Judy Tenuta

Judy Tenuta
Judy Tenuta, North Hollywood, California in November 2013
Born	(1956-11-07) 7 November 1956 (age 60) Oak Park, Illinois, United States
Medium	Stand-up, television, music, film
Nationality	American
Genres	Satire, observational comedy, insult comedy, camp
Subject(s)	Catholicism, current events, American politics, pop culture, religion

Judy Tenuta (born November 7, 1956) is an American comedian. She is noted for her brash onstage persona, alternating insult comedy with self-promotion as the "Love Goddess."

One of nine siblings, Judy Lynn was born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1956 into a large Catholic family; to a Polish mother Joann, and an Italian father, Caesar.

Over the course of her career, she has often denied rumors that she had ever married or dated comedian Emo Philips, another entertainer with an offbeat comic persona. Tenuta has stated, "Isn't it weird how rumors start? No, Emo and I used to do shows together."

Tenuta gained notoriety as a wisecracking, accordion-wielding self-proclaimed "Petite Flower and Love Goddess" during the golden age of character comedy in the mid '80s with such notable contemporaries as Sam Kinison and Steven Wright. She has been featured in several of productions of "Weird Al" Yankovic's, including The Weird Al Show as well as the music videos for "Headline News" and "White & Nerdy". She has also appeared on game shows such as Hollywood Squares, Street Smarts and the 1998-99 revival of Match Game. Her most extensive profile came from a series of TV ads for MTV and most notably, Diet Dr Pepper in the late-1980s, as well as her HBO, Showtime and Lifetime specials which became popular and gained her a loyal following. She is also well known for her often quoted catch phrase, "It could happen!"

Her use of voice in her act has lent itself to voice-over work in several animated programs. This includes doing the voice of Edna on Duckman, Black Widow on Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and as herself in Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist.