Funny, irreverent, fearless, hardcore: all can be used to describe actress/comedienne Sarah Silverman and her unremitting style of humor. Silverman has built a career tackling controversial subjects head-on. While most might only scratch the surface, Silverman dives right into the murky depths of race, religion and sex–though she doesn’t explore them as issues per se, her blase, seemingly prejudiced outbursts serve to effectively deflate taboos, her winsome, coltish looks excusing her “offenses.”

Born on December 1, 1970, Silverman grew up one of four daughters in a middle-class home in Bedford, New Hampshire. Silverman was always interested in comedy, and even wrote the phrase “I Love Steve Martin” on her bedroom ceiling. At 17, Silverman performed her first stand-up act at Stitches in Boston. After dropping out of New York University, she graduated to open mic appearances in Manhattan, which led to regular comedy gigs and tours around the country. While on the road, she was spotted by scouts for “Saturday Night Live”, and at 22, Silverman was writing and performing on the show.

Silverman first appeared as a Not Ready for Prime Time Player in 1993, but immediately got herself into trouble with the NBC censors. One of her first bits was a commentary on the regular spot “Weekend Update”, where she joked about her desire to have an abortion, only to discover that she was only thirsty. More trouble ensued for Silverman behind the scenes, and soon found herself out of a job. She returned to performing stand-up, while appearing in episodes of “Seinfeld” (1996-1997), “Star Trek: Voyager” (1996-1997), “The Naked Truth” (1997-1998) and a recurring stint as writer Wendy Traston on “The Larry Sanders Show” (1996-1998).

Silverman also made her feature film debut in “Who’s the Caboose?” (1997), a mockumentary satirizing the television industry’s most competitive time—pilot season. The actress had a few small roles in bigger Hollywood fare, including the Farrelly Brother’s hit “There’s Something About Mary” (1998), Warren Beatty’s political satire “Bullworth” (1998) and “The Bachelor” (1999), starring Chris Connelly and Rene Zellweger.

Silverman attracted unwanted media scrutiny with her “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” appearance. Silverman uttered the slur “chink” in her act, which created a relentless firestorm spearheaded by Aoki’s Media Action Network for Asian Americans. Though Silverman never officially apologized, she did write a heart-felt letter to Aoki. Though the controversy faded, it left Silverman embittered.

Meanwhile, Silverman landed a regular gig as Alison Kaiser on the Fox show, “Greg the Bunny” (2001-2002). She also made more prominent appearances in films: “Evolution” (2001), starring David Duchovny and Julianne Moore; “Heartbreakers” (2001) with Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt; and “School of Rock” (2003), the Jack Black vehicle about an out-of-work rocker who impersonates a grade school substitute teacher, in which she plays the shrewish girlfriend of Black’s doormat roommate (Mike White). Though she has appeared many times on screens both large and small, Silverman has always returned to her first love: stand-up comedy. She inked a deal with HBO to write, produce and star in her own comedy special airing in late 2003.

The deal with HBO, however, was shelved, but a deal with Comedy Central for a sketch show was scheduled to begin shooting in summer 2005. Meanwhile, Silverman was one of dozens of comedians vying to tell the dirtiest version of an old Vaudeville joke in “The Aristocrats” (2005), a documentary produced by Penn Jillette, the gregarious half of comedy team Penn & Teller. Though the joke contains no real punch line, the point has been to tell the most egregious version to unsettle new initiates. Silverman, of course, pushed the enveloped by pretending the joke isn’t a joke at all, resulting in one of the more disturbing versions in the film. After she competed in a couple tournaments on “Celebrity Poker Showdown” (Bravo, 2003- ), Silverman was in episodes of “Entourage” (HBO, 2004- ) and “Pilot Season” (TRIO, 2004-2005), and voiced characters on the animated series, “Drawn Together” (Comedy Central, 2004- ) and “American Dad” (Fox, 2004- ). She finished a busy 2005 headlining her own comedy concert film “Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic,” in which she unleashed some of her edgiest live stand-up routines, skewered the controversy that Aoki fanned and included several humorous musical interludes in which she demonstrated a clever talent for creating scatalogical lyrics, as well as an impressive singing voice. The same year she had a brief turn as a TV producer in the big screen adaptation of the Broadway sensation “Rent” (2005).

• Also Credited As: Sarah Kate Silverman
• Born: Sarah Kate Silverman in Bedford, New Hampshire
• Job Titles: Actor, Comedian, Writer

Family

• Father: Donald Silverman.
• Mother: Beth Ann Silverman.
• Sister: Jody Speyer.
• Sister: Laura Silverman. played one of Sarah’s friends in the film version of “Jesus is Magic”; also co-stared as herself in Sarah’s new sitcom “The Sarah Silverman Program”
• Sister: Susan Abramowitz-Silverman. author of “Jewish Family & Life: Traditions, Holidays, and Values for Today’s Parents and Children”

Significant Others

• Companion: Jimmy Kimmel (current). began dating in 2002
• Companion: Colin Quinn. romantically linked during her “Saturday Night Live” career; no longer together
• Companion: Dave Attell. Sarah spoke about having dated him on the Howard Stern radio show; no longer together
• Companion: Tom Gianas. reportedly dated in 2001; produced her show, “Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic”

Education

• New York University, New York

Milestones

• 1988 Performed her first stand-up gig at Stitches, on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston
• 1993 Regular cast member and writer on “Saturday Night Live” (NBC)
• 1995 Featured performer in the HBO sketch comedy show “Mr. Show with Bob and David”
• 1996 Had a recurring role as writer Wendy Traston on “The Larry Sanders Show” (HBO)
• 1997 Acted in a couple of episodes of “Seinfeld,” (NBC) as Kramer’s girlfriend
• 1997 Made her film debut in “Who’s the Caboose”
• 1998 Appeared in Warren Beatty’s political satire “Bullworth”
• 1998 Had a supporting role as a friend of Mary’s in Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly’s comedy smash “There’s Something About Mary”
• 1999 Appeared in “The Bachelor,” starring Chris O’Donnell and Renee Zelwegger
• 2000 Featured as herself on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” (NBC); controversy erupted after using the racist slur ‘chink’ in a comedy routine on the July 11, 2001 episode
• 2002 Cast as Alison Kaiser on the short-lived Fox Comedy, “Greg the Bunny”
• 2002 Voiced Hadassah Guberman in comedy central’s “Crank Yankers”
• 2003 Cast as the annoying girlfriend of Jack Black’s roommate in “The School of Rock”
• 2003 Toured the country in her one-woman show, “Jesus is Magic”
• 2005 Appeared in the film version of her one woman show, “Jesus is Magic”
• 2005 Cast in Jeff Garlin’s feature writing and directing debut “I Want Someone to Eat Cheese with”
• 2005 Played Alexi Darling in “Rent,” the film version of the Pulitzer and Tony award winning musical
• 2007 Stared as a fictionalized version of herself in “The Sarah Silverman Program,” on Comedy Central; also produced
• 2007 hosted the MTV Movie Awards in June

-Yahoo.com biographies