Chelsea Handler

Chelsea Handler
Handler at LA Direct Magazine's "Remember to Give" Holiday Party 2008
Birth name	Chelsea Joy Handler
Born	February 25, 1975 (1975-02-25) (age 36) Livingston, New Jersey, U.S.
Medium	Television, stand-up, film, books, modeling
Nationality	American
Years active	1996–present
Genres	Observational comedy, news satire, blue comedy
Subject(s)	Pop culture, celebrities, gossip
Influences	Chuy
Notable works and roles	Host of Chelsea Lately
Website	ChelseaHandler.com

Chelsea Joy Handler^[1] (born February 25, 1975)^[2] is an American stand-up comedian, humorist, television host, actress, model and best-selling author. She currently hosts a late-night talk show titled, Chelsea Lately on the E! Cable Television Network. In 2009 she won a Bravo A-List Award. She also has her own column in Cosmopolitan and the UK celebrity magazine NOW.

Early life

Handler grew up in the suburban town of Livingston, New Jersey.^[3] The youngest of six children, she was raised in Reform Judaism by her Mormon mother Rita and Jewish father Seymour.^[3][4][5] Handler has said that while growing up, she felt like an outsider, telling a reporter, "We lived in this nice Jewish neighborhood...Everyone had Mercedes and Jaguars, and I was going to school in a Pinto."^[6] In a June 2011 edition of her show, she and author James Van Praagh discuss the death of her brother, Chet, when she was 9.^[7] Handler had an abortion at age 16, which she discussed at an interview in 2011. ^[8] At age 19, Handler moved from New Jersey to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career, and two years later she decided to become a stand-up comic after telling her story about a DUI to a class of other offenders, who found her story funny.^[2]

Career

Performances

Handler has performed nationwide as a comedian, appeared as a regular on the Oxygen Network series Girls Behaving Badly and on other shows, including Weekends at the D.L., The Bernie Mac Show, My Wife and Kids, and The Practice. She was a regular commentator on E! and Scarborough Country as well as a correspondent on The Tonight Show. She hosted the first episode of the reality TV show On the Lot, but quit before the second one was aired, as she later said, "because I smelled the disaster happening before it did."^[9] Chelsea Handler hosted The Chelsea Handler Show in April 2006, which lasted two seasons. She was a guest on Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld and The View; she co-hosted The View on August 2, 2007, and again on September 5, 2008 – and hosts her own late night talk show on E! titled Chelsea Lately. On January 25, 2009, Handler was on the CBS gameshow Million Dollar Password as one of the celebrity players. On April 15, 2009, Handler won the 2009 Bravo A-List Award for "A-List Funny".^[10]

On August 18, 2010 it was announced that Handler would be the host of the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. The announcement was surprising to many, including MTV, which claimed that the final decision was unexpected.^[11] This makes Handler only the second woman in the history of the VMA's to be the sole host of the ceremony, behind Roseanne Barr, who hosted in 1994.^[12] The event took place at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on September 12, 2010.

In 2007, Handler performed with the Hour Stand-Up Comedy Tour across the US. Her stand-up has been televised on Vh1's Love Lounge, Comedy Central's Premium Blend, and HBO's broadcast of the Aspen Comedy Festival. She was the host of the Fox show On The Lot. The show, produced by Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett, is a competition for aspiring filmmakers who are vying for a chance at stardom. She was replaced after one episode by former Robin & Company entertainment anchor, Adrianna Costa.

Chelsea Lately

Handler as the Grand Marshal of Los Angeles LGBT Pride festival in West Hollywood, California in June 2009.

In July 2007, Handler began starring on her own half-hour late-night comedy series on E! titled Chelsea Lately. On the show's 100th episode, Chelsea revealed to viewers that E! had picked up Chelsea Lately for another 150 episodes.^[13] The show has proved a hit and averaged more than a half-million viewers since its premiere (much more than the average for a late night cable program) and has clips on YouTube with more than a million views. All this success is despite the fact that Handler's guests often are not A-list celebrities. In a 2008 interview Handler said, "The worse the guests are, the more pathetic they are, the funnier the show is."^[6] The New York Times reported that Chelsea Lately had been renewed by E! to run until December 2009;^[14] Handler's most recent contract extension will keep Chelsea Lately on the air through 2014.^[15] From her work on Chelsea Lately, Chelsea Handler is ranked on the Forbes Celebrity 100 at number 98.^[16]

In the Motherhood

Since 2007, Handler has appeared in the Internet based program In the Motherhood with Leah Remini and (since January 2008) Jenny McCarthy. The comedic series is "about moms, by moms and for moms". On September 8, 2008, it was announced ABC would be turning In The Motherhood into a series starring Jessica St. Clair, Megan Mullally, and Cheryl Hines.^[17][18] Handler decided to drop out of the project due to her scheduling commitments to her show Chelsea Lately.

Books

Handler has authored four books on the New York Times Best Seller List. Three of the four books have been #1. Handler wrote My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands (ISBN 1-58234-618-6 ) as her memoir. Handler's first book, the collection of one-night stands describes the variety of sexual encounters Chelsea goes through throughout her life. Handler also wrote Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea (ISBN 0-06-117339-8), a collection of humorous essays. Are You There, Vodka hit the NYTimes non-fiction best seller list on May 11, 2008;^[19] it has already had a print run of over 350,000.^[20] Her third book titled Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang, was released on March 9, 2010.^[14] Chelsea went on a nationwide tour to promote her new book, known as the "Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang Tour."

On November 15, 2010, it was announced that Handler's publishers had given her her own publishing imprint (Borderline Amazing/A Chelsea Handler Book). Handler has also signed a three book deal with the imprint, the first of which is called Lies Chelsea Handler Told Me, where her coworkers and family members discuss what Handler has done, which was released in May 2011 and also hit #1.

Personal life

On the January 29, 2008 episode of Chelsea Lately she said she had been asked to do season six of the hit television series Dancing with the Stars but declined. Handler was ranked #91 on the 2009 Maxim Hot 100. Handler appeared on one of two covers of the December 2009 edition of Playboy magazine, the alternative cover featuring Dancing with the Stars semifinalist and model Joanna Krupa. Inside the magazine Handler posed for a non-nude pictorial. Handler was also featured on the cover of Shape magazine in April 2010.

On January 25, 2010 Handler confirmed via her late night talk-show that she had broken up with long-time boyfriend Ted Harbert who, as the CEO of Comcast Entertainment Group, oversees E! Entertainment Television.^[21] Handler began dating Harbert in 2006.^[22]

On the July 19, 2010 episode of her show, she confirmed she was dating Animal Planet star, animal handler, print model, and television producer Dave Salmoni.^[23] However, on September 2, when asked by guest Melanie Brown if she was single, Handler stated that she was.^[24]

On the April 18, 2011, episode of Chelsea Lately, Handler announced to the audience that she was dating, again, and at the end of the show revealed a photo of herself and Andre Balazs at a table. In her comedic style, she said that her new boyfriend was on the right side of the photo, where Balazs' dog was featured in the picture.^[25] When interviewed on E! News and Piers Morgan Tonight on May 10, 2011, she continued to avoid admitting that she and Balazs were together, despite the relationship being brought up because of Balazs' presence at her Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me book party. She also admitted to "casually" dating 50 Cent. She stated that she was respecting her current boyfriend's (Balazs) privacy because he has children. On November 9, 2011, it was confirmed that they had broken up.^[26][27]

Filmography

Television

• The Good Wife – Herself
• Pretty Wild – producer (March 14, 2010 – present)
• Chelsea Lately – Herself (July 16, 2007– present)
• After Lately -Herself (March 6, 2011- present)
• The Chelsea Handler Show – Herself (April 21– September 9, 2006)
• Comedy Central Presents – Herself (standup)
• In the Motherhood – Heather (10 episodes, 2007–2008)
• National Lampoon Presents Cattle Call – Nikita
• Girls Behaving Badly
• The Bernie Mac Show
• Dirty Famous – Missy Kelin (1 episode, 2005, unsold pilot)
• The Practice
• Spy TV
• My Wife and Kids – Nurse Amy
• Weekends at the D.L.
• Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld

Film

• Cattle Call (2006) - Nikita
• Hop (2011) – Mrs. Beck
• This Means War (2012) – Trish

Published Works

• My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands (2005)
• Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea (2008)
• Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang (2010)
• Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me (2011)

Influence

Israeli-American poet Doron Braunshtein dedicated to her the poem "Chelsea Handler" which appears on his 2011's spoken word CD "The Obsessive Poet".

