Ilana Glazer

Early life

Glazer is the daughter of Sandi (née Wexler) and Larry Glazer, who both work in insurance and finance. She grew up in St. James, New York, with her brother, Eliot, and was raised in a Reform Jewish household. She went to Smithtown High School in Smithtown, New York.

Early work

Glazer began taking classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in 2006 and performed around New York City doing improv and stand-up for the next several years.

Development

In 2009, along with co-creator Abbi Jacobson, Glazer began shooting Broad City, a web series starring the two as fictionalized versions of themselves. The series was nominated for an ECNY Award for 'Best Web Series' and was positively received, garnering attention from major media outlets such as Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal. The series caught the attention of Amy Poehler, who subsequently met with Glazer and Jacobson to help them shop a pilot script based on the series. Poehler also agreed to star in the web series finale.

In 2011, cable network FX, working with Poehler as the producer, purchased a script commitment for the series from Glazer and Jacobson. However, the network did not approve the script and decided not to proceed with development. Glazer and Jacobson then approached Comedy Central, who agreed to purchase the script from FX and order a pilot.

Reception and renewal

Broad City made its broadcast television premiere in January 2014 and was received with positive reviews and strong ratings, becoming Comedy Central's highest-rated first season since 2012 among the younger demographics, including adults 18-34, with an average of 1.2 million viewers.

The show has received critical acclaim from fans and critics alike. Review aggregation website Metacritic noted season 1 received "generally favorable reviews," giving it a score of 75 out of 100, based on reviews from 14 critics.

In February 2014, Comedy Central renewed the show for a second season. Season 2 received positive reviews, with Metacritic giving it a score of 89 out of 100, based on reviews from 8 critics, indicating "universal acclaim."

In January 2015, the series was then renewed for a third season, which premiered on February 17, 2016. In January 2016, the series was renewed for a fourth and a fifth season.

Film

Glazer starred in the 2013 independent feature film, How to Follow Strangers. The film won top prize at the Lower East Side Film Festival. She appears in the 2015 film The Night Before. Glazer starred alongside Scarlett Johansson and Kate McKinnon in the 2017 comedy Rough Night.

Personal life

She graduated from New York University in 2009, majoring in psychology. She was once roommates with Rachel Bloom after college in Brooklyn. She revealed to The New Yorker that she smokes marijuana every day, but rarely drinks alcohol. In February 2017, Glazer married her longtime boyfriend, computational biologist David Rooklin, in a private ceremony.