Everyone, we can relax now. The fourth season of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” FINALLY (and we mean FINALLY) has a release date! On February 18, we can all sit back and enjoy more hijinks and hilarity from Midge, her family and of course, her manager Susie.
It is slightly unfortunate that there are only a few actually Jewish actors in the extremely Jewy show. That said, the few Jews involved with the production are very talented. One might argue, in fact, that Susie, played by the incredible Alex Borstein, is an absolute show-stealer.
So while we wait for “Maisel,” let’s learn a little more about the Jewish actress!
Here are 18 things to know about Alex Borstein:
1. Alex Borstein was born in the Chicago suburbs to a Jewish family.
2. She has two older brothers. Just look at this beautiful “Borstein Bitch Bunch”:
3. She had a bat mitzvah!
Of it, she’s said, “…the bat mitzvah was my first one-woman show. It was also the only profitable one-woman show I ever did.”
And here’s what she looked like on her special day:
Happy "Yom Ha Aba" to the most loyal, trustworthy man in my life. Your gifts keep giving. @ijbijb #HappyFathersDay pic.twitter.com/FPP6Alfw0v
— Alex Borstein (@AlexBorstein) June 21, 2015
This picture is everything.
4. She attended San Francisco State University.
5. After training at the ACME Comedy Theater, Alex got her first break in 1997 as a cast member on MADtv!
One of her characters, Mrs. Swan, is directly based on her Holocaust-survivor grandmother!
Here’s a beautiful photo of them together:
More on her later!
6. Following MADtv, Alex was asked to audition for “Family Guy” and landed the role of Lois Griffin.
Listen to how she came up with Lois’ voice here:
7. Alex loves the performance aspect of Judaism.
“One of my favorite things about being Jewish is there’s a natural sense of comedy and comedic timing and performance,” she told Kveller. “Temple is about performance; cantors sing and have these rich beautiful voices, and rabbis tell stories that are moving and very funny. And we’re able to, in my family, laugh our asses off at Holocaust jokes with survivors in the family. It’s one of my favorite things about being Jewish.”
8. Based on this photo, we think it’s fair to say that she has an extremely Jewish mother:
9. In 2003, Alex was in “The Lizzie McGuire Movie” as Mrs. Ungermeyer!
10. Alex Borstein has had many small, yet memorable roles and cameos in shows and films, but one of our personal favorites is Annoying Hummer Lady in the 2005 Will Ferrell movie “Kicking and Screaming.”
Just watch this hilarious scene:
11. Jewish traditions are very important to her.
“We do Shabbat every Friday night. I’m not [someone] that goes to temple all the time — I’m a High Holidays temple goer, and that’s about it. But there are traditions,” Alex said in an interview with Kveller. “Having a mother and a grandmother who are Holocaust survivors, I feel a large responsibility to continue that culture and those traditions — not necessarily the dogma, but what it feels like to be Jewish. I want to instill that in my kids.”
12. Not to be crass, but her balls are supreme. Matzah balls, that is!
Mamma mia, those are indeed beautiful matzah balls.
13. Alex loves Sukkot.
Just look at all her posts about it!
If you ever need guests for your sukkah, Alex, pls hit us up.
14. From 2013-2015 Alex starred as Dawn Forchette in the HBO series “Getting On.”
Listen to her discuss one of her favorite moments to film, which *spoilers* does include crotch burn:
15. Alex was married to actor and producer Jackson Douglas from 1999 to 2017.
They have two kids, Henrietta and Barnaby, pictured here:
16. Alex has won multiple Emmy Awards for her role as Susie in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
In 2019, she concluded her acceptance speech with a powerful anecdote about her Holocaust survivor grandmother:
Thank you for sharing this with us, Alex.
17. Speaking of Mrs. Maisel, here are Susie’s best one-liners!
18. And, based on this teaser, it looks like Susie’s on the up-and-up in the upcoming season:
