{{Short description|American television writer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}} {{Infobox writer | embed = | honorific_prefix = | name = Bess Kalb | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | pseudonym = | birth_name = Bess Bell Kalb | birth_date = | birth_place = New York City | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | death_place = | resting_place = | occupation = {{hlist|Author|television writer}} | language = | residence = | nationality = | citizenship = | education = Brown University | alma_mater = | home_town = | period = | genre = Comedy | subject = <!-- or: | subjects = --> | movement = | notable_works = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | years_active = | module = | homepage = {{URL|www.besskalb.com/}} }}
'''Bess Kalb''' is an American Emmy Award-nominated writer for the ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' television show and journalist with ''The New Yorker'' magazine. She is the author of the best-selling book ''Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A True (As Told to Me) Story'', which recounts the life of her grandmother, Bobby Bell.
==Early life== Kalb was raised in Manhattan and Westchester.<ref name="The Ledger">{{cite news |last1=Buckholtz |first1=Alison |title=Book review: Kalb spans generations with touching memoir |url=https://www.theledger.com/entertainment/20200329/book-review-kalb-spans-generations-with-touching-memoir |accessdate=April 25, 2020 |work=The Ledger |date=March 29, 2020}}</ref><ref name="The Spiel">{{cite news |last1=Leach|first1=Samantha|title=Bess Kalb Almost Looked Like The Long Island Lolita At Her Bat Mitzvah |url=https://samanthaleach.substack.com/p/bess-kalb-almost-looked-like-the |accessdate=January 23, 2021 |work=The Spiel |date=December 29, 2020}}</ref> She later moved to San Francisco, California<ref name="LA Magazine">{{cite news |last1=Eber |first1=Hailey |title=TV Writer Bess Kalb Turned Her Grandmother's Hilarious Voicemails Into a Family History |url=https://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/bess-kalb-nobody-will-tell-you-this-but-me/ |accessdate=April 25, 2020 |work=LA Magazine |date=February 27, 2020}}</ref> where she contributed articles to ''Wired'', GQ.com, ''The New Republic'', GOOD, Salon.com and other publications. In 2012, Kalb moved to Los Angeles to begin a comedy career.<ref name="Portland Mercury">{{cite news |last1=Moore |first1=Jenni |title=The Best Things to Do (While Staying Home and Staying Safe) in Portland: Tues April 21 |url=https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2020/04/21/28316957/the-best-things-to-do-while-staying-home-and-staying-safe-in-portland-tues-april-21 |accessdate=April 25, 2020 |work=Portland Mercury |date=April 21, 2020}}</ref>
==Career== Kalb began writing comedy for ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' in 2012;<ref name="LA Times" /> the show airs on the ABC Network. In addition, she wrote for the 2012 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony with Kimmel as the host.<ref name="Variety 2">{{cite news |last1=Kroll |first1=Justin |title=Elizabeth Chomko to Direct Bess Kalb's 'Nobody Will Tell You This But Me' |url=https://variety.com/2020/film/news/elizabeth-chomko-bess-kalb-nobody-will-tell-you-this-but-me-1234576416/ |accessdate=April 26, 2020 |work=Variety |date=April 9, 2020}}</ref>
In 2013, she was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series for her work alongside the rest of the writing team of ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' including Tony Barbieri, Jonathan Bines, Joelle Boucai, Gary Greenberg, Sal Iacono, Eric Immerman, Josh Halloway, Jimmy Kimmel, Jeff Loveness, Molly McNearney, Bryan Paulk, Danny Ricker and Rick Rosner.<ref name="Emmy">{{cite web |title=65th Emmy Awards Nominees and Winners |url=https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2013/outstanding-writing-for-a-variety-series |website=www.emmys.com |accessdate=April 25, 2020}}</ref>
Three years later, with Kimmel once again hosting the Primetime Emmy Awards, Kalb was part of the writing team.<ref name="IMDB">{{cite web |title=Bess Kalb Writer |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5402867/ |website=IMDB |accessdate=April 26, 2020}}</ref> Her work with ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' earned her a Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Comedy-Variety Talk Series that year as well.<ref name="Variety">{{cite news |last1=McNary |first1=Dave |title=WGA Honors 'Big Short,' 'Spotlight,' 'Mad Men' at 68th Awards |url=https://variety.com/2016/film/awards/wga-awards-winners-writers-guild-america-1201705269/ |accessdate=April 26, 2020 |work=Variety |date=February 13, 2016}}</ref>
