Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970 in Bedford, New Hampshire) is an American comedian and actor, known for her incredibly dark and vulgar sense of humor.
She was on Saturday Night Live as a writer and featured player for the 1993–94 season, but didn't show off the humor she'd be known for today. She later came back to host the show for its 40th season.
In the early 2000s she appeared as a regular on Mr. Show and Greg the Bunny and a recurring voice actor on Crank Yankers, showcased her Standup Comedy act in the 2005 film Jesus Is Magic, made a memorable appearance in the documentary The Aristocrats, and frequently guested on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and her then-boyfriend Jimmy Kimmel's Jimmy Kimmel Live!. From 2007–10 she starred in The Sarah Silverman Program, a sitcom in which she played a humorously fictionalized version of herself.
On the big screen Silverman has had supporting roles in such movies as There's Something About Mary, Heartbreakers, School of Rock, A Million Ways to Die in the West, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, The Book of Henry, Battle of the Sexes, and Marry Me (2022). On TV she has made guest appearances in Frasier, The Good Wife, JAG, Masters of Sex (alongside her then-boyfriend Michael Sheen), Monk, Seinfeld, Star Trek: Voyager, and V.I.P.. She's also done animated voice work, in the film Wreck-It Ralph (and its sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet) and on series like American Dad!, Futurama, The Simpsons, and Bob's Burgers.
She has also appeared in comedy specials for HBO (2013's We Are Miracles, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for writing, and 2023's Someone You Love) and Netflix (2017's A Speck of Dust), hosted a weekly political comedy/talk show called I Love You, America for one season (2017–18) on Hulu, and since 2020 has hosted her own podcast called – what else? – The Sarah Silverman Podcast. The Bedwetter, a musical adaptation of her eponymous 2010 memoir co-written with Joshua Harmon (Bad Jews) and the late Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne), premiered off-Broadway in 2022. In 2024 she began hosting Stupid Pet Tricks, a TBS series spun off from the recurring segment on David Letterman's late-night shows.
Silverman has dated fellow comedian and former Daily Show writer Rory Albanese since 2020. Her older sister Laura Silverman is also an actor, and has worked with Sarah on numerous projects.
Sarah Silverman filmography on TV Tropes:
- Bulworth (1998) as 2nd American Politics Assistant
- There's Something About Mary (1998) as Brenda
- The Bachelor (1999) as Carolyn
- What Planet Are You From? (2000) as Woman on Plane (uncredited role)
- Screwed (2000) as Hillary
- The Way of the Gun (2000) as Raving Bitch
- Say It Isn't So (2001) as Gina
- Heartbreakers (2001) as Linda
- Evolution (2001) as Denise
- School of Rock (2003) as Patty Di Marco
- Bad Santa (2003) as Teacher (deleted role)
- The Aristocrats (2005) as Herself
- RENT (2005) as Alexi Darling
- I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (2006) as Beth
- Funny People (2009) as Herself
- The Muppets (2011) as Greeter
- A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014) as Ruth
- Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016) as Paula
- The Book of Henry (2017) as Sheila
- Battle of the Sexes (2017) as Gladys Heldman
- Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021) as Warner Bros. Executive
- Don't Look Up (2021) as Sarah Benterman
- Marry Me (2022) as Parker Debbs
- Maestro (2023) as Shirley Bernstein
- Saturday Night Live (1993–94) as Featured Playernote
- Mr. Show (10 episodes, 1995–97) as Various
- Star Trek: Voyager (1 episode, 1996) as Rain Robinson
- The Larry Sanders Show (3 episodes, 1996–98) as Wendy Traston
- Seinfeld (1 episode, 1997) as Emily
- Brotherly Love (1 episode, 1997) as Rosa
- JAG (1 episode, 1997), as Lt. (j.g.) Tina Schiparelli
- The Naked Truth (1 episode, 1997) as Ali Walters
- V.I.P. (1 episode, 2002) as Lucy Stanton
- Greg the Bunny (13 episodes, 2002–04) as Alison Kaiser
- Frasier (1 episode, 2003) as Jane
- Entourage (1 episode, 2004) as Herself
- Monk (3 episodes, 2004–08) as Marci Maven
- The Sarah Silverman Program (2007–10) as Sarah Silverman
- Yo Gabba Gabba! (1 episode, 2010) as Herself
- The Good Wife (1 episode, 2011) as Stephanie Engler
- Childrens Hospital (1 episode, 2011) as Britches
- Bored to Death (1 episode, 2011) as Lori
- The League (1 episode, 2011) as Heather
- Louie (3 episodes, 2012–14) as Herself
- Masters of Sex (10 episodes, 2014–16) as Helen Schiff
- Conan (1 episode, 2016) as Adolf Hitler
- Great Minds with Dan Harmon (1 episode, 2016) as Betsy Ross
- Lady Dynamite (1 episode, 2016) as Herself
- Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special (2017) as Misty
- Crashing (US) (1 episode, 2017) as Herself
- Home Movie: The Princess Bride (1 episode, 2020) as The Grandfather
- The Daily Show (8 episodes, 2023) as Herself (Guest Host)
- History of the World Part II (1 episode, 2023) as Lieutenantman Silverman
- Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist (1 episode, 1998) as Herself
- Futurama (3 episodes, 2000–13) as Michelle
- Crank Yankers (2002–19) as Hadassah Guberman
- Hair High (2004) as Cherri
- Aqua Teen Hunger Force (1 episode, 2004) as Big S
- Drawn Together (1 episode, 2004) as Bleh
- American Dad! (1 episode, 2005) as Stripper
- Tom Goes to the Mayor (1 episode, 2005) as Barb Dunderbarn
- Robot Chicken (2 episodes, 2006) as Various
- The Simpsons (4 episodes, 2010–16) as Nikki McKenna / Herself/ Rachel
- Bob's Burgers (2011–present) as Ollie Pesto / Ms. Schnur / Various
- The Bob's Burgers Movie (2022) as Ollie Pesto
- Wreck-It Ralph (2012) as Vanellope von Schweetz
- Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)
- Out There (1 episode, 2013) as Amy
- Man Seeking Woman (1 episode, 2015) as Josh's Right Hand
- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (1 episode, 2018) as Zillow Commercial Narrator
- Santa Inc. (2021) as Candy Smalls
Sarah Silverman's works provide examples of the following tropes:
- Black Comedy Rape: Alluded to be the subject of it in a lot of her stand-up routines. Her routine in The Aristocrats might be the most notorious example.
- Casual Kink: Her reaction to the tweet directed at her on the "Mean Tweets" section on Jimmy Kimmel Live!Random Troll: I wanna pee in Sarah Silverman's face, no reason behind it.Sarah: (suggestively) No reason needed.
- Country Matters: Half of her song "Diva"
consists exclusively of repeating this word over and over.
- Innocent Bigot: Although she's largely moved away from it since The New '10s, much of her earlier comic persona, particularly in her TV series, involved playing a naïve racist who didn't know any better.
- Le Film Artistique: Her YouTube video "Fête des Pets" ("Fart Party").
- Ms. Fanservice: Often parodies this by juxtaposing dressing and acting in a sexualized manner with gross-out comedy. On occasion, she simply plays it straight.
- N-Word Privileges: She probably wouldn't be able to get away with half of her jokes about Jews if she wasn't Jewish herself. Then again, she makes plenty of jokes about non-Jews as well.
- Older Than They Look: As of 2020, she's 50 years old, but looks like she's in her mid-30s at most.
- Precision F-Strike: Although she's usually pretty vulgar anyway, she's a master of knowing just when to unleash a particularly nasty word.
- "Sesame Street" Cred: She's appeared in an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba!, and has a cameo in The Muppets (2011) film. She's also the voice of Vanellope von Schweetz in the Disney movies Wreck-It Ralph and Ralph Breaks the Internet. Then there was her "Uncle Sarah" iPhone app, which basically cast her in the role of babysitter for toddlers. (No, really.)
- Toilet Humor: Often. She's also not afraid to poke fun at (and even wrote a book and musical about) the chronic bedwetting problem she had as a child and is 99.9% cured of these days.
- Verbal Tic: Often says "you know?" after she says a sentence in her standup.
- Vulgar Humor: Much of her humor veers into this territory, starkly contrasting with her appearance and mannerisms.
