Jennette McCurdy

"Sam's a great role model! She's confident, loyal to her friends, smart, and true to who she is." — Jennette McCurdy about her character Sam Puckett.

Jennette McCurdy
Biographical information
Full Name	Jennette Michelle Faye McCurdy
Nickname(s)	Jenn (by Ariana Grande)
Gender	Female
Born	June 26, 1992 (age 32) Long Beach, California
Occupation	Actress, producer, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, director
Years active	2000–2017 (actress) 2008–2011 (singer) 2018-present (Director/Producer)
Physical description
Height	5'2.5" (1.59 m)
Hair color	Blonde (natural) Brown (dyed) Blonde (re-dyed)
Eye color	Blue
Production information
First appearance	#Pilot
Last appearance	#GettinWiggy
Role	Sam Puckett Melanie Puckett
Gallery (images · videos)

Jennette Michelle Faye McCurdy is an American writer, producer, singer-songwriter, podcaster, and former actress. In Sam & Cat, she reprised her roles as Sam Puckett and Sam's twin sister Melanie from iCarly.

Biography

Early life

McCurdy was born in Long Beach, California, raised in Garden Grove, California, and has three older brothers: Marcus, Scott, and Dustin. She gained interest in acting after watching Harrison Ford in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope right after her mother recovered from breast cancer.

Career

Acting

McCurdy started her acting career in 2000 at the age of 8 on MADtv. Since then she appeared in several television series, including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Malcolm in the Middle, Lincoln Heights, Will & Grace, Penguins of Madagascar, Zoey 101, True Jackson, VP, Law and Order SVU, Medium, Judging Amy, The Inside, Karen Sisco, Over There and Close to Home. In 2003, she had the chance to act with her inspiration, Harrison Ford in the movie Hollywood Homicide. In 2005, she was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Television Series – Guest Starring Young Actress for her performance in Strong Medicine as Hailey Campos. She has also appeared in several commercials such as one for Sprint and another commercial for crossing the road safely.

She had a starring role in the Nickelodeon TV series iCarly opposite Miranda Cosgrove, Nathan Kress, Jerry Trainor, and Noah Munck, as one of Carly Shay's best friends, Sam Puckett from 2007 to 2012. In 2008, she was nominated for a Young Artist Award for her work on iCarly, and for her performance as Dory Sorenson in the TV movie The Last Day of Summer. She was nominated for a 2009 Teen Choice Award, in the Favorite TV Sidekick category for her work on iCarly. She also was cast to the role of Bertha in Fred: The Movie, a movie based on a YouTube series about Fred Figglehorn.

On December 1, 2011, she signed with United Talent Agency's cast of actors and performers for film, TV, music and other areas, to a deal starring her in a pilot vehicle. She was previously with Creative Artists Agency and Larry Galper.

Music

In June 2008, McCurdy announced on her official website that she was working on her debut album. The first single, "So Close" was released on March 10, 2009. The second single, "Homeless Heart", was released on May 19. The song was released in honor of McCurdy's recently deceased friend Cody Waters, who died at the age of 9 from brain cancer, and 20% of the proceeds were donated to the Cody Waters Foundation. She met Cody Waters through St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. In mid-2009, McCurdy signed with country music label Capitol Records Nashville.

On April 16, 2010, samples of select songs from McCurdy's upcoming debut country album were released online. The song clips were released in order for fans to vote for which one they believed should be McCurdy's first single. "Not That Far Away" received the most votes, and was released to country radio on May 24, 2010 and iTunes shortly after on June 1.

Capitol Nashville released an EP on August 17, 2010 which included "Not That Far Away" and four new songs, "Stronger", "Put Your Arms Around Someone", and "Break Your Heart". The iTunes version included "Me with You" as a bonus track.

McCurdy's second single, "Generation Love", was released as a digital download on March 22, 2011, followed by its release to radio on April 25, 2011. Capitol Nashville released McCurdy's self-titled extended play on February 8, 2012 at clothing retailer Justice. The album was released to iTunes on June 1.