Working with Hillary Clinton, Kalb wrote for the Senator's Al Smith Dinner speech in February 2016.<ref name="LA Magazine 2">{{cite news |last1=Stein |first1=Joel |title=The Day Cancel Culture Was Canceled |url=https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/cancel-culture-canceled/ |accessdate=April 25, 2020 |work=LA Magazine |date=February 14, 2020}}</ref>
On May 28, 2017, Kalb's politically-themed tweets gained the attention of President Donald Trump, who blocked her account from his Twitter feed.<ref name="CNN">{{cite news |last1=France |first1=Lisa |title=Kimmel writer fires off scathing tweets at senators who accept NRA contributions |url=https://money.cnn.com/2018/02/15/media/bess-kalb-kimmel-gop-shooting/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215191858/http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/15/media/bess-kalb-kimmel-gop-shooting/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 15, 2018 |accessdate=April 25, 2020 |work=CNN.com |date=February 22, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Wired">{{cite magazine |last1=Feinberg |first1=Ashley |title=A Running List of People Donald Trump Has Blocked on Twitter |url=https://www.wired.com/story/donald-trump-twitter-blocked/ |accessdate=April 25, 2020 |magazine=Wired |date=June 14, 2017}}</ref>
In 2018, Kalb did a stand-up comedy routine introducing Hillary Clinton at a fundraiser for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense and then-candidate Lucy McBath (now a congresswoman).<ref name="Paste">{{cite news |last1=Bornstein |first1=Zack |title=The 28 Best Comedy Writers of the Year Who Will Die in Global Warming-Related Catastrophes |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/comedy/global-warming/the-28-best-comedy-writers-who-will-die-in-global/#bess-kalb-bessbell- |accessdate=April 26, 2020 |work=Paste Magazine |date=January 11, 2019}}</ref>
On March 17, 2020, Kalb released her first book, ''Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A True (As Told to Me) Story'', from Knopf. The book tells the story of her grandmother, Bobby Bell, from her own mother's migration from Russia, her birth on a kitchen table in a Brooklyn tenement, to her life in upscale New York suburbs of Westchester<ref name="NY Times">{{cite news |last1=Popkey |first1=Miranda |title=The Ghost Writer: An Author Imagines a Letter From Her Late Grandmother |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/books/review/bess-kalb-nobody-will-tell-you-this-but-me.html |accessdate=April 24, 2020 |work=New York Times |date=March 17, 2020}}</ref> to her death at age 90. Kalb adds her own comedic observations of their relationship from their conversations and voicemails.<ref name="LA Times">{{cite news |last1=Barton |first1=Chris |title=Bess Kalb channels her bubbeh |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2020-03-20/bess-kalb-q-a |accessdate=April 24, 2020 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=March 20, 2020}}</ref>
''Nobody Will Tell You This But Me'' was ranked No. 8 on the American Booksellers Association Indie Bestseller Hardcover Non-Fiction list.<ref name="Bookweb">{{cite web |title=Best-seller List for April 8, 2020 |url=https://www.bookweb.org/indie-bestseller-lists/april-8-2020 |website=www.bookweb.org |accessdate=April 24, 2020}}</ref>
The audiobook is narrated by the author and produced by Random House Audio.
The film rights for the book were optioned by Sight Unseen Pictures, with Elizabeth Chomko (''What They Had'') set to direct. Kalb will write the screenplay.<ref name="Deadline">{{cite news |last1=N'Duka |first1=Amanda |title='What They Had' Helmer Elizabeth Chomko To Direct 'Nobody Will Tell You This But Me' Adaptation For 'Bad Hair' Producer |url=https://deadline.com/2020/04/what-they-had-elizabeth-chomko-nobody-will-tell-you-this-but-me-sight-unseen-1202905152/ |access-date=April 24, 2020 |work=Deadline Hollywood |date=April 9, 2020}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalb, Barbara}} Category:1987 births Category:Living people Category:American women television writers Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners Category:American television writers Category:Writers from Manhattan Category:Brown University alumni Category:21st-century American screenwriters Category:Comedians from Manhattan Category:Screenwriters from New York City Category:21st-century American women writers