Jennette McCurdy

Jennette Michelle Faye McCurdy (born June 26, 1992) is an American actress and singer. She currently stars as Sam Puckett in the popular 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, and CSI.

Early life
She was born in Garden Grove, California to parents Debra 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 (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. (2000)

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 V.P. 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.

She has now turned her various, natural talents to country music, co-writing songs, releasing a new album (The Story of My Life), and a hit single "Not That Far Away" on the Capitol Records (Nashville) label.

Music
In June 2008, she announced on her official website 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 songs were released early in order for fans to vote for which one they believed should be McCurdy's first single. "Not That Far Away" won, and was released to country radio on May 24, 2010 and iTunes on June 1. She released an EP on August 16/17, 2010, which added other songs including "Stronger," "Put Your Arms Around Someone," "Break Your Heart," and "Me with You." It has also been stated that another of her songs, "Stronger" will be released later in "NOW That's What I Call Music! Vol. 35" on August 31, 2010.

The music video for her single, "Not That Far Away" premiered on Nickelodeon [in a special "Just Jennette" night featuring two iCarly episodes sandwiched around two previous (January 9, and May 16, in 2009) "True Jackson VP" episodes of her as "Pinky Turzo"], and also on CMT on August 14th, 2010.

On August 16/17th Jennette's EP for "Not That Far Away" was released on iTunes and reached #4 on the iTunes country charts. It got to #21 overall, and Jennette thanked all of her fans via Twitter and a SayNow message from her.

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

Homeless Heart (19/052009) Cover of Amanda Stott's version

Not That Far Away (6/1/2010), Co-written with Rachel Proctor and Blair Daly

Albums
"The Story of My Life" (2010, 11 tracks), 9 co-written by Jennette

"Not That Far Away" (#3, wk. ending 9/4/10, 'Top Heatseekers', Billboard)

Trivia

 * Jennette has two middle names, "Michelle" and "Faye," but typically only uses "Faye."
 * Nicknames for her are: Net Net, Nettie, Nette
 * She has not kissed anyone outside an iCarly episode (Jennette's Kiss & Tell as of 2009)
 * She is extremely allergic to bees and shellfish.
 * 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 worst fear is the ocean and sharks.
 * Her favorite ice cream flavor is Cookies 'N Cream.
 * Dan Schneider said she is the complete opposite of Sam and much like Melanie, being "sweet, girly, and even shy at times."
 * She treats Nathan Kress like a brother (2010 KCAs interview).
 * She is of Irish and Puerto Rican descent.
 * She loves Ugly Dolls and she received one Big giant Ugly Doll for her 18th B-Day
 * Though there have been rumors of her dating Nathan Kress, they have both confirmed numerous times that they aren't.
 * She is the oldest of the main three iCarly actors.
 * Jennette was in the hospital for a high fever during the shooting week for the season 3 episode of iCarly, iWon't Cancel The Show.
 * Jennette's mom has again earlier in 2010 had her breast cancer return, so far it is not known how serious it is.
 * She says that if she has a notebook and pen, she could sit down for hours, writing stories and drawing pictures.
 * She now lives in an apartment in Los Angeles.