Cecily Strong

For her work on Saturday Night Live, Strong was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series at the 72nd and 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards.

Strong was born in Springfield, Illinois, and was raised in Oak Park, an inner ring suburb of Chicago.

Cecily Legler Strong (born February 8, 1984) is an American actress and comedian.

She then attended a private Catholic school until transferring for her senior year to the Chicago Academy for the Arts, where she graduated in 2002.

She then studied acting at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), graduating in 2006 with a BFA in theatre.

After graduating, Strong returned to Chicago where she studied at the Second City Conservatory and iO Chicago.

Strong performed regularly at The Second City and iO Chicago.

Strong performed on a cruise ship with other Second City members for four months.

She appeared at the Chicago Sketch Fest, Chicago Just for Laughs, the New York Sketchfest, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Goodman Theater, the Bailiwick Theater, the Mercury Theater, and with the all-female improv troupe Virgin Daiquiri.

She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2012 to 2022.

She is the longest-tenured female cast member in the show's history.

Strong has a starring role in the Apple TV+ musical comedy series Schmigadoon! (2021–2023), which she also co-produced.

Strong debuted as a featured player on Saturday Night Live on September 15, 2012.

The next season, Strong became a repertory player and co-anchored the recurring Weekend Update segment with Seth Meyers, beginning with the season 39 premiere.

She was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series at the 12th Critics' Choice Television Awards.

Strong drew praise from abortion-rights supporters, and strong backlash from abortion opponents, after appearing in a comedy skit, "Goober the Clown Who Had An Abortion When She Was 23," during a Weekend Update sketch on the November 6, 2021, episode.

The sketch followed U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments in two cases relating to the Texas Heartbeat Act.

Strong later confirmed on her Instagram account that the sketch referenced her own abortion.

Strong followed up on the commentary a year later, during a Weekend Update sketch on the November 5, 2022, episode, appearing as "Tammy the Trucker on Gas Prices and Definitely Not Abortion" before the 2022 midterm elections.

Strong returned to SNL for season 48, and passed former castmate Kate McKinnon as the longest-running female cast member in the show's history, though she missed the first three shows of the season reprising her role in the play The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe in Los Angeles.

She returned on the October 29, 2022, episode.

Strong passed McKinnon's record with the December 17, 2022, episode, her last.

Her other roles include voice work on The Awesomes (2013–2015), supporting roles in films like Ghostbusters, The Meddler, and The Female Brain.

She is the daughter of Penelope and William "Bill" Strong, who worked as an Associated Press bureau chief and as of 2013 ran his own public relations firm.

Penny Legler Strong is a nurse practitioner, having worked extensively at area hospitals.

Strong's parents are divorced.

Strong grew up adoring SNL as a child, reenacting sketches with her friend and watching old SNL commercials on VHS.

"I had a tape of the best commercials, and I wore it out, every day."

She has stated that she was inspired by Phil Hartman.

In a 2021 interview with Terry Gross on the National Public Radio program Fresh Air, Strong said that because her uncle is a Broadway producer, as a child she often was able to attend Broadway shows and sometimes go back stage to meet their casts.

She attended Oak Park and River Forest High School until her sophomore year, when she was expelled for bringing marijuana to school.

Strong later co-anchored with Colin Jost, and was replaced on Weekend Update with writer Michael Che, beginning with the season 40 premiere in September 2014, partly at her own request to focus on doing sketches as a part of the regular cast.

She hosted the White House Correspondents' Dinner in 2015.

Her first book, the memoir This Will All Be Over Soon, was published in 2021.

Strong was the featured entertainer at the 2015 White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

She took digs at the various news organizations in attendance, politicians of all persuasions, and President Obama.

She also took shots at the U.S. Secret Service, host location the Washington Hilton, Brian Williams, Sarah Koenig and the state of Indiana.

In 2016, she appeared in a commercial for Old Navy, alongside other SNL cast members Nasim Pedrad and Jay Pharoah.

In 2020, Strong was nominated for her first Primetime Emmy award for Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series for her work on the show.

She was nominated again in 2021.