Ali Wentworth

Early life

Wentworth's mother, Muffie Cabot (née Mabel Bryant Hobart), was Nancy Reagan's White House social secretary from 1981 to 1983. Her father, Eric Wentworth, was a reporter for The Washington Post. Her stepfather, Henry Brandon, was the Washington correspondent for The Sunday Times of London and her maternal grandmother was Janet Elliott Wulsin.

Wentworth attended the Dana Hall School for Girls in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and studied drama at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York before graduating from New York University.

Career

Wentworth debuted as a cast member on the Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color from 1992 to 1994. On the program she was known for performing impressions of Cher, Amy Fisher, Hillary Clinton, Cindy Crawford, Princess Diana, Brooke Shields, Lisa Marie Presley, Sharon Stone, and other characters. Her recurring characters included Candy Cane, a deranged kids' show host who had had a string of bad relationships with her male coworkers, and the promiscuous teenage daughter of Grandpa Jack McGee (Jim Carrey) on The Dysfunctional Home Show.

Wentworth made appearances as a correspondent on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Oprah Winfrey Show. In 1995, she played Jerry Seinfeld's girlfriend Sheila ("Schmoopie") in the memorable "Soup Nazi" episode of Seinfeld. She had a recurring role as the boss of the title character on the WB series Felicity.

In 2003, she co-hosted the syndicated talk show Living It Up! with Ali & Jack with Jack Ford. Since that show's cancellation and before, she has been a regular part of the guest host rotation for Live with Kelly and Ryan when Kelly Ripa is on vacation or has other commitments.

Wentworth wrote 28 episodes of and starred in the comedy Head Case on the Starz television network. She guest starred on the NBC show The Marriage Ref. She hosted Daily Shot, a short daily talk show segment on Yahoo! Shine.

In 2016, Wentworth created and starred in Nightcap as the lead character Staci Cole. The series was broadcast for two seasons.

Wentworth appeared as a celebrity guest on the July 23, 2017 episode (S2 E07) of The $100,000 Pyramid, opposite Kathy Najimy, helping her contestant partner win the $150,000 grand prize. In 2020, Wentworth launched a podcast Go Ask Ali in partnership with shondaland audio. In 2022, she published a book, Ali's Well That Ends Well, about finding humor in the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, Wentworth, George Stephanopoulos, and Alyssa Mastromonaco founded the production company BedBy8. The first project, an ABC News Studio collaboration with Madator Content was Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields. The docuseries first premiered at Sundance, followed by Hulu.

In 2022, Wentworth co-hosted an ABC reality show, The Parent Test, with Adolph Brown.

Personal life

Wentworth is married to George Stephanopoulos, ABC News chief anchor, correspondent and former political adviser to the Clinton administration. They met on a blind date in April 2001 and were engaged two months later. They married on November 20, 2001, at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity on New York City's Upper East Side, where they reside, in a lengthy service. They have two daughters.

In an episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Wentworth said a "well-known writer" once offered $40,000 to spend a night with her.

Bibliography

• The WASP Cookbook, Warner Adult, 1997. .
• Ali in Wonderland: And Other Tall Tales, 2012, Harper Collins
• Happily Ali After: And Other Fairly True Tales, HarperCollins, 2015. . .
• Go Ask Ali: Half-Baked Advice (and Free Lemonade), Harper, 2018. .
• Ali's Well that Ends Well, HarperCollins, 2022.

Filmography

References

References

1. (2022-01-13). "George Stephanopoulos' Wife Ali Wentworth Goes Makeup-Free To Celebrate 57th Birthday".
2. Colacello, Bob. [https://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2010/06/state-dinners-201006 The White House's Dinner Theater], ''Vanity Fair'', June 2010.
3. (2013-01-07). "The Wisdom of Muffie".
4. "Reagan Library Oral History Interview of Mabel (Muffie) Cabot (subject: Nancy Reagan) {{!}} Ronald Reagan".
5. ''[[People (magazine). People]]'' [https://people.com/archive/bubbled-up-vol-51-no-9/ "Bubbled Up"], March 8, 1999, Retrieved April 13, 2020
6. (2009-06-18). "At Home with Power Couple Ali Wentworth and George Stephanopoulos".
7. (August 2023)
8. Strauss, Gary. (March 19, 2009). "In Starz's 'Head Case,' it takes one to know one". [[USA Today]].
9. Steinberg, Jacques. (March 4, 2009). "She'll Interpret, or Become, a Nightmare". [[The New York Times]].
10. [http://shine.yahoo.com/dailyshot/ ''Daily Shot''] {{Webarchive. link. (June 26, 2014 at Yahoo!)
11. Andreeva, Nellie. (2016-01-12). "Pop Orders 'Traci From Nightcap' Comedy Series Starring Ali Wentworth". Deadline.
12. (July 23, 2017). "S2 E07 Ali Wentworth vs. Kathy Najimy and Cobie Smulders vs. Ryan Eggold".
13. (2017-07-23). "Things that Shoot to the Top of the Winner's Circle".
14. Petski, Denise. (2021-08-31). "Shondaland Audio & iHeartMedia Team With Iyanla Vanzant On Podcast Series 'The R Spot'".
15. Wolff, Natasha. (2020-10-13). "10 Questions With Ali Wentworth".
16. (2022-05-10). "The Hilarious Ali Wentworth Shares the Story of Going "Face to Face With the Law" in New Book".
17. Siegel, Tatiana. (2023-04-07). "'Pretty Baby' Producers George Stephanopoulos, Ali Wentworth on Tackling Icon Brooke Shields and Why the 1978 Louis Malle Film Is 'Revolting'".
18. (27 November 2001). "Stephanopoulis bride's reluctance short-lived". [[The Post and Courier]].
19. "George's Bottom Line". ABC News.
20. Grove, Lloyd. (July 23, 2003). "Ali and George, Living It Up". Washington Post.
21. Sachs, Mark. (May 15, 2009). "Ali Wentworth, 'Head Case'". Los Angeles Times.
22. Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, First Cup: Episode 20, "Ali Wentworth: I'm Going to Take a Percocet"