Judy Gold

Her collection of essays, "Yes I Can Say That: When They Come for the Comedians, We Are All in Trouble," was published in 2020. In 2023, she turned her book into a solo show, "Yes, I Can Say That!" directed by BD Wong.

• Name — Judy Gold • Born — 15 November 1962 • Birthplace — Clark, New Jersey, U.S. • Occupation — Stand-up comedian, actor, television writer, producer, author, podcaster, activist • Years Active — 1986–present • Partner — Elysa Halpern • Children — 2 • Website — judygold.com

Gold was born on November 15, 1962, in Clark, New Jersey. Gold grew up in a Jewish home with her two siblings. She plays piano. Gold moved to Manhattan, New York from New Jersey in 1984 after she graduated from Rutgers University.

Gold started stand-up when she was nineteen years old; she did her first set at Rutgers in 1981. She was passed at Catch a Rising Star in 1985, and has been a regular at the Comedy Cellar since the 1980s. In an interview with Marc Maron, Gold revealed her comedic influences were Joan Rivers, Phyllis Diller, and Totie Fields. Gold's stand-up specials have aired on Comedy Central, LOGO, and HBO. She has been featured in Netflix's Stand Out: An LGBTQ+ Celebration, and in the companion documentary about LGBTQ+ comedians OUTSTANDING: A Comedy Revolution, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Gold has released three comedy albums: 2004's Judith’s Roommate Had a Baby, 2018's Kill Me Now, and 2020's Conduct Unbecoming.

Gold has written and starred in the Off-Broadway shows: Yes I Can Say That!, The Judy Show – My Life as a Sitcom, and 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother. She was a featured player as Gremio in The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park all-female production of The Taming of The Shrew. She also co-starred in Off-Broadway's Clinton! The Musical, and Disaster! The Musical. Gold's one-woman show 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother, co-written with Kate Moira Ryan, is based on a series of interviews with more than 50 Jewish mothers in the United States. Their stories are interspersed with anecdotes about her own mother and her life as a lesbian mother of two sons. It ran at the Ars Nova Theater in New York City in early 2006 and reopened later that year at St. Luke's Theater. On June 30, 2011, The Judy Gold Show: My Life as a Sitcom, began previews at Off-Broadway's DR2 Theatre in New York City. This one-woman show was an homage to the classic sitcoms of Gold's youth. The show is written by Gold and Kate Moira Ryan and directed by Amanda Charlton. The show officially opened on July 6, 2011. The New York Times called the show "highly entertaining." The New York Post called the show "gleefully self-deprecating". The show subsequently opened in Los Angeles June 18, 2013, and had a one-month run at the Geffen Playhouse. In 2011, Gold was named a Givenik Ambassador. In 2015, she appeared off-Broadway as Eleanor Roosevelt in the satiric musical Clinton: The Musical at New World Stages. Her one-woman show, based on her book, Yes I Can Say That! premiered in March 2023 and was directed by BD Wong at 59E59 Theaters.

Gold is the author of Yes I Can Say That: When They Come For The Comedians, We Are All In Trouble, a book about free speech and cancel-culture. It was released in 2020. In 2021, Gold wrote an opinion essay for CNN, 'I Still Can't Stop Watching Cecily Strong's Clown.'