On July 11, 2012, Fanlala released an interview with Jennette in which Jennette confirmed that she has since left Capitol Records Nashville, saying "I'm kind of between projects right now. I actually just left Capital Records recently. I’m really just deciding what else I want to do next. Right now I'm working on my new show, and I'm just figuring out where I should take my music from here."

Screenwriting and Producing

On August 13, 2014, McCurdy launched her own webshow "What's Next for Sarah?". She served as the star of the series as well as the writer of the show, along with duties as executive producer and editor. McCurdy explained that the show is based loosely on her life and that the character she plays, Sarah Bronson, is based on her.

Personal life

McCurdy composed an article titled "Off-Camera, My Mom's Fight With Cancer" that was published in the Wall Street Journal on June 11, 2011. It described in detail her mother Debra's battle with cancer and how her family coped with the situation. The article also featured tips from McCurdy on living with such a situation.

In addition to supporting the Cody Waters Foundation, McCurdy was active in campaigns with the Invisible Children Inc. group and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. McCurdy did a PSA for Safe Kids USA which aired on Nickelodeon and its sister network TeenNick.

McCurdy currently serves as a StarPower Ambassador for Starlight Children's Foundation, encouraging other young people to commit their time, energy and resources to help other kids and working with Starlight to brighten the lives of seriously ill children.

McCurdy's mother passed away from breast cancer in September 2013 shortly after Sam & Cat resumed filming.

Other credits

Television work

Year	Series	Role	Notes
2000	MADtv	Cassidy Gifford
2002	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Jackie Trent	Episode: "Cats in the Cradle"
2003	Malcom in the Middle	Daisy (female Dewey)	Episodes: "If Boys Were Girls"
2004	Karen Sisco	Josie Boyle	Episode: "No One's Girl"
2004	Strong Medicine	Hailey Campos	Episode: "Selective Breeding"
2005	Law and Order: Special Victims Unit	Holly Purcell	Episode: "Contagious"
2005	Medium (TV Series)	Sara Crewson	Episode: "Coded"
2005	Judging Amy	Amber Reid	Episode: "My Name is Amy Grey"
2005	Malcom in the Middle	Penelope	Episode: "Buseys Take a hostage"
2005	The Inside	Madison St. Clair	Episode: "Everything Nice"
2005	Over There	Lynne	Episode: "Situation Normal"
2005	Zoey 101	Trisha Kirby	Episode: "Bad Girl"
2006	Will and Grace	Lisa	Episode: "Von Trapped"
2006	Close to Home (2005 TV Series)	Stacy Johnson	Episode: "Escape"
2007	Lincoln Heights (TV Series)	Beckie	Episode: "Betrayal" Episode: "Tricks and Treats" Episode: "House Arrest"
2007 - 2012	iCarly	Sam Puckett	Main role
		Melanie Puckett	Episode: "iTwins"
2008	True Jackson, VP	Pinky Turzo	Recurring role (2008-2010) Episode: "Amanda Hires a Pinky" Episode: "True Drama"
2010	The Penguins of Madagascar	Becky	Voice only Episode: "Badger Pride"
2010	Glenn Martin, D.D.S.	Mazy	Episode: "Courtney's Pony"
2011	Cupcake Wars	Herself	Guest judge
2012	Victorious	Fawn "Ponnie" Leibowitz	Episode: "Crazy Ponnie"
2012	Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventurers	Devon	Episode: "Epic Break-Up"
2012	Figure It Out	Herself	Panelist (4 episodes)
2012	Camp Orange: Girls VS Boys	Herself	Co-host
2013–2014	Sam & Cat	Sam Puckett	Main role
		Melanie Puckett	Episode: "#Twinfection"
2015	Between	Wiley Day	Lead Role

Web Series

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2014–present	What's Next for Sarah?	Sarah Bronson	Lead role / Writer / Executive Producer

