"I went in for an audition eight years ago for a 'big box store employee,' and I put on my polo shirt and put my hair in a ponytail and showed up," she says. Stephanie Courtney is an American actress and comedian, best known for playing the advertising character Flo in television and radio commercials for Progressive Corporation beginning in 2008. Courtney first appeared as the character in early 2008, and, in the decade since, revenues for the insurance giant grew from $13 billion in 2008 to a whopping $36 billion in 2019. “It was a simple oversight,” explains actress and comedian Stephanie Courtney, known to millions as the quirky Progressive Insurance spokesperson ‘Flo.’”. ... My first national commercial … She also appeared in the season 2 premiere of Men of a Certain Age. Courtney's definitely had success outside of advertising work. That insurance-obsessed character has been played by actor Stephanie Courtney since 2008. She has many memories of this time, although not all of them great. Stephanie Courtney 1 of 15. Well, her real name isn't Flo. She was invited back to the university to deliver the 2015 commencement address. Progressive TV Spot, 'Double Life'. [1], During her early time in Los Angeles she worked odd jobs, including catering, to support herself.[3]. Progressive spends a ton of money on TV advertising and a chunk of it goes to the insurance company’s star spokesperson: Flo. Courtney also told The JV Club that she returned to France her junior year of college for a semester abroad, living with her host family in the city of Avignon for five months. In a 2016 interview with lohud, Courtney gives the inside scoop on how she landed the once-in-a-lifetime role of Flo. But Courtney had more than just the look that Progressive wanted. It takes about one hour of teasing to get the hair just right and another hour to apply the thick lipstick and eye makeup. Flo is a fictional salesperson character appearing in more than 100 advertisements for Progressive Insurance since 2008. Progressive TV Commercial, 'Flodilocks'. Aside from her commercials, Courtney's other TV … If none of those shows rings any bells, then you may recognize her from some of the movies she's appeared in, such as For Your Consideration, The Brothers Solomon, or The Heartbreak Kid, in which she appeared in scenes with Ben Stiller. Ads. I figured I'm not a face that makes people want to buy Lysol. The play didn't do very well there, according to Courtney, but she did have the chance to meet Fred Armisen, co-creator of Portlandia, and Darlene Hunt, creator of Showtime's The Big C, while she was there. Here are a few interesting tidbits we've discovered about her. From there, it was the typical working actor's grind—more odd jobs, auditions, and small parts—until she made her way out to Los Angeles. Courtney was born in Stony Point, Rockland County, New York, the youngest of three children[3] of a high school history teacher father and a singer mother. [3] There she met the theater's lighting director, Scott Kolanach,[6] whom she married in 2008. [1] In 1992, she graduated from Binghamton University with a degree in English, where she played Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible. Well, at least, her parents did. She told lohud.com that the theater was an early obsession, stemming from frequent family trips to Broadway, including the time she was inspired by a young Kevin Kline's performance in The Pirates of Penzance. Progressive dubbed their bubbly representative Flo. During that time she worked odd jobs and went on a ton of auditions, eventually landing a gig with Theatreworks USA, which is how got into the stage actors union. As Flo she was an overnight hit when Progressive introduced her in … Her first commercial was less innocent. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Courtney earns $1 million per year for playing Flo from Progressive. After seeing that show, she decided she wanted to be an actress, telling Cosmpolitan, "By the time I got to middle school, we did a play a year, and I was in all of them. Many of her fans are familiar with her representational role as ‘Flo’ on the popular ‘Progressive Corporation’ commercial. That's good company to be in. Crew look, according to People "I'm sort of East Coast so I like the off-white and the navy blues and the low-key preppy kind of thing," she tells the magazine, also noting that she "barely gets recognized in public.". We know that because you can see it on what she refers to as her "tricked out name tag." Despite an ongoing rumor (given weight by pundits from credible publications such as BusinessInsider.com) that Flo from Progressive was going to be “killed off” or, in other words, cease to be used as the company’s spokesperson, Stephanie Courtney has continued her role as Flo. After seeing one of their shows for the first time, Courtney describes being "blown away," and she signed up for classes the next day. We all know Flo from the Progressive commercials: the bright-red lipstick, the starched apron, the blue headband, and the ever-perky personality. For doing all these sh! According to The Epoch Times, on May 27, 2014, eBuzzd—a site notorious for spreading false rumors—published an article stating that Courtney died in a car accident while driving her Lexus LX in New York. That was essentially the birth of Flo., as company execs then saw the opportunity to "surround Flo with characters to play off and offered other opportunities to expand Flo's story." In her 2016 lohud interview, Courtney talks about how she's helped shape Flo's personality through the years. Courtney didn't walk into that audition with the mindset that she was going to be playing this character for the next decade. She was going to be part of a Bud Light Commercial, and it worked well for her. Courtney is also noted for her recurring roles on several television series, including the voices of Renee the Receptionist and Joy Peters on the Adult Swim comedy Tom Goes to the Mayor, Marge on … After moving to L.A., Courtney started at The Groundlings, a sketch … *ty commercials? By then, she said, "I was never tortured over whether I