Gold is a lesbian. She was in a relationship with Sharon Callahan for nearly 20 years. Together they have two children, Henry and Ben, whom she frequently referenced on the show Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn. She met her current partner, Elysa Halpern, on a blind date set up by Time Out New York in 2007. Gold is very active in both the LGBT and Jewish communities. She was active in support of the 2004 and 2008 Democratic presidential campaigns. Gold served on the Board of Directors of the National Coalition Against Censorship.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1991 — Roseanne — Amy — 1 episode • 1993 — Rumor Has It — Panelist — 1 episode • 1994–1995 — All American Girl — Gloria Schechter — 18 episodes • 1995 — HBO Comedy Half-Hour: Judy Gold — Herself • 1995 — Here Come the Munsters — Elsa Munster Hyde — TV movie • 1995 — The City — Judy Silver — 1 episode • 1996 — Wings — Brenda — 1 episode • 1997 — Lois Lives a Little — Short • 1998 — Arli$$ — 1 episode • 2000 — The Drew Carey Show — Leslie — 2 episodes • 2000 — Law & Order — Deborah Patterson — 1 episode • 2000 — Sidesplitters: The Burt & Dick Story — Dick's Mother — Short • 2001 — The Ballad of Lucy Whipple — Buck McPhee — TV film • 2002 — Sex and the City — Barnes & Noble Clerk — 1 episode • 2002 — Law & Order: Special Victims Unit — Forensic Gynecologist — 1 episode • 2003 — Comic Remix — Herself — 1 episode • 2003 — The Gynecologists — Mrs. LeBlanc — Short • 2004 — Ed — Judge Fisher — 1 episode • 2005 — Here! Family — 1 episode • 2007–2008 — Super Normal — The Roving Eye / Madam Midterm / Granny — 15 episodes • 2008–2013 — World's Dumbest — Herself — 114 episodes • 2009 — Ugly Betty — Joan — 1 episode • 2011 — The Glades — Rebecca Thornquist — 1 episode • 2012 — 30 Rock — Judy Gold — 1 episode • 2012 — Are We There Yet? — Sylvia Treadway — 1 episode • 2013 — The Big C — Rabbi — 1 episode • 2013 — 2 Broke Girls — Jerri — 1 episode • 2014 — Melissa and Joey — Janey — 2 episodes • 2014 — Teachers Lounge — Gym Teacher — 1 episode • 2015 — Louie — Marina — 1 episode • 2015 — The Jim Gaffigan Show — Judy Gold — 1 episode • 2016 — Broad City — Angela — 1 episode • 2016 — Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt — Judy — 1 episode • 2016 — Crisis in Six Scenes — Phonebooth Woman — 1 episode • 2016 — Difficult People — Judy Gold — 1 episode • 2016 — Search Party — Paulette Capuzzi — 2 episodes • 2016 — What's Your F#@king Deal?! — Herself — Post-Production • 2017 — I'm Dying Up Here — Judy Elder — 1 episode • 2017 — Nightcap — Deb Hafner — 5 episodes • 2018 — Murphy Brown — ICE Agent Lynch — 1 episode • 2020 — Helpsters — Crossing Guard Carla — 1 episode • 2020–2022 — Better Things — Chaya — 5 episodes • 2021; 2023 — Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens — The Librarian — 2 episodes • 2022 — City on a Hill — Cassandra Kassell — 3 episodes • 2022 — Extrapolations — Sophie — 1 episode • 2022 — The First Lady — Elizabeth Read — 4 episodes • 2022 — Girls5eva — Dr. Madden — 1 episode • 2022 — Life & Beth — 1 episode • 2025 — Hell's Kitchen — Herself — Episode: "Five Comedians Walk into Hell..." • 2026 — Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness — Evelyn — Episode: "Deepthroat"

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 2013 — Real Actors Read Yelp — Herself — 1 episode, streaming on YouTube • 2015 — Ambience — Estelle — 1 episode, streaming online • 2023 — Around the Sun (audio drama) — Paula — 3 episodes

Her first television role was on Roseanne in 1991, followed by a series regular role on Margaret Cho's 1994 sitcom All-American Girl. Gold was cast as Gloria Schechter, one of Cho's characters friends. Gold's acting credits include: Tripped Up, She Came To Me, Love Reconsidered, and Wings. Her recent TV credits include Showtime's City On A Hill and The First Lady, FX’s Better Things, and Apple TV+ Extrapolations'. Other guest appearances include Girls5Eva', Broad City, Hulu's Life and Beth, and recurring roles on Awkwafina', TBS’ Search Party, and Netflix's Friends from College. She was a focus of Trevor Noah’s documentary XCLD: The Story of Cancel Culture. In 2007, she was featured in the film Making Trouble, a tribute to female Jewish comedians, produced by the Jewish Women's Archive. She was also a writer on the final season of FX's Better Things. Gold is a subject of the Hulu documentary Hysterical. She has made appearances on The Tonight Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Gold has been a guest on The View, The Today Show, The Drew Barrymore Show, and a free-speech advocate on MSNBC, CNN and NewsNation She has appeared on the Food Network, including competing on Chopped All-Stars and Rachel vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off. From 1999 to 2010, Gold hosted HBO's At the Multiplex with Judy Gold. She appeared as a commentator on 2007 truTV's World's Dumbest.... She's featured on Mindy Kaling's new Hulu show "Not Suitable for Work", as well as in Larry David's new HBO show, "Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness." Judy will play Sheryl Vanzandt on The Varnell Hill Show, a spin-off of the 90's sitcom Martin (TV series), premiering September 1, 2026 on Paramount+.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 2001 — The Curse of the Jade Scorpion — Voltan's Participant • 2004 — Our Italian Husband — Nun #2 • 2005 — The Aristocrats — Herself — Documentary • 2017 — Gilbert — Herself — Documentary • 2021 — Hysterical — Herself — Documentary • 2023 — She Came to Me — Susan Shaw • 2023 — Tripped Up — Chef Missy • 2024 — Love... Reconsidered — Susie