Andy Samberg
Andy Samberg is an Emmy Award-winning actor, comedian, and writer, recognized for his influential roles in comedy. Born on August 18, 1978, in Berkeley, California, he grew up in a creative environment with a teacher mother and a photographer father. Samberg gained fame as a cast member on the iconic sketch-comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL), where he became known for his innovative digital shorts, including the viral hits "Lazy Sunday" and "Dick in a Box." He is also a member of the comedy trio The Lonely Island, which contributed to his rise in popularity through humorous music videos and albums.
Beyond SNL, Samberg starred in the critically acclaimed television series Brooklyn Nine-Nine, earning a Golden Globe Award for his performance. His film career includes notable roles in comedies like Hot Rod and voice work in animated films such as Hotel Transylvania. He has continued to evolve as a performer, taking on various television and film projects, including recent roles in the 2023 biopic Lee and the animated hit Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. On a personal note, Samberg married musician Joanna Newsom in 2013, and the couple has two children.
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Subject Terms
Andy Samberg
Actor
- Born: August 18, 1978
- Place of Birth: Berkeley, California
Contribution: Andy Samberg is an Emmy Award–winning actor, comedian, and writer best known for his many roles in the sketch-comedy show Saturday Night Live, his work as a member of the comedy trio the Lonely Island, and his starring role on the comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Background
Andrew David Samberg was born in Berkeley, California, on August 18, 1978. The youngest of three children, he has two older sisters, Darrow and Johanna. His mother is a teacher, and his father is a photographer.
Samberg attended Willard Middle School, where he met his future comedy partners, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer. In high school, Samberg discovered his talent for creative writing. He graduated from Berkeley High School in 1996 and went on to attend the University of California, Santa Cruz, for a time before transferring to New York University to study film. Samberg earned his bachelor’s degree in film in 2000.
Career
After college, Samberg moved to Los Angeles and reunited with Taccone and Schaffer. The three friends lived together in an apartment that they dubbed the Lonely Island, and they soon adopted the name for their comedy trio. The group began to film brief comedy sketches and post them on the Internet, where they received a strong response.
As the Lonely Island gained exposure, Samberg and his partners were asked to write for the 2005 MTV Movie Awards. Their work impressed the award show’s host, Saturday Night Live (SNL) cast member Jimmy Fallon, and he later invited the group to meet with Lorne Michaels, the longtime head of the show. After the interview, Michaels invited all three to work for SNL, Samberg as a performer and Taccone and Schaffer as writers.
Samberg quickly became a fan favorite on the show, and the Lonely Island’s prerecorded sketches, known as digital shorts, were a hit as well. The short “Lazy Sunday,” in which Samberg and fellow SNL cast member Chris Parnell rap about eating cupcakes and going to the movies, garnered immediate attention, and Samberg and the Lonely Island became an international sensation following the premiere of the short “Dick in a Box,” which features singer Justin Timberlake and parodies early 1990s R&B love songs. The song featured in the digital short went on to win the 2007 Emmy Award for outstanding original music and lyrics.
Samberg again received significant attention with the premiere of the digital short “I’m on a Boat,” the Lonely Island’s collaboration with recording artist T-Pain. The music video debuted in 2009 and eventually received more than seventy-five million views on the video-sharing site YouTube. Another popular digital short, “Motherlover,” debuted in May 2009 and served as a sequel to “Dick in a Box,” with Samberg and Timberlake reprising their roles from the earlier short.
In 2007, Samberg made his feature-film debut in the comedy Hot Rod, costarring Taccone and directed by Schaffer. He went on to play small or supporting roles in a number of films, including Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2008), I Love You, Man (2009), and the animated film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009). Samberg also made guest appearances on numerous television shows starring former SNL cast members, including Parks and Recreation in 2010 and Portlandia and 30 Rock in 2012.
Samberg continued to collaborate with Schaffer and Taccone during this period, and in 2009, the trio released the album Incredibad, featuring a number of songs that appeared in SNL digital shorts. The Lonely Island went on to record the albums Turtleneck and Chain (2011) and The Wack Album (2013), both featuring songs from SNL.
In 2012, Samberg announced that he was leaving Saturday Night Live after seven seasons. He went on to costar in the comedy That’s My Boy (2012) and the romantic drama Celeste and Jesse Forever (2012) and later appeared in the films The Watch (2012), Grown Ups 2 (2013), and The To Do List (2013). He returned to television in late 2012 in the British comedy Cuckoo, before lending his voice to the animated films Hotel Transylvania (2012) and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013).
In 2013, Samberg began starring in the Fox police comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine, alongside Terry Crews, Andre Braugher, Melissa Fumero, Stephanie Beatriz, and Joe Lo Truglio. The show received critical acclaim and earned Samberg the 2014 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series—Comedy or Musical. The show was renewed for a seventh season in 2019.
In addition to starring on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Samberg guest starred on a variety of television shows and appeared in a number of films throughout the 2010s. His film appearances include a starring role in the HBO television movie 7 Days in Hell (2015), a fictional documentary-style comedy about two tennis rivals; the musical comedy Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016); and the comedy Take the 10 (2017). He also lent his voice to the animated films Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015), Storks (2016), and Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018); and to several episodes of the animated television series The Awesomes and Adventure Time. In 2019, Samberg voiced the Heretic on the Netflix original animated series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
After Brooklyn Nine-Nine ended its run in 2021, Samberg took on several high-profile voice roles, including voicing Disney’s iconic chipmunk Dale in the 2022 animated film Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers. He also voiced a character on the animated TV series Digman and the 2023 Oscar-nominated animated film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. He also starred in the 2023 biopic, Lee.
Impact
As both an individual and a member of the Lonely Island, Samberg has been credited with helping to revitalize Saturday Night Live with his unique brand of offbeat humor. In recognition for his work, Samberg was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding original music and lyrics for six of his SNL shorts. He won an Emmy in 2007.
Personal Life
Samberg married musician Joanna Newsom in 2013. They had a daughter in 2017 and welcomed another in 2023.
Bibliography
"Andy Samberg." IMDb, 2024, www.imdb.com/name/nm1676221/. Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.
Samberg, Andy. Interview by Novid Parsi. Time Out Chicago, 14 June 2012, www.timeout.com/film/andy-samberg-interview. Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.
Samberg, Andy. “New Again: Andy Samberg.” Interview by Adam Sandler. Interview Magazine, 13 June 2012, www.interviewmagazine.com/film/new-again-andy-samberg. Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.
Samberg, Andy. “Q&A with Andy Samberg, Viral Video King.” Interview by Chris Hardwick. Wired, 15 Apr. 2011, www.wired.com/2011/04/ff-samberg-qa/. Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.