wanted to become an actress. Stephanie Courtney is an actress and comedian who’s best known for playing the fictional insurance salesperson for Progressive Insurance, where she has appeared in over 100 advertisements for the company since 2008. Although no tricks or prosthetics are used, transforming into Flo takes a lot of time and make-up. Stephanie Courtney is known for her skills and talents as an American actor as well as a comedian. According to Cosmopolitan, Courtney married her husband, Scott Kolanach, the lighting director for the Groundlings, at age 35. Before becoming the face of Progressive, Courtney booked "about one [commercial] a year," according to an interview with The Washington Post. If you've ever had a moment where you've thought, "Where else do I know her from?," it's probably from one of the 30 shows she's appeared in since 1998. Stephanie Courtney: Age, Parents, Siblings, Ethnicity. Since that fateful audition, Courtney has continued to be an integral voice in how the character of Flo has progressed (pun intended). "What they were looking for was basically a friendly neighborhood waitress; she is super friendly and nice, almost to the point of madness, and I was like, 'I can do that.' Basically all the buildings and the birds are singing in her mind." And I was like, I'll quit all my day jobs! In 2009, Courtney told Cleveland.com about the backstory she envisioned for Flo, saying, "When I picture Flo in life she drives her little Mini Cooper around town and it's basically like when Bob Hoskins drove into Toontown in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. She says that Flo isn't a complex character and that she's "just so excited for any good quality she sees in a person.". But not many of us know anything about Stephanie Courtney, the actress who has portrayed Flo in dozens of Progressive television commercials since 2007. Her real name is Stephanie Courtney, a comedian and actress from Los Angeles who has taken the insurance world by storm. See more ». Stephanie Courtney (born February 8, 1970)[1] is an American actress and comedian, best known for playing the advertising character Flo in television and radio commercials for Progressive Corporation beginning in 2008.[2]. It was 1998 when Stephanie Courtney booked her first commercial. "I ate, like, olympic amounts of bread and cheese, and then I outgrew all of my clothes," she joked, adding, "and I remember, I was so sad, like, I really looked like Gerard Depardieu. Progressive Insurance’s commercial spokesperson is played by comedian Stephanie Courtney. Stephanie Courtney spent more than a decade working in theater and small TV roles before she became one of the world's most recognizable spokespeople. Since that fateful audition, Courtney has continued to be an integral voice in how the character of Flo has progressed. I wish I could take some of that net worth and put it into a much better cause than the Flo & … Um, what? "That was my first audition, and it was just like this crazy Superbowl commercial. Stephanie Courtney and Kristen Schaal in Mad Men (2007) People Stephanie Courtney, Kristen Schaal. Courtney was born on Feb. 8, 1970, in Stony Point, … Courtney recalled her awkwardness as an American not exactly assimilating well to french culture. HOLLYWOOD, California –. I couldn't afford a haircut, like, no makeup, and I'd like mope around France because I felt so bad about myself.". It was a Super Bowl spot, leading the actress to believe she'd finally made the big time. Progressive TV Spot, 'Flotection'. She was really excited about it because the commercial aired during the Super Bowl that year. She is the youngest of three children. About Stephanie Courtney. Uh oh, sounds like her little sidekick dude, Jamie, might want to sleep with one eye open. On a table she found three policies, one that was … Long before earning her comedy chops with The Groundlings and eventually becoming Flo, Courtney knew she needed a backup plan. She has appeared in such films as The Brothers Solomon, Blades of Glory, The Heartbreak Kid, Melvin Goes to Dinner, and Fred: The Movie. The play is based on exaggerated versions of herself and her sister, Jennifer, and their lives as broke actors. Courtney is also noted for her recurring roles on several television series, including the voices of Renee the Receptionist and Joy Peters on the Adult Swim comedy Tom Goes to the Mayor (2004–06), Marge on the AMC drama Mad Men (2007), and Diane on the ABC comedy Cavemen (2007). At their urging, she enrolled at Binghamton University in New York, where she earned her English degree. Once upon a time, Flo wandered into an abandoned house in the woods. TV commercial "Progressive Mobile is Really Catching On," with Stephanie Courtney (as "Flo"), Christina Masterson, Lenny Jacobson, and Wang Chung singing their 1986 hit "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" (voiceover), for the Progressive Insurance Mobile App. Courtney's first commercial was for Bud Light back in 1999. She also plays Essie Karp in The Goldbergs. "What I netted wasn't exactly matching the hours I was putting in. The first two years of the campaign took place exclusively inside Progressive’s fictional superstore during Flo’s never-ending shift. She also appeared in five episodes of Mad Men, as Marge, a switchboard operator. Stephanie Courtney — best known for playing the advertising character Flo in television and radio commercials for Progressive Insurance — was killed in … Stephanie Courtney who plays Flo of the Progressive commercials auditions for a new commercial.FULL EPISODE! Stephanie Courtney: This actor plays the infamous Flo in Progressive Insurance commercials. Ms. Courtney was a front-runner for the role of Flo early on because she was "good on her toes," said Nichole Brown, a marketing specialist at Progressive who watched Ms. Courtney… A quick glance at her IMDb page shows she's been on Mr. Show with Bob and David, Angel, Tom Goes to the Mayor, and 2 Broke Girls, to name a few. It was a Super Bowl spot, leading the actress to believe she'd finally made the big time. 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