Elizabeth Littleford (born July 17, 1968)[1] is an American actress, comedian and television personality. She is best known as one of the original correspondents on The Daily Show on Comedy Central from 1996 to 2000. Littleford has also appeared in the shows I'm in the Band and Dog with a Blog.
Beth Littleford | |
|---|---|
 Littleford at the Night of Comedy 9 benefit to support the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation (CAAF) in Beverly Hills, California. | |
| Born | July 17, 1968 Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, comedian, television personality |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Spouse |
Rob Fox
(m. 1998; div. 2015) |
| Children | 2[a] |
Early life
editLittleford was born in Nashville, Tennessee, the daughter of Jackie, a professor, and Philip O. Littleford, a cardiologist and inventor. She grew up in Winter Park, Florida. Her father and brother died when she was sixteen in a pontoon plane accident during an Alaskan fishing trip.[2][3] A National Merit Scholarship Program finalist in high school, she attended Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania for three years before taking up acting classes at New York University; she eventually graduated from The New School for Social Research.[2][4]
Career
editThis section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (May 2020) |
Early in her acting career, Littleford worked in improvisational theatre with the Chicago City Limits group, founded a sketch comedy troupe, and wrote her own one-woman show, This Is Where I Get Off, which she performed with the Circle Repertory Company.[2][5] Littleford is perhaps most famous for her pioneering role as one of the original female correspondents on The Daily Show. Littleford's segments on the show were satirical celebrity interviews in the style of Barbara Walters, and used soft focus cinematography for comic effect, in that almost nothing in the interviews were visually discernable to the viewer.[6] Her time on the Daily Show brought her to the attention of actor/producer Michael J. Fox. Fox was the lead and executive producer of the Sitcom Spin City. Two years after she began on The Daily Show, she secured a recurring part of Deirdre West on Fox's show, Spin City.[7] She has guest-starred on numerous television programs beginning in the late 1990s: The West Wing, Family Guy, and Frasier. Littleford was also a celebrity commentator on VH1's I Love the 80s Strikes Back in 2003, I Love the 90s in 2004, I Love the 90s: Part Deux in 2005, I Love the New Millennium, and The Great Debate in 2009.
She was the female lead on the short-lived Fox series Method and Red, and also starred as Ben Tennyson's mother Sandra in Ben 10: Race Against Time, and reprised the role in the Ben 10: Alien Force episode 20 and again in Ben 10: Ultimate Alien. She has appeared in TV commercials for Laughing Cow cheese, Cascade, and a[which?] hotel chain.
Littleford starred in the Disney XD original show I'm in the Band, the 2010 Disney Channel film Starstruck, and played Suzanne Berger on MTV's The Hard Times of RJ Berger, Dana on ABC's Desperate Housewives, and the realtor on The Fosters. More recently, she had a starring role as Ellen Jennings in the Disney Channel original series Dog with a Blog and a guest appearance on Dead to Me on Netflix.
In 2015, Littleford received a Peabody Award for her groundbreaking work on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 1996 to 2000 as the show's "Original Female Correspondent."
In 2021, Littleford was in the film Senior Moment starring William Shatner, Jean Smart and Christopher Lloyd.
Personal life
editLittleford lives in Los Angeles. She was married to Rob Fox, a director and producer who worked alongside her on The Daily Show, from 1998 to 2015; they had a son (b. 2005) and an adopted daughter (b. 2012). Fox died in 2017.[4][8][9][10]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | A Cool, Dry Place | Suzanne | |
| 1999 | The 24 Hour Woman | Lynn Shapiro | |
| Mystery, Alaska | Janice Pettiboe | ||
| Picture This | Patty | ||
| 2008 | Drillbit Taylor | Barbara Drennan | |
| 2009 | Veiled | Marie | Short |
| 2011 | Crazy, Stupid, Love | Claire | |
| 2012 | Music High | Lucy Bates | |
| Kidnap Party | Alison Slater | ||
| 2013 | It's Not You, It's Me | Sandy | |
| Movie 43 | Mrs. Cutler | ||
| 2017 | Random Tropical Paradise | Martha Crandall | |
| 2018 | I'll Be Next Door for Christmas | Fran | Christmas comedy film written and directed by David Jay Willis |
| 2021 | Senior Moment | Tess Woodson | Feature Film - Released theatrically and on demand |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996–2000 | The Daily Show | Herself | Original Female Correspondent |
