Janeane Garofalo Biography

Actor / Comedian

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Janeane Garofalo's schtick is cynical, harsh, and yet somehow still charming. She began in stand-up comedy and then moved into television in the early '90s, part of Ben Stiller's one season on Fox, and then as a regular on The Larry Sanders Show. She appeared in independently produced comedies such as Reality Bites (1994, with Winona Ryder) and The Truth About Cats and Dogs (1996, with Uma Thurman), as well as more dramatic roles in Cop Land (1997, with Sylvester Stallone) and Permanent Midnight (1998). Garofalo was in several movies in between 1998 and 2000, including The Minus Man (1999), Mystery Men (1999, with Hank Azaria and Paul Reubens), 200 Cigarettes (1999, with Ben Affleck) and the animated Titan A. E. (2000, with Matt Damon and Drew Barrymore). In 2004 Garofalo made the leap to radio as co-host of Majority Report (with Sam Seder), a syndicated show critical of the George W. Bush administration.

Extra credit: The name is pronounced "juh-NEEN ga-ROF-a-low."... Her production company is named I Hate Myself... In 2005 she appeared as a guest star in several episodes of TV's The West Wing (starring Martin Sheen).