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2001	Shadow Fury	Anna Markov
2002	My Daughter's Tears	Mary Fields
2003	Hollywood Homicide	Van Family Daughter
2003	Taylor Simmons	Amanda Simmons
2004	Breaking Dawn	The Little Girl
2004	Tiger Cruise	Kiley Dolan	TV Movie
2005	See Anthony Run	Lucy	Short Film
2006	Against Type	Meredith	TV Movie
2007	The Last Day Of Summer (Film)	Dory Sorenson	TV Movie (Credited as Jannette McCurdy)
2008	Proving Ground: From the Adventures of Captain Redlocks	Aria Krait
2008	iGo to Japan	Sam Puckett	TV movie
2009	Minor Details	Mia
2010	Fred: The Movie	Bertha	TV Movie
2011	Best Player	Chris "Prodigy" Saunders	TV movie
2013	Swindle	Savannah	Main role: Nickelodeon Original Movie
2013	The Gorey Girls	Billie Crow

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Details
Jennette McCurdy	Release date: June 5, 2012 Label: Capitol Records Nashville Formats: Digital download

Extended plays

Title	Details	Peak chart positions
US Country		US Heat
Not That Far Away	Release date: August 17, 2010 Label: Capitol Records Nashville Formats: Digital download	32	3
Jennette McCurdy	Release date: February 8, 2012 Label: Capitol Records Nashville Formats: CD, digital download	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

Year	Single	Peak position	Album
		US Country
2009	"So Close"	—	Non-album song
	"Homeless Heart"	—
2010	"Not That Far Away"	58	Not That Far Away (EP)
2011	"Generation Love"	44	Jennette McCurdy

Music videos

Year	Song	Director
2010	"Not That Far Away"	Roman White
2011	"Generation Love"

Trivia

• In her memoir, I'm Glad My Mom Died, she revealed that she felt her acting career was embarrassing and worthless
• On January 31, 2008, Jennette visited a middle school in Los Angeles where she spoke to three different classes. Since it was Career Day, she talked about what being an actress is like.
• In May 2008, Jennette participated in the Revlon Run/Walk for Women in Los Angeles with her family.
• Jennette's celebrity crushes include Johnny Depp and Andrew Garfield.
• In February 2008, Jennette visited a school in Los Angeles, where she read a few chapters of The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide to a crowd of 2nd graders.
• When she was younger, Jennette appeared in commercials for Simon Malls, Spring PCS, Domino's Pizza, Dinkie Robots, Dental Land, Dental World, and City Corp.

Jennette McCurdy in the opening credits

• She enjoys:
  • Singing and dancing to music
  • Playing the piano
  • Sewing tie-dye blankets
  • Cooking (especially Italian food, candy, and baked desserts)
  • Sports (figure skating, rollerblading, karate, skateboarding, baseball, and basketball)
  • Reading books and writing poetry

    

    

    

