Vanessa Bayer

Vanessa Polster Bayer (born November 14, 1981) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Bayer is most notable for being a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2010 to 2017, which earned her an Emmy nomination. Outside of SNL, she co-created, co-executive produces, and has the lead role in the Showtime comedy I Love That for You, which is loosely based on her experience as a survivor of childhood leukemia. Bayer has also appeared in such films as Trainwreck (2015), Office Christmas Party (2016), Carrie Pilby (2016), Ibiza (2018), and Wander Darkly (2020). Early life Bayer was born in Orange, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, and raised in nearby Moreland Hills. She is the daughter of Carolyn and Todd Bayer. Bayer's family is Jewish, and she has stated that her Jewish upbringing "influenced [her] life and comedy". She has a brother, Jonah, who is a music journalist and the guitarist of the punk supergroup United Nations. At age 15, she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Bayer stated that while battling the disease, she discovered the meaning of comic relief. "I don't know if it made me funnier, but it was so amazing, how it made everything be O.K.", she said. Bayer is a 2000 graduate of Orange High School. In 2004, she graduated from the Annenberg School for Communication of the University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in communication and French.