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Jessica St. Clair

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jessica St. Clair
Born
Alma materMiddlebury College
Occupations
  • Actress
  • comedian
  • writer
  • producer
Years active2002–present
Spouse
(m. 2006)
Children1

Jessica St. Clair is an American actress and improvisational comedian from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. With frequent collaborator Lennon Parham, she co-created and co-starred in NBC's Best Friends Forever and USA Network's Playing House. She currently is a lead voice on the Adult Swim animated comedy Royal Crackers.

Life and career

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St. Clair was born in Princeton, New Jersey[1] and raised in Westfield, New Jersey, where she attended Westfield High School, graduating as part of the class of 1994.[2] Her first major television work was as a regular panelist on the VH1 series Best Week Ever, offering comedic insights on pop culture and the news of the week.[3] She co-starred in the short-lived ABC sitcom In the Motherhood in 2009.

St. Clair has gained notice for her frequent guest appearances (often alongside performing partner Lennon Parham) on podcasts such as Comedy Bang! Bang!, in which she plays the show's teenage intern Marissa Wompler. In 2015, St. Clair and Parham spun off their characters in a new Earwolf podcast called WOMP It Up!, with St. Clair as host Marissa Wompler and Parham co-hosting as Marissa's teacher Miss Listler. Frequent guests on the podcast include Brian Huskey as Marissa's stepdad Seth and Jason Mantzoukas as Marissa's former flame Eric "Gutterballs" Gutterman. The podcast ran through the summer of 2015, returning after a hiatus on November 16, 2015. Beginning in 2021, St. Clair and June Diane Raphael started their own podcast, The Deep Dive.

St. Clair and Parham created and starred in the NBC comedy series Best Friends Forever, which premiered on April 4, 2012, and aired for one season, followed by Playing House, which premiered on USA on April 29, 2014, and concluded its third and final season in July 2017.

St. Clair has played recurring roles on television shows such as Veep, Weeds, The McCarthys, Marry Me, American Housewife, Worst Week and United States of Tara. She also played the role of Suzanne, the long-suffering wife of host Forrest MacNeil on the Comedy Central series Review. St. Clair's notable work in film includes supporting roles in Bridesmaids, She's Out of My League, Afternoon Delight and Enough Said.

St. Clair had a recurring role on the Netflix comedy series Space Force as structural engineer and civil contractor Kelly King.[4][5] Beginning in 2023, she began voicing Deb Hornsby on the Adult Swim animated comedy Royal Crackers, currently in its second season.

In 2024, St. Clair and Casey Wilson teamed up to write and narrate the audiobook The Art of Small Talk, which includes interviews with Amy Poehler, Colin Quinn, Malcolm Gladwell, Tony Hale, and June Diane Raphael, among others.[6]

Personal life

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St. Clair is married to playwright and poet Dan O'Brien.[7] They have a daughter.[8]

In 2015, St. Clair said that she and Lennon Parham had both learned Transcendental Meditation.[9] In 2017, St. Clair revealed that she had undergone treatment for breast cancer after being diagnosed in September 2015,[10] and this was incorporated into the third season of Playing House when her character Emma was similarly diagnosed.