  • Watching movies and TV (Honey Boo Boo)
  • Eating sushi
  • Playing games (Monopoly, Clue, Moods, and Life)
• Jennette was inspired to become an actress after watching Harrison Ford's character in Star Wars after her mother recovered from breast cancer .
• She left Capitol Records Nashville in 2012 and was still not sure about what to do with her music career.
• Jennette prefers Harry Potter over Twilight.
• Her worst fears are the ocean and sharks.
• Her secret talent is figure skating.
• Jennette's favorite foods include apples (fruit), sushi, pizza, and grilled cheese sandwiches.
• Jennette has three older brothers named Marcus, Dustin and Scott.
• Jennette was in a Nickelodeon movie, called Swindle, alongside her co-star Ariana Grande.
• As of September 2020, Jennette has over 5.7 million followers on Twitter.
• Jennette performed at the Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York 2012.
• Jennette wrote an original song and posted it on her SoundCloud.
• Jennette had a wardrobe fitting for Sam & Cat on January 23, 2013.
• Jennette got her role as Sam Puckett on iCarly on December 10.
• Jennette took on a dare to fit as many pieces of gum in her mouth, she was only able to fit 10 pieces of gum.
• Jennette has attended five Kids Choice Awards so far, skipping the 2014 awards, which she explained was due to being put in an uncomfortable, compromising, unfair situation by Nickelodeon.
• Jennette's favorite colors are pink and purple.
• Jennette's favorite subject in school was English.
• Jennette is of Dutch, French, Irish, English, Italian, and Swedish ancestry.
• Most of her family calls her "Nettie" or "Net-Net," but her grandfather calls her "Scooter" because she would scoot around on her butt as a baby instead of crawling.
  • Additionally, on set, the crew members also call her "Nettie."
• Jennette is a prankster; she once convinced people on the iCarly set that her real name was Jennetteria.
• Jennette said her mother was the funniest person she knows.
• Jennette likes really spicy food and once ate a raw jalapeño pepper on a dare.
• Jennette has a handful of pets. She has three dogs: Snoopy, Chewie/Chewbacca (Yorkshire terrier and Maltese mix), and Musashi (Jack Russell terrier), two turtles named Tootsen and Zeus and two birds; Tweety and McFly.
• The name "Jennette" originated from her grandmother's middle name.
• Jennette recently began watching the show Friends after music video director, Roman White, gave her some DVDs, and she is now obsessed.
• Jennette usually dislikes reality TV shows, except for Dance Moms, Toddlers and Tiaras, and Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo.
• Jennette comes up with different names for other celebrities she meets, such as "Cosmos" for Miranda Cosgrove, "Kressington" for Nathan Kress, and "Oreo" for Ariana Grande.
• One of Jennette's favorite movies is Back to the Future, and she has watched it about 100 times.
• The farthest place from Los Angeles she has ever traveled to is Australia.
• Jennette has a favorite teddy bear.
• Her favorite flavor of gum is spearmint.
• Miu Miu and Jimmy Choo are her favorite high heels.
• Her favorite rollercoaster is X2 at the Six Flags amusement park.
• Jennette's pet peeves include when people do not screw the caps on their water bottles and the baby blue color of toilet water.
• Jennette wanted to be a babysitter when she was younger.
• Her favorite place to vacation is New York or some place tropical.
• Jennette's besties are Miranda Cosgrove and Allison Hardy.
• Jennette's favorite dessert is ice cream, and her favorite flavor is cookies and cream, but she prefers vanilla to chocolate.
• She prefers acting over singing.

  

  Jennette and Andre Drummond

• Her favorite Ariana Grande songs are "Honeymoon Avenue" and "Daydreamin".
• She describes her fans as original, supportive, and fabulous.
• She prefers to have her hair straight instead of curly.
• She prefers pancakes over waffles (breakfast food).
• Jennette had a short-lived relationship with NBA player Andre Drummond in 2013.
• Jennette and Ariana share the same birthday, but Jennette is a year older.
• She is the only main cast member of Sam & Cat to play more than one character.
• She met the vloggers, Shaytards on May 26, 2014.
• In 2014, Jennette was named a brand ambassador for Tamagotchi L.i.f.e.
• In 2015, Jennette starred in the leading role as Wiley Day in the Canada-produced drama Between.
• Even though Sam Puckett loves food, Jennette has had issues with food:
  • She did not like a lot of the food she had to eat. For example, although her character, Sam, loves eating ham and fried chicken. However, Jennette does not, but she had to eat it for the character.
  • She suffered from anorexia and bulimia and wrote an article about her eating disorders in 2019.
• In 2017, McCurdy quit acting to pursue a career in writing and directing. She returned to acting in February and March 2020 with her tragicomedy one-woman show "I'm Glad My Mom Died" in theaters in Los Angeles and New York City; plans for further dates were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She later confirmed in March 2021 on her podcast Empty Inside in an interview with Anna Faris that she does not foresee herself ever returning to acting. However, she briefly returned to acting again to continue on with her one-woman show in late 2021.
• McCurdy announced her memoir in April 2022, titled after her namesake one-woman show, the memoir is set to be released in August 9, 2022.

External links

• Jennette's official website
• Jennette McCurdy on Twitter
• Jennette McCurdy on Facebook
• Jennette McCurdy on YouTube
• Jennette McCurdy on Instagram
• Jennette McCurdy on Soundcloud
• Jennette's Tumblr - jumpingigawatts
• Jennette's Tumblr - poshmob
• Jennette McCurdy Wiki