References

1. ^ Handler, Chelsea (2008). Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea. City: Simon Spotlight Entertainment. ISBN 1416954120. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Chelsea Handler: Biography". TV Guide. http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/chelsea-handler/bio/198528. Retrieved September 13, 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Len Righi (2007-11-01). "Chelsea Handler and the responsibility of ridiculing Britney". Seattle Times. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/television/2003986737_webchelsea.html. Retrieved 2009-01-03. 
4. ^ Smason, Alan (2006-02-02). "Comely comic reveals laughs in ?Horizontal Life’". Cleveland Jewish News. http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2006/02/07/news/local/comic0203.prt. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
5. ^ http://www.mvgazette.com/article.php?13765
6. ^ ^{a b} Jacob Bernstein (December 2008). Chelsea Handler, Insult Queen. W magazine. http://www.wmagazine.com/celebrities/2008/12/chelsea_handler?currentPage=1. Retrieved 2008-11-19 
7. ^ http://www.antonellagambottoburke.com/FOLIO%20-%202010%20-%2007%20-%2011%20-%20scmp%20-%20interview%20-%20chelsea%20handler%20-%2001.pdf
8. ^ Cathy Horyn (May 2011). Comedy With a Side of Disgust. NY Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/fashion/comedy-with-a-side-of-disgust.html?_r=3&pagewanted=2. Retrieved 2008-11-19 
9. ^ "Summer Press Tour: Posh Beckham, Chelsea Handler". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2007-07-16. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07197/801962-352.stm. Retrieved 2009-01-03. 
10. ^ "Chelsea Handler wins 2009 A-List Award". Bravo. 2010-03-37. http://tierwriting.com/2010/03/handler-wins-the-2009-bravo-a-list-award/. Retrieved 2010-03-03. ^{[dead link]}
11. ^ "Chelsea Handler to host 2010 MTV VMAs – MSN TV News". Tv.msn.com. 2010-09-17. http://tv.msn.com/the-wrap/handler-hosts-vmas/story/?GT1=28103. Retrieved 2010-09-21. 
12. ^ Posted 9/2/10 (2010-08-19). "Chelsea Handler To Host The 2010 MTV Video Music Awards – Music, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1646050/20100819/story.jhtml. Retrieved 2010-09-21. 
13. ^ Marikar, Sheila. (2007-07-13) Chelsea Handler:Too Hot to Handle? ABC. Abcnews.go.com. Retrieved on 2011-06-09.
14. ^ ^{a b} Stelter, Brian (January 18, 2009). "A New Bigmouth on Late Night". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/18/arts/television/18stel.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=chelsea%20handler&st=cse. Retrieved April 28, 2010. 
15. ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/15/us-chelseahandler-idUSTRE7AE2UC20111115
16. ^ Forbes Celebrity 100 List Forbes, June 28, 2010
17. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
18. ^ "ABC.com – Television Shows & Programming". Inthemotherhood.com. http://www.inthemotherhood.com/node/185. Retrieved 2010-09-21. 
19. ^ Best-Sellers Non-Fiction. New York Times. May 11, 2008]
20. ^ Carolyn Reidy looks for the next blockbuster. LA Times. Josh Getlin. June 25, 2008.
21. ^ Edward Lewine (2007-12-16). "Domains: Chelsea Handler". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/magazine/16wwln-domains-t.html?ref=magazine. Retrieved 2007-12-15. 
22. ^ Karpel, Ari (July 11, 2008). "Too hot to Handler". Entertainment Weekly (1008). http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20211732,00.html. 
23. ^ Chelsea Handler (2010-07-19). "Chelsea Handler Walks on the Wild Side With Her New Man, Animal Planet's Dave Salmoni – E! Online". Au.eonline.com. http://au.eonline.com/uberblog/b191167_chelsea_handler_walks_on_wild_side_with.html. Retrieved 2010-09-21. 
24. ^ "Chelsea Handler is Single, 35 & Would Like to Date Black Dudes (VIDEO)". Tvsquad.com. 2010-09-03. http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/09/03/chelsea-handler-is-single-at-35-and-is-thinking-about-dating-b/. Retrieved 2010-09-21. 
25. ^ "Chelsea Lately". Chelsea Handler. Chelsea Lately. E!. April 18, 2011.
26. ^ "E! News". Jason Kennedy. E! News. May 10, 2011.
27. ^ "Piers Morgan Tonight". Piers Morgan. Piers Morgan Tonight. May 10, 2011.

External links

• Official website
• Chelsea Handler at the Internet Movie Database
• In the Motherhood official website
• Q&A Interview, New York Times Magazine, December 16, 2007
• Chelsea Handler interviewed by Antonella Gambotto-Burke
• Review of "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea"
• Chelsea Handler on Twitter

Media offices
Preceded by Russell Brand	MTV Video Music Awards 2010	Succeeded by TBA

Persondata
Name	Handler, Chelsea
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 25, 1975
Place of birth	Livingston, New Jersey, US
Date of death
Place of death