Vanessa Bayer | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

Rolling Stone called Vanessa Bayer the secret weapon of "Saturday Night Live" (NBC 1975-). The pixie-ish comedian proved herself a hilarious and versatile actress during her tenure on the show, masterfully impersonating such high-profile celebrities as Miley Cyrus and Hillary Clinton while also creating such oddball characters as the leader of a pair of ex-p*rn stars (alongside Cecily Strong) making amateurish commercials for luxury products. Vanessa Bayer was born in Orange, Ohio on November 14th, 1981. She was diagnosed with leukemia at a young age and struggled with the disease throughout her childhood. Her senior class at Orange High School voted her "Most Likely to Succeed" and "Best Smile." Bayer attended the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in communications and French and graduating in 2004. While at college, she interned for "Sesame Street" (PBS 1969-) and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" (NBC 1993-2009). Bayer then became a part of the Chicago improv scene, studying and performing improvisational comedy at ImprovOlympic (alongside future "SNL" co-worker Paul Britain), Second City, and Annoyance Theater. At Second City, she performed as part of the all Jewish cast of "Jewsical: The Musical," a parody of Jewish life that perhaps inspired Bayer's most famous "SNL" character, Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy. Bayer was hired at "Saturday Night Live" in September of 2010. During this time she also appeared as an incredibly boring date on "The Mindy Project" (Fox/Hulu 2012-17) and as the voice of a flight attendant in the animated children's hit "Despicable Me 2" (2013). Bayer made a bigger impression in supporting roles in the Amy Schumer hit "Trainwreck" (2015), quirky indie comedy "Carrie Pilby" (2016) and broad farce "Office Christmas Party" (2016). In May 2017, Bayer announced that she was leaving "Saturday Night Live" after seven seasons.