Emmy-Nominated Comedian, Saturday Night Live
Cecily Strong: Biography at a Glance
- Cecily Strong is best known for her ten seasons as a standout Saturday Night Live cast member.
- She entertained viewers with a variety of characters featured on “Weekend Update,” and earned rave reviews for her impressions of Judge Jeanine Pirro, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and Melania Trump.
- Cecily previously co-hosted “Weekend Update” alongside both Seth Meyers and Colin Jost.
- She has appeared in The Female Brain and Paul Feig’s reboot of Ghostbusters, as well as Melissa McCarthy’s The Boss, plus The Bronze and The Meddler.
- Her powerful memoir This Will All Be Over Soon explores mental health and her grieving the death of her cousin—and embracing the life-affirming lessons he taught her—amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Biography
Cecily Strong is best known for her ten seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, the longest tenure of any female cast member in the show's history.
Strong received back-to-back Emmy nominations in 2020 and 2021 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on SNL. She has entertained viewers with her standout “Weekend Update” character, Cathy Anne, Michael Che’s wacky chain-smoking neighbor who offers her opinions on current events. Her recurring character Gemma, a British “singer” with various boyfriends, also quickly became a fan favorite. She has earned rave reviews for her notable Judge Jeanine Pirro, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and Melania Trump impressions. Strong has co-hosted “Weekend Update” alongside both Seth Meyers and Colin Jost.
Strong most recently starred in Apple TV+’s hit musical series, Schmigadoon!, on which she also serves as a producer. The series was nominated for seven Emmy awards and won for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics in 2022.
In film, Strong can be seen in Paul Feig's reboot of Ghostbusters and Melissa McCarthy's The Boss, as well as in The Female Brain, The Bronze, and The Meddler. Up next, she's voicing a role opposite Adam Sandler and Bill Burr in the animated feature Leo for Netflix, as well as the upcoming animated reboot of Garfield, opposite Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Pratt, and Hannah Waddingham.
Strong's memoir, This Will All Be Over Soon, was released in the summer of 2021 to critical acclaim. In the same year, she made her New York stage debut at The Shed in the one-woman show, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. Strong returned to star in the production at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in 2022.
In Chicago, Strong improvised regularly at the iO Theater and served as an understudy for the Second City Main Stage and E.T.C. shows. She performed as a member of the Second City national touring company and has also appeared at the Chicago SketchFest, Chicago Just for Laughs, the New York Sketch Fest, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Additionally, Strong headlined the 2015 White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Strong was raised in Oak Park, Illinois, and has a B.F.A. in theatre from the California Institute of the Arts.
