Born September 28th 1964 in Newton New Jersey, Janeane Garofalo is a talented comediene and actress who has
repeatedly questioned and at times antagonized the establishment of modern-day show business. Hollywood
still has a very chauvinistic and restrictive environment which limits the choices for women in the field. Garofalo has
(both on purpose and inadvertently) brought light to this issue due to her own experiences.

The Weight Issue

She does not fit the criteria for beauty and perfection of the human female as dictated by social constraints and
stereotypes. This has often been an obstacle for her in her profession, but she has turned it into a strength and an
advantage. Her true fans see the absurdity of this issue, and agree with her: she should not have to lose weight to be
given ingenue roles. Despite this, she has been relegated by Hollywood to the title of character actress.
This is a category reserved for women who deny the outdated definition of female beauty.

Just over five feet tall, she is what some closed-minded types would call 'overweight.' Garofalo has spoken out
about her fight not only with her weight but also how Hollywood and society views overweight people. For some she
has sort of become a reluctant spokesperson and "poster child" who inadvertently brings pride and confidence to others
who share her situation. She is helping to bring about a change in social standards: being bony does not mean being
healthy or beautiful.

In actuality her physique appears more healthy than the anorexic walking mannequins used today in fashion shows
and clothes advertising. Though she bucks the standard "look" Hollywood assumes beauty to be, her sense of humor,
personality and courage outshine any "glamour girl" in the world, and one would be hard pressed to find a
heterosexual male who would kick a woman as beautiful as her out of their bed.

Her Rise To Stardom

She has admitted in interviews that her childhood was middle-class and relatively uneventful. At least no more or less
eventful than any other person. It wasn't until around high school that she began to study the comedy of SCTV, David
Letterman and Steve Martin. In her senior year of college, Garofalo attended a local Open Mike night and won a
contest. Though she found the award bordering on the absurd, the damage had been done: she caught the standup
bug.

Moving to Boston after college, she spent her days at jobs that paid the bills while her evenings were spent cultivating
her comedic talents. For several years she developed a brand of comedy now referred to as alternative comedy
but is actually just a modern-day equivalent of socially conscious standup comedy which evolved from the work of
Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor. Her use of "blue humor" and profanity is less than many of her contemporaries, but she
does not flinch or shy away from controversial subject matter.

In 1992, she found her way onto television in programs like The Ben Stiller Show and Gary Shandling's
The Larry Sanders Show. Though the Fox network dumped Ben Stiller's program, it still went on to win an
Emmy award, which was one of many examples of irony that Garofalo has faced. Oftentimes it is clear that the
entertainment industry has no clear idea what the public really wants, or what is critically acclaimed.

In 1994, she began her short lived stint on NBC's Saturday Night Live. Lasting less than a season, what could
have been a dream come true for any American comedian brought up in SNL's heyday turned into a nightmare. Her
outspoken tendencies and abrasive personality conflicted with some of the other egos on the set. She had, prior to
aquiring the job, stated publically her opinions about how SNL's humor had deteriorated over the years. The incumbent
talent on the show took her criticism personally, and made her brief stay there unpalatable.

Ben Stiller found Garofalo's talent useful again in '94, hiring Garofalo for a part in Reality Bites, which started
her film career. During production of that movie, she found herself fighting studio brass in regards to her weight. She
learned from this event and others that it would be difficult for her to get many roles in television and movies due to
the negative stigma the entertainment industry places upon hefty "normal looking" women.

After Reality Bites, Garofalo shed thirty-five pounds and admittedly openly that she "sold out" in order to get
auditions for better roles. She then spoke publically about how she suddenly seemed much more talented in the eyes
of the entertainment industry now that she weighed just over 100 pounds. Having made her point, she then gained back
all the weight and hasn't looked back since.

In the last five, Janeane Garofalo has performed in over two dozen motion pictures, predominantly in character roles
like officer Dale Shelby in Clay Pigeons which have granted her critical acclaim and her own special niche in
the entertainment industry. She has also found a few ingenue roles in movies like The Matchmaker and
The Truth About Cats and Dogs, proving all of her harsher critics wrong.

In partnership with Ben Stiller, Feel This Book is a publication presently available in bookstores, which is a
candid look at the genre of self-help books from their own unique and daring perspective.

Most recently, she played a superheroine called The Bowler in the movie Mystery Men opposite her long time
friend Ben Stiller, and also the talented Paul Reubens (of Pee Wee Herman fame) and William H. Macy
(Pleasantville). She is also slated for several other projects in the next two years with no end in sight for the
talent and beauty of this living goddess of laughter.

Miscellaneous Data

The name of her production company is I Hate Myself Productions. Now divorced, she was once married to
Robert Cohen, and admits to a brief love affair with her long time friend and contemporary comedic talent, Ben Stiller.
She once jokingly admitted to a crush with comedian and talk show host Craig Kilborn. Garofalo's last reported
boyfriend is Craig Bierko. She is a vegetarian and at last count sports seven tattoos.

Her name is pronounced like this: "Jah-NEEN Gah-RAH-fuh-lo".

Fan mail should be sent to:

Janeane Garofalo

c/o United Talent Agency

9650 Wilshire Blvd

Beverly Hills CA 90212

Garofalo Quotes

Luscious Lips and a Kick in the Groin

• I guess I just prefer to see the dark side of things. The glass is always half-empty. And cracked. And I just cut my lip on it. And chipped a tooth."- Mr. Showbiz

• "If you went out on the street, you couldn't find five people who know who I am," she says. "The only reason I'd like to be known is if a band, like the Afghan Whigs, comes to town, and it's sold out, I can make one call and get a backstage pass. Or if there's a movie I want to see and the line is really long, that somebody would say, 'Go right in.'" - Where Garofalo Roams Entertainment Weekly, Aug. 4, 1995

• "Stand-up clubs are not the place to be anymore. There are so many bad comics that an intelligent person who would go to the average comedy club is gonna be bummed out and really insulted by the low caliber of entertainment. Now, luckily, there's a groundswell of alternative venues where people are doing comedy -- like bookstores, coffeehouses, rock clubs -- where you have comics that don't cater to the lowest common denominator." - Reality Bites Back, BAM

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