Who is Alex Borstein? Everything You Need to Know

Alexandrea “Alex” Borstein was born on February 15, 1971, in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was raised in Deerfield, a suburb in Chicago. She went to Solomon Schechter Day School here.

In 1980, she and her family moved to Los Angeles. Here, she enrolled at the Heschel Day School in the San Fernando Valley. She is a graduate of Chatsworth High School (1989). She went on to enroll at the San Francisco State University with a major in rhetoric.

Her father was an orthodox Jew who was raised in Atlanta. Her grandmother was a holocaust survivor, and Alex was really close to her.

While studying at San Francisco State University, she became a member of a sketch comedy troupe.

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Career

Alex Borstein started her career soon after graduating from San Francisco State University. She started performing at the ACME Comedy Theatre. She also got several small roles in the TV show ‘The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.’

In 1997, she got her first major acting role in ‘MADtv,’ which ran for an impressive 15 seasons. Her outlandish characters and comic timings on this show won her many fans. She was also a writer on the show. She did five seasons and left the show in 2002.

In 1998, she got one of the most important roles of her career—she became the voice of Lois Griffin in ‘Family Guy,’ which is an animated sitcom developed by Seth MacFarlane for Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is about a family that consists of a mother (Lois Griffin), a father (Peter Griffin), their smart dog, two kids who are teenagers and one baby who is really devilish.

The show ‘Family Guy’ became such a hit that it has finished airing 18 seasons and is going on the 19th. Alex Borstein has done a brilliant job of voicing Lois Griffin, and won an Emmy for her role in 2018. She is also the co-producer and screenwriter of ‘Family Guy.’

In 2000, she got the role of Sookie St. James on ‘Gilmore Girls’ but had to let go of the role due to her prior commitment to ‘MADtv.’

Her extraordinary voice skills got her more voice roles in shows like, ‘American Dad’ (2005, 2006, and 2009) and ‘The Cleveland Show’ (2009-11).

In 2013, she was seen in ‘Getting On,’ which was a remake of a British series of the same name. The show was cancelled in 2015, but Alex Borstein had already made her mark.

‘Getting On’ was a very dark comedy in which she essayed the role of Nurse Dawn, who is so obsessed with finding a boyfriend that she often neglects her official duties. Borstein’s portrayal of Nurse Dawn has been brilliant.

In 2017, she got another big break in her career when she landed the role of Susie Myerson, the loud-mouthed, aggressive manager of Midge Maisel, who is a standup comedian, in ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.’ This role got her an Emmy in 2018.

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Though she is mostly known for her television work, she has also worked in numerous movies, some of which were really well received. She started with a small role in ‘Dawg’ in 2002. In ‘Bad Santa’ (2003), she essayed the role of a Milwaukee mom and the movie was a hit at the box office.

She went on to do several other successful movies, including ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’ (2005), ‘The Lookout’ (2007), and ‘ParaNorman’ (2012).

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Major Works

Alex Borstein’s performances on ‘MADtv’ got her talent noticed and opened many doors for her. She was praised for her comic timings and acting skills.

She made the audiences fall in love with her portrayal of Lois Griffin in the TV show ‘Family Guy.’ She has been part of the show for around 20 years as a voice actor, screenwriter, and producer.

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Family & Personal Life

Alex Borstein met her husband, Jackson Douglas, at the ACME Comedy Theater in Los Angeles. He proposed to her when he was a guest performer on ‘MADtv.’They were married in 1999 and went on to have two kids.

Her son, Barnaby Borstein Douglas, was born in 2008 and her daughter, Henrietta Borstein Douglas, was born in 2012. They separated in 2014 and their divorce was finalized in 2017.

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Trivia

Amy Sherman-Palladino, the creator of ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,’ wrote the role of Susie with Alex Borstein in mind. Their collaboration goes back some twenty years when Borstein auditioned for a role in ‘Gilmore Girls,’ which was also created by Amy Sherman-Palladino.

She wore her wedding dress to the Emmy Awards in 2018!

2019	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017)
2018	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017)
2018	Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance	Family Guy (1999)

Alex Borstein Biography