Judy Gold (born November 15, 1962) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, podcaster, television writer, author, producer, and activist. She won two Daytime Emmy Awards for her work as a writer and producer on The Rosie O'Donnell Show.[2] Judy hosts the podcast It's Judy's Show with Judy Gold.

Judy Gold
Born (1962-11-15) November 15, 1962 (age 61)
Occupation(s)Stand-up comedian, actor, television writer, producer, author, podcaster, activist
Years active1986–present
Height6'2
PartnerElysa Halpern[1]
Children2
Websitejudygold.com

Early life

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Gold was born on November 15, 1962, in Clark, New Jersey. Gold grew up in a Jewish home with her two siblings. She plays piano. She first performed stand-up on a dare when she was a music student at Rutgers University.[2] Gold moved to Manhattan, New York from New Jersey in 1984. In an interview with Marc Maron, Gold revealed her comedic influences to be Joan Rivers, Phyllis Diller, and Totie Fields.[citation needed] Her first television role was on Roseanne in 1991, followed by work as a series regular role from 1994-1995 on Margaret Cho's sitcom All-American Girl.

Career

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Gold's stand-up specials have aired on Comedy Central, LOGO, and HBO. She has been featured in Netflix's Stand Out: An LGBTQ+ Celebration, and was featured in their documentary about LGBTQ+ comedians OUTSTANDING: A Comedy Revolution, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. She was a focus of Trevor Noah’s documentary XCLD: The Story of Cancel Culture. In 2007, she was featured in the film Making Trouble, a tribute to female Jewish comedians, produced by the Jewish Women's Archive.[3]

Gold’s recent film acting credits include: Tripped Up, She Came To Me, and Love Reconsidered. Her recent TV credits include Showtime’s City On A Hill and The First Lady, FX’s Better Things, and Apple TV+ Extrapolations. Other guest appearances include Girls5Eva, Broad City, Hulu’s Life and Beth, and recurring roles on Awkwafina, TBS’ Search Party, and Netflix’s Friends from College.[citation needed]

She was also a writer on the final season of FX’s Better Things.[citation needed]

Gold is a subject of the Hulu documentary Hysterical. She has made appearances on The Tonight Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Gold has been a guest on The View, The Today Show, The Drew Barrymore Show, and a free-speech advocate on MSNBC, CNN and NewsNation She has appeared on the Food Network, including competing on Chopped All-Stars and Rachel vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off.[citation needed]

From 1999-2010, Gold hosted HBO's At the Multiplex with Judy Gold. She appears as a commentator on 2007 truTV's TruTV Presents: World's Dumbest.[citation needed]

Gold is the author of Yes I Can Say That: When They Come For The Comedians, We Are All In Trouble (2020, HarperCollins; ISBN 9780062953773), a book about free speech and cancel-culture which was featured in The New York Times Book Review.

Gold's three comedy albums are Kill Me Now, Conduct Unbecoming, and Judith’s Roommate Had a Baby.

Stage shows

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Gold has written and starred in the Off-Broadway shows: Yes I Can Say That!, The Judy Show – My Life as a Sitcom, and 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother. She was a featured player as Gremio in The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park all-female production of The Taming of The Shrew. She also co-starred in Off-Broadway’s Clinton! The Musical, and Disaster! The Musical.

Gold's one-woman show 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother, co-written with Kate Moira Ryan, is based on a series of interviews with more than 50 Jewish mothers in the United States.[4] Their stories are interspersed with anecdotes about her own mother and her life as a lesbian mother of two sons.[5] It ran at the Ars Nova Theater in New York City in early 2006 and reopened later that year at St. Luke's Theater.

On June 30, 2011, The Judy Gold Show: My Life as a Sitcom, began previews at Off-Broadway's DR2 Theatre in New York City. This one-woman show was an homage to the classic sitcoms of Gold's youth. The show is written by Gold and Kate Moira Ryan and directed by Amanda Charlton. The show officially opened on July 6, 2011. The New York Times called the show "highly entertaining."[6] The New York Post called the show "gleefully self-deprecating".[7] The show subsequently opened in Los Angeles June 18, 2013, and had a one-month run at the Geffen Playhouse.[8]

In 2011, Gold was named a Givenik Ambassador.[9] In 2015, she appeared off-Broadway as Eleanor Roosevelt in the satiric musical Clinton: The Musical at New World Stages.[10]

Her one-woman show, based on her book, Yes I Can Say That! premiered in March 2023 and was directed by BD Wong at 59E59 Theaters.

