Karen and subsequently works for Karen's baseball team, in a recurring role on NBC's Will & Grace.

Saturday Night Live

Bayer joined the cast of Saturday Night Live as a featured player on September 25, 2010. Beginning with the 2012–2013 season, Bayer was promoted to repertory status. She has been praised for her performance on the show, with HitFix calling her "one of the strongest members of the ensemble" and Rolling Stone calling her "Saturday Night Live's secret weapon". In 2014, she was nominated for an American Comedy Award 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.[14] Bayer departed SNL on May 20, 2017 after seven years on the show.[15][16] At the time of her departure, she was the show's all-time longest-serving female cast member with 149 episodes, but has since been surpassed by Kate McKinnon.

Her recurring characters include:

  • Laura Parsons, a child actress always performing roles originally played by adults, including from Forrest Gump, The Wolf of Wall Street, Brokeback Mountain and Dallas Buyers Club
  • Brecky, a former porn star who creates homemade commercials to obtain free luxury items alongside Cecily Strong
  • Rebecca Stern-Markowicz, a co-host of J-Pop America Fun Time Now which celebrates Japanese culture alongside Taran Killam and Jason Sudeikis
  • Miss Meadows, an unrealistically perky poetry teacher trying to connect with her delinquent students
  • An unnamed director of talk show Mornin' Miami
  • Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy who appears on Weekend Update to perform a rehearsed speech (complete with forced jokes) about a given subject
  • Rachel Green from the sitcom Friends (and other characters from the show)
  • One of two workshop elves who perform their jobs poorly in the hope that their master will "punish" them alongside Kenan Thompson
  • An unnamed housewife who makes Totinos for her husband's "hungry guys".
  • Dawn Lazarus, an inept meteorologist who appears on Weekend Update and struggles to discuss the weather.
  • Miley Cyrus as the host of her own talk show.

Philanthropy

Bayer suffered from leukemia as a teenager. The Make-A-Wish Foundation granted her wish to send her family on vacation to Hawaii. 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.[2][17]

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.[18]

Filmography

Film
Vanessa Bayer film appearances
Year Title Role Notes
2009Off the CuffKate Clark
2010Stages of EmilyJocelynShort film
2012Adventures in the Sin BinSuperdawg Waitress
2013Despicable Me 2Flight AttendantVoice role
2015TrainwreckNikki
2016Carrie PilbyTara
Office Christmas PartyAllison Parker
2017The Polka KingBitsy Bear
2018IbizaNikki
2020Wander DarklyMaggie
2021Barb and Star Go to Vista Del MarDebbie

Television
Vanessa Bayer television appearances
Year Title Role Notes
2010–17Saturday Night LiveVariousSeries regular
Nominated – 2014 American Comedy Award for Comedy Supporting Actress - TV
Nominated – 2014 Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Female Performance in a Fiction Program
Nominated – 2015 Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Female Performance in a Fiction Program
Nominated – 69th Primetime Emmy Awards ("Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series")
2011I Wanna Have Your BabyConnieEpisode: "Corrine & Jerry"
2012SugarboyChip's wife
2013The Mindy ProjectMaryEpisode: "Sk8er Man"
2014Comedy Bang! Bang!Susan ArmholdEpisode: "Patton Oswalt Wears a Black Blazer & Dress Shoes"
2014–15PortlandiaVariousEpisodes: "Sharing Finances", "Late in Life Drug Use", "You Can Call Me Al" and "The Storytellers"
2015Man Seeking WomanLauraEpisodes: "Traib" and "Lizard"
2015The AwesomesDr. Jill Stein-Awesome-Kaplan4 episodes
2016Modern FamilyMarjorieEpisode: "Snow Ball"
2016–18Drunk HistoryVarious2 episodes
2017The SimpsonsDr. Clarity Hoffman-Roth (voice)Episode: "A Father's Watch"
2018LoveSarahEpisode: "Sarah from College"
2018Will & GraceAmyEpisode: "The Beefcake & the Cake Beef"
2019Single ParentsMia2 Episodes
2019What We Do in the ShadowsEvie RussellEpisode: "Werewolf Feud"
2019I Think You Should Leave with Tim RobinsonBrendaEpisode: "Has This Ever Happened to You?"
2019HelpstersRita ReaderEpisode: "Rita Reader/Cody Gets a Cold"
2019Will & GraceAmyEpisode: "The Grief Panda"
2020ShrillJustineEpisode: "WAHAM"
2020Brooklyn Nine-NineOfficer Debbie FogleRecurring role, in season 7 episodes "Manhunter",[19] "The Jimmy Jab Games II", and "Debbie".[20]

References
  1. Moynihan, Rob. "SNL's Fab Four", TV Guide, March 7, 2011, Pages 44-45
  2. "Vanessa Bayer". orangeschools.org. Orange High School.
  3. Eakin, Marah. "Jonah and Vanessa Bayer on Sound Advice, sibling rivalries, and childhood bribery". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  4. "Watch Vanessa Bayer Roast United Nations". Stereogum. August 6, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  5. Correal, Annie (May 7, 2016). "The (Very Lazy) Sunday Routine of Vanessa Bayer of 'Saturday Night Live'". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  6. "'Saturday Night Live' regular Vanessa Bayer, a Moreland Hills native, returns home to perform Sunday at the Improv". cleveland.com. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  7. "For Saturday Night Live's Bayer, humor a family affair - Cleveland Jewish News: Entertainment". Cleveland Jewish News. November 20, 2012. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  8. "Penn Gazette | Alumni : Profiles". Upenn.edu. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  9. "Jonah Bayer". Jonahbayer.wordpress.com. September 21, 2010. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  10. "An Interview with a Guy Who Hung Out with Drake for Two Hours Once". Noisey. October 16, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  11. "All-Female Musical and Sketch Comedy at the University of Pennsylvania". Bloomers Comedy. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  12. "Jews in the News: Rachel Specter, Grammys & Barbra Streisand". Letmypeoplegrow.org. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  13. "NBC'S 'SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE' PREMIERES SEPTEMBER 25 WITH SNL ALUM AMY POEHLER & CHART-TOPPING MUSICAL GUEST KATY PERRY". NBC-Universal Press Release. September 17, 2010. Archived from the original on March 11, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  14. "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - 2017". Los Angeles: Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  15. Hughes, William. "Vanessa Bayer is leaving SNL".
  16. "Vanessa Bayer leaving 'SNL'". CNN. May 21, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  17. Daley, Megan (June 22, 2015). "Vanessa Bayer talks to People about her childhood struggle with leukemia". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  18. "How Do You Care for a Very Sick Bear?". Macmillan.com. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  19. Ferguson, LaToya (February 6, 2020). "It's a 'Manhunt' (and Traveling Pants Situation) to Start Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Seventh Season". The A.V. Club. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
  20. Ferguson, LaToya (February 28, 2020). "A Coke-Fueled Brooklyn Nine-Nine Gets into the Mind of a Loose Cannon". The A.V. Club. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
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