Emily Fortune Feimster (/ˈfmstər/; born July 1, 1980)[1] is an American writer, comedian, and actress. Having made her television debut on NBC's Last Comic Standing in 2010,[1] she starred as Colette on The Mindy Project (2015–2017). In July 2019, she began hosting the hit radio show What a Joke with Papa and Fortune with Tom Papa, interviewing comedians and celebrities, the first live programming on the Sirius XM channel Netflix is a Joke.[2] She played Heather in The L Word: Generation Q,[3] a reboot of The L Word.

Fortune Feimster
Feimster at the premiere of Office Christmas Party in 2016
Born
Emily Fortune Feimster

(1980-07-01) July 1, 1980 (age 44)
Alma materPeace College
Occupation(s)Comedian, writer, actress
Known forChelsea Lately, The Mindy Project
Spouse
Jacquelyn Smith
(m. 2020)

Early life

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Feimster was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, to Mike and Ginger Feimster; the youngest of three, with two older brothers, Price and Jay. Fortune is her maternal great-grandmother's maiden name.[1] Growing up in Belmont, North Carolina, she attended Belmont Central Elementary School and Belmont Junior High,[1] subsequently graduating from South Point High School in 1998.[4] That same year, she was presented to society at the Gastonia Debutante Ball.[1] At South Point, she played basketball, softball, and tennis.[1]

She attended Peace College, then a women-only university, and was elected student body president, majored in communications, and played soccer and tennis. She graduated summa cum laude and was the student speaker at commencement in 2002. The graduation speaker was Raleigh native actress Emily Procter, with whom Feimster became acquainted after the graduation.[1]

After living in Spain for a year, she moved to Los Angeles in 2003 to become a personal assistant to Procter[1] and pursue comedy.[5] After connecting with Procter's neighbor, a journalist for the Los Angeles Daily News, Feimster began a seven-year career in entertainment journalism.[1] In 2005, she joined The Groundlings Theatre, studying improv and sketch comedy. After four years, she was selected to join the Groundlings' Sunday Company.[6][1]

Personal life

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Feimster came out as lesbian[7] in 2005 at age 25.[1] In 2016, she began dating kindergarten teacher Jacquelyn Smith,[1] becoming engaged in early 2018.[8] She and Smith own homes in Los Angeles and Belmont, North Carolina. They married in a small ceremony on October 23, 2020.[1]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2013 The Secret Lives of Dorks Janitor
2015 Life in Color Zoe
2016 Office Christmas Party Lonny
2018 Social Animals Sarah-Beth
2018 Father of the Year Teacher
2018 The Happytime Murders Robin
2020 Deported Tammy
2020 Friendsgiving Fairy Gay Mother
2020 Chick Fight Bear
2020 Soul Counselor Jerry D Voice role[9]
2021 Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar Pinky
2021 Yes Day Jean the Paramedic
2022 Sex Appeal Mama Suze
2023 Family Switch Coach Kim
2025 Zootopia 2 Nibbles (voice) In-production[10]

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2010 Last Comic Standing Herself
2011–2013 After Lately Herself
2013–2014 Chelsea Lately Round table co-host
2014 2 Broke Girls Sherlock Mary
Workaholics Jo
Mulaney Mary Jo
2015 Glee Butch Melman
Hot Girls Walk By Ruth
Married Woman on Rascal
Drunk History Herself
2015–2017 The Mindy Project Collette Kimball-Kinney Main role (Seasons 4-6); 39 episodes[11]
2016 Go-Go Boy Interrupted Fortune Web series
2016–2017 Chelsea Ann Coulter / Sarah Huckabee Sanders
2016–2019 Life in Pieces Dougie [12]
2017 The Standups Herself Season 1, episode 2
2017–2018 Nobodies Libby 2 episodes
2017–2019 RuPaul's Drag Race Herself 3 episodes (including "RuPaul Roast" and "L.A.D.P.!")
2018 Another Period Garva 3 episodes
Dear White People Christine Halberg Episode: "Volume 2: Chapter IV"
Champions Ruby 10 episodes
Claws Lauren Zorloni
Foursome Kimmy Episode: "Stay Linked - Get Inked"
Niko and the Sword of Light Brohilda (voice) Episode: "The Thorn of Contention"
The Fix Herself
2018–2021 Summer Camp Island Ava / various (voice) 23 episodes
2018–2022 Craig of the Creek Laura Mercer (voice) 6 episodes
2019 Historical Roasts Princess Diana Episode: "Freddie Mercury"
Tales of The City Carlin
American Princess Sherl Episode: "You Can Always Trust Your Vaganya"
Sunnyside Michelle Pinholster
The Simpsons Evelyn (voice) Episode: "Livin La Pura Vida"
2019–2020 The L Word: Generation Q Heather 3 episodes
2019–2021 Bless the Harts Brenda (voice) 26 episodes
2020 Sweet and Salty Herself
Nailed It! Herself Episode: "The One with the 90's Theme"
2021 iCarly Countess Debra Episode: "iGot Your Back"
The Circle – The After Party Herself (co-presenter)
The Mighty Ones Vibez (voice)
Q-Force Louisa Deck (voice)
Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens Deimos 2 episodes
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Herself
2021–2022 Ada Twist, Scientist Rosie's Mom (voice) 4 episodes
Kenan Pam Fox 14 episodes
2022 Is It Cake? Herself (judge)
2022–2023 Firebuds Flip / Flap (voice) 7 episodes
2023 Fortune Feimster: Good Fortune Herself TV special
Velma Olive (voice)
2023–present FUBAR Ruth/Roo [13]

Podcasts

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In addition to hosting her own podcast, Sincerely Fortune,[14] and co-cohosting Handsome with Tig Notaro and Mae Martin, Feimster has appeared on the following:

