Jennette McCurdy

Jennette Michelle Faye McCurdy (born June 26, 1992) is an American actress and singer. She currently stars as Sam Puckett in the Nickelodeon show iCarly. She has also guest starred in a number of other television series, including Malcolm in the Middle, Zoey 101, Will & Grace, Strong Medicine, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, CSI, and True Jackson VP as Pinkey Turzo. It appears that she is somewhat flexible, due to her doing the splits among other things in iDream of Dance.

Early life
She was born in Garden Grove, California to parents Debbie and Mark McCurdy, and has three older brothers.(Marcus, Dustin, and Scott) She gained interest in acting after watching Harrison Ford in the original Star Wars Trilogy ( in his role as Han Solo ) and gained inspiration from those movies after her mother recovered from breast cancer. She started her acting career at the age of eight.

Career
McCurdy's first appearance was in 2000 on MADtv at eight years old. Since then she has starred or guest starred in several television series, including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Malcolm in the Middle, Lincoln Heights, Will & Grace, Zoey 101 and True Jackson VP. In 2003, she had the chance to act with her inspiration, Harrison Ford, in the movie Hollywood Homicide. In 2005 she was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Television Series - Guest Starring Young Actress for her performance in Strong Medicine.

Since 2007 she has had a starring role in the Nickelodeon TV series iCarly, as Carly's best friend Sam Puckett. In 2008 she was nominated for a Young Artist Award for her work on iCarly, and for her performance as Dory Sorenson in the TV movie The Last Day of Summer. Dan Schneider allowed the TV crew to film her bra in one episode.

Music
In June 2008, she announced on her official web site that she was working on her debut album, due for release around June 30, 2009. The first single, "So Close" was released on iTunes on March 10. It reached the number 16 position on the iTunes country chart, and number 53 on the iTunes pop chart. The second single, "Homeless Heart", a cover of a song originally by Amanda Stott, was released on Tuesday, May 19. Within the first week of release, it reached #43 on the iTunes Country charts. The song is for McCurdy's recently deceased friend Cody Waters, and 20% of proceeds will be donated to the Cody Waters Foundation. . She recently was signed on to a contract deal with Capitol Records Nashville, a major break for her music career.

On April 16, 2010, samples of select songs from McCurdy's upcoming debut country album were released to the public. Those songs were "Not That Far Away", "Never Let Me Down", "Break Your Heart", "Better", "Stronger", and "Put Your Arms Around Someone". The reason the songs were released ahead of time is because McCurdy wants her fans to vote for one of them. The song with the most votes will determine her first official radio single.

On her Youtube channel, she has performed cover's of Carole King's "So Far Away", "You've Got a Friend" and Adele's "Right as Rain", Carrie Underwood's cover of "Home Sweet Home", Rascal Flatt's version of "What Hurts Most", Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me" and the Beatles "With a Little Help From My Friends", drawing positive comments from many viewers.

Her radio single was chosen by the fans to be "Not That Far Away" and it was released on iTunes on June 1st in America, according to her new website. It was released earlier on UK itunes and topped #33 on the itunes Country charts. The CD version of the single is also expected to be released on the same date. It reached #58 on the Billboard Country Charts. Her album is rumored to be released in August.

Causes
McCurdy is active in campaigns such as fighting climate change (she supports the World Wide Fund for Nature), releasing child soldiers (she is engaged in the Invisible Children Inc. group) and cancer research, after her friend Cody Waters, 9, died of cancer.

McCurdy currently serves as a StarPower Ambassador for Starlight Children’s Foundation, encouraging other young people to commit their time, energy and resources to help other kids and working with Starlight to brighten the lives of seriously ill children.

Guest Appearances

 * 2008 Annual Strawberry Festival - Garden Grove, California


 * 2008 Annual 4th of July Parade - Huntington Beach, California


 * American Idol

Discography
So Close (10/03/2009), Co write with Ty Stevens and Joy Williams

Homeless Heart (19/052009) (cover of Ammanda Stott's version)

Not That Far Away (6/1/2010) (Co-Written and Performed By Jennette McCurdy)

Singles
"So Close"

"Homeless Heart"

"Not that far away"

Nick Magazine Interview
This is the interview for Nick Magazine August 2008.
 * She loves to tap dance. (She also has a knack for ice skating)
 * Her favorite TV shows are American Idol and Top Chef.
 * Most of her family calls her "Nettie" or "Net-Net", but her grandfather calls her "Scooter" because she would scoot around on her butt as a baby rather than crawl.
 * She's a prankster. She once convinced people on the iCarly set that her real name was Jennetteria.
 * She works on a small monthly magazine for girls called Original Girl, which she started two years ago as a school project.
 * She loves really spicy food and once ate a raw jalapeno pepper on a dare.
 * Unlike her character, Sam, Jennette is a disciplined worker and enjoys doing her schoolwork and learning new things. English is her favorite subject in school.
 * She has two dogs: Musashi is a Jack Russell terrier, and Chewbacca is a Yorkshire terrier and Maltese mix. She also has two turtles named Chicken and Zeus.
 * She says her mother is the funniest person she knows.
 * She's afraid of sharks.

Trivia

 * When she responds to fans on Twitter, she prefers to direct message them rather than publicly reply, because she feels that it is "more personal."
 * Her favorite TV channels are Food Network and Bravo. Her favorite shows are anything with Bobby Flay or Alton Brown, Top Chef, and Project Runway.
 * Jennette loves the original Star Wars Trilogy and celebrates May 4th as Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you).
 * Jennette has two middle names, "Michelle" and "Faye", but typically only uses "Faye".
 * Has not kissed anyone outside an iCarly episode (Jennette's Kiss & Tell)
 * She is extremely allergic to bees.
 * Jennette only feels comfortable singing when she is by herself, or to twenty other people. She feels she is unable to sing with only two or three people in the room with her. (Jennette Won't Sing On Rock Band )
 * Jennette prefers Harry Potter to Twilight. Her favorite characters are Ron Weasley and the Weasley twins.
 * Her favorite Harry Potter book was "Half Blood Prince", but it was her least favorite of movies.
 * Her favorite type of food is Asian.
 * Her favorite stores are Barnes & Nobel, FAO Schwarz, and Urban Outfitters.
 * Her worst fear is of the ocean.
 * Her favorite ice cream flavor is cookies and cream.