Ari Graynor

Early life

Graynor was born April 27, 1983, in Boston, the daughter of Joani Geltman, a parenting expert, and Greg Graynor, a contractor.

Her mother is from a Jewish family; her father is from a Polish and Roman Catholic background, and converted to Judaism. Graynor was raised Jewish. Her paternal grandfather's surname was changed from "Gryzna".

She attended Buckingham Browne & Nichols School, a private school in Cambridge, Massachusetts (class of 2001), and Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

During a June 29, 2017, CBS late-night interview with Stephen Colbert, promoting I'm Dying Up Here, she mentioned she went to a prom with future congressman Joe Kennedy III.

Career

Graynor first came to prominence as Caitlin Rucker on season 3 of HBO's The Sopranos. Her film credits include An American Crime (2007), which premiered in January 2007 at the Sundance Film Festival. She also appeared early in the second season of UPN's Veronica Mars as the daughter of a bus driver. She made her Broadway debut as 'Alison' in 2005's Brooklyn Boy after appearing in the world premiere at South Coast Repertory. She also appeared in The Little Dog Laughed.

Graynor played Elvina, a pop star, in CSI: Miami, and was a recurring guest star on the Fox series Fringe, playing Agent Olivia Dunham's younger sister, Rachel. In 2008, Graynor appeared in the film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, and in October 2009, she also was in Whip It, a comedy film directed by Drew Barrymore and written by Shauna Cross, based on Cross' young adult novel Derby Girl.

In 2010, she appeared in the play Trust at the off-Broadway Second Stage theatre company with Sutton Foster, Zach Braff, and Bobby Cannavale. In the fall of 2011, she appeared on Broadway in the Woody Allen-written segment of three one-act comedies collectively called Relatively Speaking. She played Nina Roth in Allen's “Honeymoon Motel” segment.

In 2012, Graynor starred in the comedy For a Good Time, Call..., and is also credited as the film's executive producer. Graynor starred on Broadway opposite Cheyenne Jackson, Henry Winkler, and Alicia Silverstone in David West Read's play The Performers, which opened November 2012 at the Longacre Theatre.

She appeared in Yen, a play by Anna Jordan. Yen opened off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre on January 31, 2017, directed by Trip Cullman.

In 2024, she starred as Leslie Abramson, Erik Menendez's lead attorney, in the Netflix crime drama series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

References

1. "Ari Graynor Biography". Tvguide.com.
2. Blank, Matthew. (September 20, 2011). ""Relatively Speaking" star Ari Graynor". [[Playbill]].
3. (May 30, 2017). "Hollywood Now: Chris Pine, Rachel Weisz & Ari Graynor, Plus So Many Babies!".
4. (May 12, 2010). "Ari Graynor talks about 'Holy Rollers' and 'What's Your Number'". Nypost.com.
5. (August 31, 2012). "Ari Graynor on Jewish Mothers and Phone Sex – The Arty Semite". Blogs.forward.com.
6. (January 25, 2012). "Ari Graynor: Anatomy of a Sundance 'it' girl". Los Angeles Times.
7. Yuan, Jada. (July 29, 2012). "Ari Graynor on Moving Beyond Best-Friend Roles". Vulture.
8. Lawrence, Vanessa. (August 2012). "On the Verge: Ari Graynor". Condé Nast.
9. Clement, Olivia. [http://www.playbill.com/article/yen-with-oscar-nominee-lucas-hedges-opens-jan-31# " 'Yen', with Oscar Nominee Lucas Hedges, Opens Jan. 31"] Playbill, January 31, 2017
10. Burack, Emily. (September 19, 2024). "The Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story Casting Is So Spot-On".
11. Breznican, Anthony. (June 26, 2020). "Watch the Celebrity-Filled Fan-Film Version of The Princess Bride".