| 1998–2000 | Spin City | Deirdre West | Recurring role |
| 2001 | Boston Public | Marcia Fennel | Episode: "Chapter 24" |
| 2002 | The West Wing | WKZN Philadelphia Anchor Leslie | Episode: "The U.S. Poet Laureate" |
| Still Standing | Kristy Duncan | Episode: "Still in School" | |
| What I Like About You | Susan | Episode: "Copy That" | |
| Andy Richter Controls the Universe | Reggie Meadows | Episode: "The Show Might Go On" | |
| 2002–03 | Greetings from Tucson | Marna | 2 episodes |
| Life with Bonnie | Dr. 'Mrs.' Casey | 2 episodes | |
| 2003 | The Big Wide World of Carl Laemke | Laurie Laemke | TV film |
| 2003–04 | One on One | Geraldine Murphy | Recurring role |
| 2004 | Method & Red | Nancy Blaford | Main role |
| Frasier | Creationism Date | Episode: "Match Game" (season 11) | |
| 2005 | Joey | Carla | Episode: "Joey and the Premiere" |
| 2006 | Rodney | Amy O'Brien | Episode: "Rodney Gets a Leg Up" |
| Love, Inc. | Charlene | Episode: "Anything But Love" | |
| 2006–12 | Family Guy | Various (voice) | Guest role |
| 2007 | Without a Trace | Diane Neese | Episode: "Two of Us" |
| Ben 10: Race Against Time | Sandra Tennyson | TV film | |
| 2008 | Samantha Who? | Audrey Rhodes | Episode: "The Girlfriend" |
| Ben 10: Alien Force | Sandra Tennyson (voice) | Episode: "Grounded" | |
| 2009 | Take 2 | Amy | TV film |
| 2009–10 | Rules of Engagement | Laura | 3 episodes |
| 2009–11 | I'm in the Band | Beth Campbell | Recurring role |
| 2010 | StarStruck | Barbara Olson | TV film |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Nurse Mona | Episode: "Field Mice" | |
| Ben 10: Ultimate Alien | Sandra Tennyson (voice) | Episode: "Hit 'Em Where They Live" | |
| The New Adventures of Old Christine | Tony Kershaw | Episode: "Get Smarter" | |
| Neighbors from Hell | Various (voice) | Recurring role | |
| CSI: Miami | Elena Manus | Episode: "Sleepless in Miami" | |
| 2010–11 | The Hard Times of RJ Berger | Suzanne Berger | Recurring role |
| 2010–13 | The Cleveland Show | Various (voice) | Guest role |
| 2011 | Desperate Housewives | Dana | 2 episodes |
| 2012 | Melissa & Joey | Suzanne Haber | Episode: "Good to Go" |
| Mad | Tasha / Various (voice) | 1 episode | |
| 2012–15 | Dog with a Blog | Ellen Jennings | Main role |
| 2013 | The Mindy Project | Helen | Episode: "Mindy's Minute" |
| 2013–14 | Ben 10: Omniverse | Sandra Tennyson | Voice, 3 episodes |
| 2016 | Mistresses | Lindsay Lehman | Episode: "Under Pressure" |
| Unwanted Guest | Anna Roberts | TV film | |
| 2016–17 | The Fosters | Realtor | 3 episodes |
| 2017 | 2 Broke Girls | Bonnie | Episode: "And the Stalking Dead" |
| Liberty Crossing | Special Agent Margaret Smith | Episode: "Comfort Zones" | |
| 2018 | My Dead Ex | Laurel | Recurring |
| 2019 | Dead to Me | Doug's Wife | Episode: "I Can Handle It" |
| Home Is Where the Killer Is | Patricia Wade | TV film | |
| 2020–21 | Love, Victor | Sarah | Hulu Original Series |
Podcasts
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Gossip | Rockin' Robin | 12 episodes |
Notes
edit- ^ One biological child and one adopted child.
References
edit- ^ Willis, John A. (1998). John Willis' Theatre World. Crown Publishers. p. 230. ISBN 9781557833235.
- ^ a b c Gray, Tyler (January 13, 1998). "Spice girl". Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- ^ Hayes, Ed (June 18, 1985). "Youngster's spirit still leads the way". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
- ^ a b "WEDDINGS; Ms. Littleford And Mr. Fox". The New York Times. July 5, 1998. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- ^ Blake, Leslie (February 21, 2001). "ON LOCATION With 'Picture This'". Backstage. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- ^ Blake, Meredith (July 22, 2021). "The true story of the women who made 'The Daily Show' — and were 'erased' from its legacy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
- ^ Fretts, Bruce (April 30, 1999). "Beth Littleford and Stephen Colbert take flight From Spin City to SNL, The Daily Show's rising stars are TV's moonlighters du jour". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
- ^ "Beth Littleford Welcomes Daughter Halcyon Juna". People. March 24, 2012. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- ^ Lentz, Harris M. (2018). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2017. McFarland. pp. 143–. ISBN 978-1-4766-3318-3. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- ^ "Beth Littleford & the mid-life crisis". Taboo Tales. November 3, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
