Ali Wentworth
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Alexandra "Ali" Wentworth (born January 12, 1965) is an American actress, comedian, author, and producer.
Early life
Wentworth's mother, Muffie Cabot (née Mabel Bryant Hobart), was Nancy Reagan's White House social secretary from 1981 to 1983.<ref>Colacello, Bob. The White House's Dinner Theater, Vanity Fair, June 2010.</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Her father, Eric Wentworth, was a reporter for The Washington Post.<ref name=people>People "Bubbled Up", March 8, 1999, Retrieved April 13, 2020</ref> Her stepfather, Henry Brandon, was the Washington correspondent for The Sunday Times of London and her maternal grandmother was Janet Elliott Wulsin.<ref name="elle">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=people/>
Wentworth attended the Dana Hall School for Girls in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and studied drama at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York before graduating from New York University.<ref name=people /><ref>NewsmakersTemplate:Dead link, Bard - The Annandale Triangle, February 2012.</ref>
Career
Wentworth debuted as a cast member on the Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color from 1992 to 1994. On the program she was known for performing impressions of Cher, Amy Fisher, Hillary Clinton, Princess Diana, Brooke Shields, Lisa Marie Presley, Sharon Stone, and other characters. Her recurring characters included Candy Cane, a deranged kids' show host who had had a string of bad relationships with her male coworkers, and the promiscuous teenage daughter of Grandpa Jack McGee (Jim Carrey) on The Dysfunctional Home Show.
Wentworth made appearances as a correspondent on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Oprah Winfrey Show. In 1995, she played Jerry Seinfeld's girlfriend Sheila ("Schmoopie") in the memorable "Soup Nazi" episode of Seinfeld. She had a recurring role as the boss of the title character on the WB series Felicity.
In 2003, she co-hosted the syndicated talk show Living It Up! with Ali & Jack with Jack Ford. Since that show's cancellation and before, she has been a regular part of the guest host rotation for Live with Kelly and Ryan when Kelly Ripa is on vacation or has other commitments.
Wentworth wrote 28 episodes ofTemplate:Citation needed and starred in the comedy Head Case on the Starz television network.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She guest starred on the NBC show The Marriage Ref. She hosted Daily Shot, a short daily talk show segment on Yahoo! Shine.<ref>Daily Shot Template:Webarchive at Yahoo!</ref>
In 2016, Wentworth created and starred in Nightcap as the lead character Staci Cole.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The series was broadcast for two seasons.
Wentworth appeared as a celebrity guest on the July 23, 2017 episode (S2 E07) of The $100,000 Pyramid, opposite Kathy Najimy, helping her contestant partner win the $150,000 grand prize.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="twitter">Template:Cite tweet</ref> In 2020, Wentworth launched a podcast Go Ask Ali in partnership with shondaland audio.<ref name="petski">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="dujour">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2022, she published a book, Ali's Well That Ends Well, about finding humor in the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2021, Wentworth, George Stephanopoulos, and Alyssa Mastromonaco founded the production company BedBy8. The first project, an ABC News Studio collaboration with Madator Content was Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields. The docuseries first premiered at Sundance, followed by Hulu.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 2022, Wentworth co-hosted an ABC reality show, The Parent Test, with Adolph Brown.
Personal life
Wentworth is married to George Stephanopoulos, ABC News chief anchor, correspondent and former political adviser to the Clinton administration. They met on a blind date in April 2001 and were engaged two months later. They married on November 20, 2001, at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity on New York City's Upper East Side, where they reside, in a lengthy service.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They have two daughters.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In an episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Wentworth said a "well-known writer" once offered $40,000 to spend a night with her.<ref>Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, First Cup: Episode 20, "Ali Wentworth: I'm Going to Take a Percocet"</ref>
Bibliography
- The WASP Cookbook, Warner Adult, 1997. Template:ISBN.
- Ali in Wonderland: And Other Tall Tales, 2012, Harper Collins Template:ISBN
- Happily Ali After: And Other Fairly True Tales, HarperCollins, 2015. Template:ISBN. Template:ISBN.
- Go Ask Ali: Half-Baked Advice (and Free Lemonade), Harper, 2018. Template:ISBN.
- Ali's Well that Ends Well, HarperCollins, 2022. Template:ISBN
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992-1994 | In Living Color | Various | 63 episodes |
| 1994 | Hardball | Lee Emory | |
| 1995 | Seinfeld | Sheila | 1 episode |
| 1996 | Life Among the Cannibals | Suicidal Singer | |
| Big Packages | Susan | ||
| Jerry Maguire | Bobbi Fallon | ||
| 1997 | Trial and Error | Tiffany Whitfield | |
| The Real Blonde | Raina | ||
| The Love Bug | Alex Woodward | TV movie | |
| 1999 | Office Space | Anne | |
| Felicity | Abby | 2 episodes | |
| 2000 | Meeting Daddy | Melanie Branson | |
| 2001 | Call Me Claus | Lucy | |
| 2009 | It's Complicated | Diane | |
| 2012–2014 | Daily Shot With Ali Wentworth | Self | |
| 2013 | Breathe In | Wendy | |
| 2014 | Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee | Self | Season 5, episode 6 |
| 2016–2017 | Nightcap | Staci Cole | |
| 2015–2022 | Live with Kelly and Ryan | Self | Guest host |
| 2019 | Will & Grace | Dr. Saperstein | Episode: "The Chick & The Egg Donor", season 11 episode 4 |
| 2022 | Would I Lie to You? (US) | Self | Episode: "Banana Bread" |
| The Parent Test | Self |
References
External links
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- Template:C-SPAN
- Alexandra Wentworth in Starz Head Case
- Head Games with Ali Wentworth Template:Webarchive, tv.com, Laura Swisher, January 30, 2008
- American film actresses
- American stage actresses
- American television actresses
- Bard College alumni
- Living people
- 1965 births
- American women comedians
- 21st-century American actresses
- 20th-century American actresses
- Actresses from Washington, D.C.
- American television personalities
- American women television personalities
- Writers from Washington, D.C.
- American cookbook writers
- American memoirists
- American women food writers
- American women memoirists
- Comedians from Washington, D.C.
- 20th-century American comedians
- 21st-century American comedians
- Dana Hall School alumni