Date Show Episode
2018 Bertcast[15] 315
2019 Queery[16] 112
The Margaret Cho[17] Season 1, episode 5, "Fortune Feimster and Jodi Long"
2020 This Past Weekend[18] 254
Anna Faris is Unqualified[19] "Fortune Feimster"
Lovett or Leave It[20] "Oh, great. Mike Pence."
The Sporkful[21] ""You Can't Hate Yourself Constantly" Says Comic Fortune Feimster"
The Joe Rogan Experience[22] 1440
Your Mom's House Podcast[23] 567
Do You Need A Ride?[24] Season 2, episode 53
2021 Good For You[25] 92
Bertcast[26] 496
I Said No Gifts![27] "Fortune Feimster Disobeys Bridger"
Life Is Short with Justin Long[28] 138, "Fortune Feimster 😂"
2021–23 Comedy Bang! Bang![29] 2 episodes
2022 Scam Goddess[30] 120, "The Scammer Hood of the Traveling Wigs w/ Fortune Feimster"
Don't Ask Tig[31] "Fortune Feimster"
Bertcast[32] 544
We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle[33] "Fortune Feimster: A Queer Debutante Walks Into a Hooters..."
2024 You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes[34] "Fortune Feimster and Mae Martin"

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Janes, Theoden (February 20, 2018). "As a kid in NC, she 'couldn't Google gay stuff.' On TV, she's out — and a rising star". The Charlotte Observer.
  2. ^ Venta, Lance (July 10, 2019). "SiriusXM Debuts Morning Show With Tom Papa & Fortune Feimster On Netflix Is A Joke Radio". RadioInsight. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  3. ^ Gilchrist, Tracy E. (July 23, 2019). "The L Word Casts Sophie Giannamore, Olivia Thirlby, & Fortune Feimster". The Advocate.
  4. ^ Jess (November 12, 2010). "The Truth About Fortune Feimster: The Autostraddle Interview". Autostraddle.
  5. ^ "Fortune Feimster". FortuneFeimster.com.
  6. ^ "Bio". Fortune Feimster.
  7. ^ "LGBTQ Life with Jane Lynch & E.J. Johnson". Chelsea. July 20, 2016. Netflix. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  8. ^ Mizoguchi, Karen (January 6, 2018). "The Mindy Project's Fortune Feimster is engaged and Mindy Kaling 'will' officiate the wedding". EW.com. Archived from the original on January 1, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  9. ^ Felperin, Leslie (October 11, 2020). "'Soul': Film Review | London 2020". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  10. ^ Jared Bush [@thejaredbush] (August 10, 2024). "Fellow mammals🐰🦊… and reptiles!!! Soooo excited to officially announce the return of Ginny Goodwin and Jason Bateman as Judy and Nick, and overjoyed to welcome the incredible Ke Huy Quan as Gary🐍, and the absolutely hilarious Fortune Feimster as Nibbles🦫. We have a bajillion other characters, so many more announcements to come in the next months! See you all at the D23 Zootopia Panel!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ^ Stanhope, Kate (November 7, 2016). "'The Mindy Project's' Fortune Feimster on Colette's "Weird" Evolution". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
  12. ^ "Fortune Feimster". IMDb. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  13. ^ Dick, Jeremy (September 26, 2022). "Fubar: Arnold Schwarzenegger Wraps Filming on New Action Series at Netflix". MovieWeb.
  14. ^ "Sincerely Fortune". Stitcher.
  15. ^ Kreischer, Bert (November 13, 2018). "Bertcast # 315 - Fortune Feimster & ME". YouTube.
  16. ^ "EP. 112 — Fortune Feimster". Earwolf. November 10, 2019.
  17. ^ "The Margaret Cho - Fortune Feimster and Jodi Long". Stitcher. August 13, 2019.
  18. ^ "Fortune Feimster, This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von #254". YouTube. January 9, 2020.
  19. ^ "Fortune Feimster". Anna Faris is Unqualified Podcast. January 20, 2020. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  20. ^ "Lovett or Leave It – Oh, great. Mike Pence". Crooked Media. February 29, 2020.
  21. ^ Morgenstern, Emma (March 2, 2020). ""You Can't Hate Yourself Constantly" Says Comic Fortune Feimster". The Sporkful.
  22. ^ The Joe Rogan Experience (March 2020). "#1440 – Fortune Feimster". Spotify.
  23. ^ YMH Studios (September 2, 2020). "Your Mom's House Podcast - Ep. 567 w/ Fortune Feimster". YouTube.
  24. ^ "Do You Need A Ride?: S2 - Ep. 53 - Fortune Feimster". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  25. ^ "Ep #92: Fortune Feimster | Good For You Podcast with Whitney Cummings". YouTube. June 30, 2021.
  26. ^ Kreischer, Bert (December 15, 2021). "Bertcast # 496 - Fortune Feimster, LeeAnn Kreischer & ME". YouTube.
  27. ^ "I Said No Gifts!: Fortune Feimster Disobeys Bridger". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  28. ^ "Life is Short with Justin Long: Fortune Feimster 😂". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  29. ^ "EP. 697 — Good News for Boobs". Earwolf. March 14, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  30. ^ "EP. 120 — The Scammer Hood of the Traveling Wigs w/ Fortune Feimster". Earwolf. January 10, 2022. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  31. ^ "Fortune Feimster". Don't Ask Tig. January 26, 2022. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  32. ^ Kreischer, Bert (November 3, 2022). "Bertcast # 544 - Fortune Feimster & ME". YouTube.
  33. ^ "We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle: Fortune Feimster: A Queer Debutante Walks Into a Hooters . . ". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  34. ^ "Fortune Feimster and Mae Martin". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
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