Alex Borstein facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alex Borstein
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Borstein at the 2016 WonderCon
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| Born |
Alexandrea Borstein
February 15, 1973 Highland Park, Illinois, U.S.
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| Alma mater | San Francisco State University (BA) |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1993–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Jackson Douglas
(m. 1999; div. 2017) |
| Children | 2 |
Alexandrea Borstein (born February 15, 1973) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She is famous for lending her voice to Lois Griffin in the animated comedy show Family Guy (which started in 1999 and is still going). For this role, she won a special award called a Primetime Emmy Award.
She also became very well-known for playing Susie Myerson in the comedy-drama series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017–2023). This role earned her two more Primetime Emmy Awards. Alex Borstein has also played many different characters on the sketch comedy show MADtv (1997–2009) and had roles in movies like Bad Santa (2003) and Ted (2012).
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Early life
Alex Borstein was born in Highland Park, Illinois, a city near Chicago. She grew up in Deerfield, Illinois, before her family moved to Northridge, California, which is a part of Los Angeles. She finished high school in 1989. Alex has two older brothers. Her parents, Irv and Judy Borstein, both work as mental health professionals. She has shared that her family has roots in Hungary and Mongolia. She is also Jewish.
Her father is from Atlanta. Her grandmother on her mother's side was born in Budapest, Hungary, and survived the Holocaust. She later moved to the United States after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Alex went to San Francisco State University, where she studied rhetoric, which is the art of speaking or writing effectively.
Career
Starting Out and MADtv (1993–1998)
Alex Borstein learned about improv comedy at the ACME Comedy Theater in Hollywood. There, she met Jackson Douglas, who would become her writing partner and later her husband. They worked together on animated shows like The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper and Pinky and the Brain. Alex then left her job writing ads for Barbie to become a full-time writer. In 1996, she also voiced Queen Machina on Power Rangers Zeo.
In 1997, Alex joined the cast of the sketch comedy show MADtv. She quickly became a main cast member. On MADtv, she was famous for playing characters like Ms. Swan, who owned a beauty salon. Other popular characters she played included Eracist Anne and the singer Jasmine Wayne-Wayne.
Family Guy and More Success (1999–2009)
While working on MADtv, Alex met Seth MacFarlane. He was getting ready to start a new animated show called Family Guy for Fox. Seth chose Alex to be the voice of the character Lois Griffin. Family Guy first aired in 1999. The show was actually canceled twice, in 2000 and 2002, but it came back in 2005 because it was so popular!
Besides voicing Lois and other characters, Alex also works as a producer and writer for Family Guy. She was even nominated for an Emmy Award for her voice work in 2013.
In 2000, Alex was cast as Sookie St. James in the show Gilmore Girls. However, her contract with MADtv meant she couldn't continue in that role. Still, she appeared on Gilmore Girls several times as different characters, like a harp player named Drella and a stylist named Miss Celine.
As a film actress, she played Miss Ungermeyer, the school principal, in The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003). She also had small roles in movies like Bad Santa (2003) and Good Night, and Good Luck (2005). Sometimes, she even voices classic cartoon characters like Olive Oyl from Popeye and Betty Boop in commercials.
Alex also co-hosted a show called Celebrity Blackjack in 2004. Her production company, Crackerpants, Inc., released a DVD in 2007 called Drop Dead Gorgeous, which was a recording of her live comedy show.
Getting On and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2010–present)
Alex Borstein has appeared in many comedy films. These include Killers (2010), Dinner for Schmucks (2010), Ted (2012), and A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014). She also lent her voice to the animated movie ParaNorman (2012) and The Angry Birds Movie (2016).
From 2010 to 2011, Alex worked as a writer and producer for the TV show Shameless. She also made guest appearances on the show as a character named Lou Deckner.
From 2013 to 2015, Alex starred as Dawn Forchette in the HBO comedy series Getting On. This show received good reviews and was nominated for several Emmy Awards.
From 2017 to 2023, Alex Borstein played Susie Myerson in the Amazon Prime Video series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Her performance in this role was highly praised, and she won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
Personal life
Alex Borstein met actor and writer Jackson Douglas while she was studying improv comedy. Jackson proposed to her during the filming of a MADtv sketch, and they got married in 1999. They later divorced in 2017.
Alex and Jackson have a son and a daughter. Alex is a carrier of hemophilia, a condition that affects blood clotting. She is a strong supporter of the National Hemophilia Foundation, an organization that helps people with this condition.
Religious beliefs
Alex Borstein has shared that her family celebrates Shabbat every Friday night. She said that having a mother and grandmother who survived the Holocaust makes her feel responsible for continuing her Jewish culture and traditions. She wants to pass these traditions on to her children.
Images for kids
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Alex Borstein at the 2016 WonderCon
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Alex Borstein at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con
See also
In Spanish: Alex Borstein para niños