Filmography

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Film
Year Title Role Notes
2004 Terrorists Jennifer Castle
2006 For Your Consideration Hula Balls Spokeswoman
2007 Trendsetters Julie Campbell Short film
2008 College Road Trip Ms. Prince
2009 Stay Cool Darcy Portola
2009 The Condom Killer Connor's Mother Short film
2009 The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard. Selleck Customer, Wife
2009 Taking Chances Reporter
2009 It's Complicated Wedding Specialist
2010 She's Out of My League Debbie
2010 The Big Dog Lena Short film
2010 The Red Roof Inn Chronicles Herself Short film; also writer
2010 Life As We Know It Beth
2011 Bridesmaids Whitney
2012 Wanderlust Deena Schuster
2012 The Dictator Denise
2013 Afternoon Delight Stephanie
2013 Enough Said Cynthia
2015 Addicted to Fresno Kristen
2017 The House Wall Street Guy - Reba
2018 Dog Days Ruth
2020 Like a Boss Kim
2020 Superintelligence Leslie
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2002 The Colin Quinn Show Various 3 episodes
2003–2004 The Smoking Gun TV Correspondent Series regular
2004 Things I Hate About You Juror Episode: "Patrick and Renee"
2005 Lies and the Wives We Tell Them To TV pilot
2007 The IT Crowd Jen unaired TV pilot
2007 Samantha Who? Valerie Episode: "The Wedding"
2007 UCB Comedy Originals Episode: "Action 5 News!"; also producer
2008–2009 Worst Week Sarah 6 episodes
2009 United States of Tara Tiffany St. Claire 2 episodes
2009 In the Motherhood Emily Series regular
2009 Labor Pains Pregnancy Class Instructor TV movie
2009 Hank Peggy Episode: "Yard Sale"
2010 The Life & Times of Tim Kelly / Friend (voice) 2 episodes
2010 Notes from the Underbelly Violet Episode: "Spinning Out of Control"
2010 Sons of Tucson Marcia Teel Episode: "Sally Teel"
2010 Weeds Rebekkah 3 episodes
2011 Parks and Recreation Denise Burkiss Episode: "Road Trip"
2011 Curb Your Enthusiasm Anna Episode: "The Divorce"
2011 Love Bites Chloe 3 episodes
2011 How to Be a Gentleman Pam Episode: "How to Attend Your Ex-Fiance's Wedding"
2012 Best Friends Forever Jessica Black Lead role (6 episodes); also co-creator, writer, executive producer
2013 The Office Casey Dean Episode: "A.A.R.M."
2013–2014 Veep Dana 4 episodes
2014–2017 Review Suzanne MacNeil 20 episodes
2014–2017 Playing House Emma Crawford Lead role (26 episodes); also co-creator, writer, director, executive producer
2014–2015 The McCarthys Katrina 6 episodes
2014–2015 Marry Me Julie 3 episodes
2015 Comedy Bang! Bang! Miss Polite Episode: "Mark Duplass Wears a Striped Sweater and Jeans"
2015 Key & Peele Amy Episode: "Killer Concept Album"
2015 Sofia the First Athena (voice) Episode: "The Secret Library"
2016–2017 Animals. Kaitlin / Egg (voice) 2 episodes
2017–2019 American Housewife Chloe Brown Mueller 12 episodes
2017 Portlandia Squirrel (voice) Episode: "Separation Anxiety"
2017 Teachers June Harris Episode: "Held Back"
2017 Angie Tribeca Mrs. Claire Farnsworth Episode: "Welcome Back, Blotter"
2017–2022 Bob's Burgers Nancy / Joanne / Ms. Padaro (voice) 3 episodes
2017–2019 Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ Leatha Benet 3 episodes
2017 Tangled: The Series Pizzazo (voice) Episode: "Great Expotations"
2018 Grace and Frankie Lauren Episode: "The Death Stick"
2019 Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television Captain Lade'e 6 episodes
2019 Arrested Development Anita Bramwell 2 episodes
2019–2022 American Dad! Connie Robinson, Additional Characters (voice) 5 episodes
2019 Man with a Plan Kelly Episodes: "Clean Country Living", "The Intervention(s)"
2019 Bless This Mess Stacey Episode: "The Grisham Gals"
2020–2022 Avenue 5 Mia Recurring role; 15 episodes
2020 Space Force Kelly King Recurring role; 5 episodes
2020 Close Enough Joy (voice) Episode: "First Date/Snailin' It"
2020 Central Park Deb Dalyrumple (voice) Episode: "A Fish Called Snakehead"
2020–2021 The Goldbergs Dolores Recurring, seasons 7–8
2023 How I Met Your Father Megan Episode: "The Reset Button"
2023 A Million Little Things Amelia Episode: "Think Twice"
2023 History of the World, Part II Sarah Episode: "III"
2023–present Royal Crackers Deb Hornsby (voice) Lead role
2023 Based on a True Story Lipinski Sister #2 3 episodes
2024 Night Court Heather Episode: "Wrath of Comic-Con"
2024 Loot Host Episode: "Women Who Rule"

References

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  1. ^ "The JV Club with Janet Varney : Jessica St. Clair". jvclub.libsyn.com.
  2. ^ Carpien, Sara (18 June 2014). "Westfield Native Jessica St. Clair Talks About Her Hit Show, Playing House, and Hometown Inspiration". TAPinto. Retrieved 19 June 2017. St. Clair, who graduated Westfield High School in 1994, has fond memories of growing up in Westfield and weaves them into the storyline in unique, and sometimes specific, ways.
  3. ^ "Latest Celebrity Gossip, Celebrity News, Entertainment News - VH1". VH1 News. Archived from the original on November 16, 2007.
  4. ^ Reimann, Tom (October 23, 2019). "'Space Force' Cast Adds Noah Emmerich, Fred Willard, and Jessica St. Clair". Collider. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  5. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (October 23, 2019). "'Space Force': Noah Emmerich, Fred Willard & Jessica St. Clair Join Cast Of Netflix Comedy Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  6. ^ Barilla, Chris (2024-03-21). "Casey Wilson and Jessica St. Clair's Trailer for The Art of Small Talk Audiobook". People.com. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  7. ^ "Weddings: Jessica St. Clair, Dan O'Brien". The New York Times. 16 July 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  8. ^ Ossad, Jordana (11 October 2013). "Jessica St. Clair Welcomes Daughter Isobel Kelly". E! News. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  9. ^ Corridan, Kara (2015). "A Convo with Two Really Cool Moms". Parents. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2015. Lennon's husband worked at a school where they taught transcendental meditation and took time out of the school day to meditate. … So Lennon and I learned meditation ... through the David Lynch Foundation, and we try and meditate at least once a day.
  10. ^ "Actress Jessica St. Clair Opens Up About Her Breast Cancer Diagnosis". Stand Up To Cancer. May 9, 2017. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
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