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Samantha Bee

Comedic Actress

Samantha Bee was born and raised in Toronto, Canada—and yes, she understands that it’s very clean there.  

Having no appreciable skill set or professional aspirations, she turned to acting and found it compatible with her lazy lifestyle.

Samantha began her career doing numerous commercial campaigns, many of which involved humiliating costumes and annoying catchphrases that people still like to remind her about.  

But when she joined the innovative all-female sketch troupe The Atomic Fireballs, her professional life took a turn for the better. She joined the cast of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in 2003 and now holds the title of Most Senior Correspondent, having systematically eliminated all those before her.

In addition to her work on The Daily Show, Bee can be seen opposite husband Jason Jones in the film Cooper’s Christmas, on Sesame Street, and in the films Furry Vengeance opposite Brendan Fraser and Date Night opposite Steve Carell and Tina Fey.

She had the privilege of performing as one of the original cast members of Love, Loss, and What I Wore at the Westside Theater in the fall of 2009, and her first book, I Know I Am But What Are You?, was released in paperback by Simon & Schuster in 2011.

Last season Samantha was on Law and Order; but she’s pretty sure they canceled the show right after her performance. She currently has a recurring role on the new season of HBO’s Bored To Death and also has a regular role on HBO Canada’s Good Dog. She has also guest-starred on CBC’s series Michael: Tuesdays & Thursdays.

When Bee is not working she enjoys photographing her children in foolish outfits and correcting spelling errors on menus.

The International Achievement Award is presented to a Canadian woman working in screen-based media for her significant and well-recognized body of work in Canada and abroad.

View the full slate of 2011 Crystal Award winners.