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Ali Wentworth

Ali Wentworth has built a screen career around quick comic instincts, character work and an ability to move comfortably between scripted comedy, talk shows and producing. Born on January 12, 1965, in Washington, D.C., she studied drama at Bard College before graduating from New York University. Wentworth first reached a wide television audience as a cast member on Fox’s In Living Color from 1992 to 1994. Her work included impressions of figures such as Cher, Hillary Clinton, Princess Diana, Cindy Crawford and Sharon Stone, along with recurring characters including the troubled children’s-show host Candy Cane. The series gave her a lively showcase for the sharp impersonations and heightened comic personalities that would remain central to her work. In 1995, she appeared as Sheila—better known as “Schmoopie,” Jerry Seinfeld’s girlfriend—in Seinfeld’s “The Soup Nazi” episode. It was a small role placed squarely inside one of the show’s most memorable episodes. She later had a recurring part as the title character’s boss on Felicity and appeared as a correspondent on both The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Oprah Winfrey Show. Wentworth has also created her own vehicles rather than waiting for the right part to arrive. She wrote 28 episodes of the Starz comedy Head Case and starred in the series. In 2016, she created Nightcap and played its lead character, Staci Cole, across two seasons. Her hosting work has included Living It Up! with Ali & Jack, Daily Shot and The Parent Test, while her conversational side also found an outlet in the podcast Go Ask Ali. Her work behind the camera expanded in 2021 when she co-founded the production company BedBy8 with George Stephanopoulos and Alyssa Mastromonaco. Its first project was the docuseries Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields. Across acting, writing, hosting and producing, Wentworth’s career has kept comedy at its center while leaving room for several different kinds of television storytelling.