Andy Samberg

David Andrew "Andy" Samberg,  born August 18, 1978 is an American actor, comedian, rapper and writer best known as a member of the comedy group The Lonely Island and as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. On Saturday Night Live, he and The Lonely Island have been credited with popularizing the Emmy-winning SNL Digital Shorts, the comical short films and music videos starring Samberg and other members of the SNL cast. As a film actor, Samberg has appeared in Hot Rod, Space Chimps, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, I Love You, Man, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and Friends With Benefits.

Early life

Samberg was born in Mill Valley, California, the son of Margi (née Marrow), an elementary school teacher who taught at Old Mill School, and Joe Samberg, a photographer. Samberg also has two sisters, Johanna and Darrow. He was raised in a Jewish household. His maternal grandfather, Alfred J. Marrow, served as the executive chair of the American Jewish Congress, although Samberg describes himself as "not particularly religious. Samberg discovered Saturday Night Live as a youngster while sneaking past his parents to watch professional wrestling on television. He became "obsessed" with the show, and his devotion to comedy became frustrating to teachers who felt he was unfocused on his schoolwork.

Samberg graduated from Berkeley High School in 1996. While there, he became interested in creative writing; he says that his writing classes "were the ones that I put all my effort into...that's what I cared about and that's what I ended up doing. He attended college at University of California, Santa Cruz for two years before transferring to New York University for its acclaimed film school. He majored in experimental film, where he starred as "Monkey" in the short film "Monkey vs. Robot.

Career

Samberg is a member of the comedy troupe The Lonely Island (along with Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer) whose debut album Incredibad was released in 2009, and is currently a cast member on Saturday Night Live. The trio began writing for Saturday Night Live in 2005. Samberg also appeared in a Super Bowl XLIII Pepsi commercial featuring Justin Timberlake, and hosted the 2009 MTV Movie Awards. He also appeared on a Jack Johnson music video, "At Or with Me".

Saturday Night Live

In September 2005, The Lonely Island confirmed that Samberg would be joining Saturday Night Live as a featured player and his fellow group members would join the show's writing staff. While his live sketch roles were limited in his first year, he appeared in many non-live sketches, including commercial parodies and various other filmed segments.

For the December 17, 2005, show, he and Chris Parnell starred in the Digital Short "Lazy Sunday", a nerdcore hip hop song performed by two Manhattanites on a quest to see the film The Chronicles of Narnia. The short quickly became an Internet phenomenon and garnered Samberg significant media and public attention, as did "Dick in a Box," a duet with Justin Timberlake that won a Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. Samberg has found success with the song "Jizz in My Pants," which garnered over 100 million views on YouTube. His comedy troupe's collaboration with T-Pain, the "I'm on a Boat" music video, had over 56 million views on YouTube after debuting on February 7, 2009, and was nominated for a Grammy Award. Another digital short, "Motherlover" (also featuring Timberlake), was released on May 10, 2009 (to commemorate Mother's Day), and is a sequel of "Dick in a Box.On December 12, 2010, Samberg and the other members of the Lonely Island debuted their next digital short, titled "I Just Had Sex." The video, which has already gathered over 113 million views on YouTube, features R&B singer Akon, with cameos by former tennis professional John McEnroe, and actresses Blake Lively and Jessica Alba. On January 29, 2011, The Lonely Island released another single from its upcoming second album titled "The Creep" featuring Nicki Minaj. This was followed on May 7, 2011 with the song "Jack Sparrow" which featured Michael Bolton.

Filmography

2004 Premium Blend Himself TV

2005 Arrested Development Stage Manager TV

2005–present Saturday Night Live Various Roles TV

2007 Scarred Himself TV

Hot Rod Rod Kimble Movie

2008 Space Chimps Ham III Voice; Movie

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Homeless Guy Movie

2009 I Love You, Man Robbie Klaven Movie

2009 MTV Movie Awards Host TV

Boomerang (TV network) Lou the Director Boy TV Presenter in Boomerang (TV network)

Bollywood Hero Himself TV

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Baby Brent/Chicken Brent Voice; Movie

Yo Gabba Gabba! Himself TV

2010 Freaknik: The Musical Chad Voice; TV

The Sarah Silverman Program Troy TV

Parks and Recreation Carl TV

18th ESPY Awards Paul the Octopus TV

Take Two with Phineas and Ferb Himself TV

2011 What's Your Number? John Miller Movie

Adventure Time Party Pat Voice; TV

Friends with Benefits Quincy Movie

SpongeBob SquarePants Nathan Fishwyn Voice; TV

Shark Week Himself Host; TV

2012 I Hate You, Dad Movie