Cecily Legler Strong born February 8, [ 2 ] [ 3 ] is an American actress and comedian. She hosted the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Strong was born in Springfield, Illinois , and was raised in Oak Park , an inner ring suburb of Chicago. Strong's parents are divorced. In a interview with Terry Gross on the National Public Radio program Fresh Air , Strong said that because her uncle is a Broadway producer, as a child she often was able to attend Broadway shows and sometimes go back stage to meet their casts.
She attended Oak Park and River Forest High School until her sophomore year, when she was expelled for bringing marijuana to school. She then attended a private Catholic school until transferring for her senior year to the Chicago Academy for the Arts , where she graduated in Strong debuted as a featured player on Saturday Night Live on September 15, Strong later co-anchored with Colin Jost , [ 19 ] and was replaced on Weekend Update with writer Michael Che , beginning with the season 40 premiere in September , partly at her own request to focus on doing sketches as a part of the regular cast.
Strong drew praise from abortion-rights supporters, and strong backlash from abortion opponents, after appearing in a comedy skit, "Goober the Clown Who Had An Abortion When She Was 23," during a Weekend Update sketch on the November 6, , episode.
Supreme Court oral arguments in two cases relating to the Texas Heartbeat Act. Strong returned to SNL for season 48 , and passed former castmate Kate McKinnon as the longest-running female cast member in the show's history, [ 28 ] [ 5 ] though she missed the first three shows of the season reprising her role in the play The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe in Los Angeles.
Strong was the featured entertainer at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner. She also took shots at the U. That year, Strong also joined the climate change documentary show Years of Living Dangerously as a celebrity correspondent.