Personal life

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Gold is a lesbian. She was in a relationship with Sharon Callahan for nearly 20 years. Together they have two children, whom she frequently referenced on the show Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn.[11] She met her current partner, Elysa Halpern, on a blind date set up by Time Out New York in 2007.[citation needed] Gold is very active in both the LGBT and Jewish communities. She was active in support of the 2004 and 2008 Democratic presidential campaigns.[citation needed] Gold serves on the Board of Directors of the National Coalition Against Censorship.

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2001 The Curse of the Jade Scorpion Voltan's Participant
2004 Our Italian Husband Nun #2
2017 Gilbert Herself Documentary
2021 Hysterical Herself Documentary

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1991 Roseanne Amy 1 episode
1993 Rumor Has It Panelist 1 episode
1994–1995 All American Girl Gloria Schechter 18 episodes
1995 HBO Comedy Half-Hour: Judy Gold Herself
1995 Here Come the Munsters Elsa Munster Hyde TV movie
1995 The City Judy Silver 1 episode
1996 Wings Brenda 1 episode
1997 Lois Lives a Little Short
1998 Arli$$ 1 episode
2000 The Drew Carey Show Leslie 2 episodes
2000 Law & Order Deborah Patterson 1 episode
2000 Sidesplitters: The Burt & Dick Story Dick's Mother Short
2001 The Ballad of Lucy Whipple Buck McPhee TV film
2002 Sex and the City Barnes & Noble Clerk 1 episode
2002 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Forensic Gynecologist 1 episode
2003 Comic Remix Herself 1 episode
2003 The Gynecologists Mrs. LeBlanc Short
2004 Ed Judge Fisher 1 episode
2005 Here! Family 1 episode
2007–2008 Super Normal The Roving Eye / Madam Midterm / Granny 15 episodes
2008–2013 World's Dumbest Herself 114 episodes
2009 Ugly Betty Joan 1 episode
2011 The Glades Rebecca Thornquist 1 episode
2012 30 Rock Judy Gold 1 episode
2013 The Big C Rabbi 1 episode
2013 2 Broke Girls Jerri 1 episode
2014 Melissa and Joey Janey 2 episodes
2014 Teachers Lounge Gym Teacher 1 episode
2015 Louie Marina 1 episode
2015 The Jim Gaffigan Show Judy Gold 1 episode
2016 Broad City Angela 1 episode
2016 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Judy 1 episode
2016 Crisis in Six Scenes Phonebooth Woman 1 episode
2016 Search Party Paulette Capuzzi 2 episodes
2016 What's Your F#@king Deal?! Herself Post-Production
2017 Nightcap Deb Hafner 5 episodes
2018 Murphy Brown ICE Agent Lynch 1 episode
2020–2022 Better Things Chaya 5 episodes
2021; 2023 Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens The Librarian 2 episodes
2022 Girls5eva Dr. Madden 1 episode
Year Title Role Notes
2013 Real Actors Read Yelp Herself 1 episode, streaming on YouTube
2015 Ambience Estelle 1 episode, streaming online
2023 Around the Sun (audio drama) Paula 3 episodes

References

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  1. ^ Musto, Michael (March 7, 2016). "Comic Judy Gold: 'I'm Way More Jewish Than Lesbian!' | Out Magazine". Out.com. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Lara, Adair (December 24, 2003). "N.Y. comedian Judy Gold feels right at home in S.F." San Francisco Chronicle. p. D-1. Archived from the original on December 1, 2007. Retrieved March 20, 2007.
  3. ^ Deming, Mark (2012). "Making Trouble: Three Generations of Funny Jewish Women". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 26, 2012. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
  4. ^ Shulman, Randy (January 31, 2008). "Gold Rush: When she's not milking the room for laughs, comic Judy Gold juggles a career, two kids and her 85-year-old Jewish mother". Metro Weekly. Retrieved March 13, 2008.
  5. ^ Hoban, Phoebe (January 27, 2006). "Listen to Your Mother! And Other Advice". New York Times. Retrieved March 20, 2007.
  6. ^ Rooney, David (July 8, 2011). "'The Judy Show: My Life as a Sitcom' – Review". The New York Times.
  7. ^ Vincentelli, Elisabeth (July 11, 2011). "Self-deprecation adds punch to 'Judy&apos". New York Post.
  8. ^ "The Judy Show – My life as a sitcom". The Geffen Playhouse homepage. Archived from the original on August 28, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
  9. ^ Gioia, Michael. "John Tartaglia and Judy Gold Are New Givenik Ambassadors (Video)". Playbill.com. Playbill. Archived from the original on December 26, 2011.
  10. ^ "Emmy-Winning Comic Lands Role in Off-Broadway's Clinton The Musical". Playbill.com. February 5, 2015. Archived from the original on February 7, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  11. ^ "Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn TV Show: News, Videos, Full Episodes and More". TVGuide.com. November 29, 2011. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
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