Valri Bromfield is a Canadian comedian

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

, actor

Acting

Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....

, writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

, and television producer

Television producer

The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...

 who started her career as one half of a comedy team with Dan Aykroyd

Dan Aykroyd

Daniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...

. Together, they joined the first Toronto company of The Second City

The Second City

The Second City is a improvisational comedy enterprise which originated in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.The Second City Theatre opened on December 16, 1959 and has since expanded its presence to several other cities, including Toronto and Los Angeles...

 where she was one of the original players.

Television appearances

Bromfield was a regular performer on the 1974 The Bobbie Gentry Show

Bobbie Gentry

Roberta Lee Streeter , professionally known as Bobbie Gentry, is a former American singer-songwriter notable as one of the first female country artists to compose and produce her own material...

. She performed stand-up comedy

Stand-up comedy

Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...

 on the first episode of Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

on October 11, 1975. After being introduced by Don Pardo

Don Pardo

Dominick George "Don" Pardo is an American radio and television announcer. He is best known as the voice of the long-running late night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live....

, her monologue began:

I don't look like a comedian, do I? (starts talking rapidly like a strict school teacher) That's because I'm not, I'm a school teacher, and I'm going to need a lot of silence in this room if I'm going to talk. (claps three times) People people people, please please, people people, am I in a zoo?! All right people, let's bring you out of the suburbs and into the city. I'd like to have a few words with you. (casually bites her pinky finger nail) Okay, okay, people...now...today we have a big volleyball game ahead of us, people, and as you know the principal is counting on us winning the cup.

She also appeared on another SNL episode in 1978. In 1979 she played "Mary Mary" on the ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 series Angie

Angie (TV series)

Angie is an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast by the ABC network from February 1979 until October 1980.-Premise:Philadelphia coffee shop waitress Angie Falco starts a romance with customer Bradley Benson...

. In 1980, she appeared as the character of "Debbie Smith" on The David Letterman Show

The David Letterman Show

The David Letterman Show was a live morning NBC talk show hosted by David Letterman from June 23 to October 24, 1980. The show originally ran for 90 minutes, then 60 minutes from August 4 onward.-Background:...

. She played "Laney Gibbs" in Best of the West

Best of the West

Best of the West is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 1981 through August 1982.-Synopsis:The Old West spoof featured the misadventures of Sam Best, a Civil War veteran who becomes a marshal in Copper Creek after accidentally scaring off an incompetent gunfighter called the Calico...

in 1981 and appeared on six episodes of SCTV

Second City Television

Second City Television is a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's The Second City troupe that ran between 1976 and 1984.- Premise :...

between 1983-1984. In 1984, she appeared on nine episodes of The New Show

The New Show

The New Show was a NBC sketch comedy show produced by Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels, which ran for only one season from January 6 to March 23, 1984. Apart from being 60 minutes in length and entirely pre-recorded, the show is similar in format to SNL...

, another NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 sketch comedy

Sketch comedy

A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...

 show produced by Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels

Lorne Michaels

Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...

.

In 1993, she appeared as herself on Friends of Gilda

Friends of Gilda

Friends of Gilda was a 1993 ninety-minute television special made by CBC Television to benefit the Genesis Research Foundation, the research fundraising arm of the University of Toronto’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology...

. As the character "Faith Burdette", Bromfield appeared on nineteen episodes of Grace Under Fire between 1993 and 1995. In 1995, she appeared on Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater.

Bromfield appeared on the CBC

CBC Television

CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...

's 90 Minutes Live

90 Minutes Live

90 Minutes Live was a Canadian television late-night talk show, which aired on CBC Television from 1976 to 1978. The program aired weekday evenings at 11:30 p.m....

on the BCTV

CHAN-TV

CHAN-DT is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, broadcasting over-the-air on digital channel 22, and available via cable providers in the area on channel 11. Owned by Shaw Communications as a part of its Shaw Media division, it is the West Coast flagship station of the...

show Zig Zag

Zig Zag (Canadian TV series)

Zig Zag was a Canadian children's TV series produced by BCTV in Vancouver, British Columbia from 1980-1988. Among the hosts of the series were Terry David Mulligan, Susanne McLellan, Valri Bromfield, Mairlyn Smith, Bill Reiter, and Rick Ducommun. Norm Grohmann, Nicola Cavendish, and Ryan Stiles...

, both in her native Canada.

Film appearances

Her film credits include the role of "Doris" in the 1983 movie Mr. Mom

Mr. Mom

Mr. Mom is a 1983 American comedy-drama film directed by Stan Dragoti and written by John Hughes about a stay-at-home dad. The film stars Michael Keaton, Teri Garr, Jeffrey Tambor, Christopher Lloyd, and Martin Mull.-Plot:...

, the role of "Belle Haimes" in the 1987 movie Home Is Where the Hart Is

Home Is Where the Hart Is

Home Is Where The Hart Is is a 1987 American film. It stars Leslie Nielsen, Eric Christmas, and Martin Mull....

, the role of "Detective Casey" in the 1989 movie Who's Harry Crumb?

Who's Harry Crumb?

Who's Harry Crumb? is a comedy-mystery film featuring John Candy as the title character.Paul Flaherty directed the film, which co-stars Annie Potts, Jeffrey Jones and Shawnee Smith...

, the role of "Miss Purdah" in the 1991 movie Nothing but Trouble, the role of "Brandy" in the 1992 movie Caged Fear, the role of Dawny in the 1992 movie This Is My Life

This is My Life (film)

This Is My Life is a 1992 film that marked the directorial debut of screenwriter Nora Ephron. The screenplay, written by Ephron and her sister, Delia Ephron, is based on the book, This Is Your Life, by Meg Wolitzer. The film tells the story of Dottie Ingels , who works at a cosmetics counter but...

, and the role of Wilma Jerzyck in the 1993 movie Needful Things

Needful Things

Needful Things is a 1991 horror novel by American author Stephen King. According to the cover, it is "The Last Castle Rock Story." However, the town later served as the setting for the short story "It Grows on You," published in King's 1993 collection Nightmares and Dreamscapes which, according to...

(1993).

Voice acting

As a voice actor, she made her animation debut in the 1974 television movie

Television movie

A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...

 The Gift of Winter. A Halloween

Halloween

Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...

-themed sequel four years later that was titled Witch's Night Out

Witch's Night Out

Witch's Night Out is an animated television Halloween special that premiered on NBC October 27, 1978, but was shot in a Toronto studio. It was the sequel to the 1974 special The Gift of Winter with the vocal talents from Dan Aykroyd and Vlari Bromfield...

. Bromfield was the voice of "Honey Bunny Funnybunny" on an ABC Weekend Special

ABC Weekend Special

The ABC Weekend Special is a weekly 30-minute anthology TV series for children that aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1977 to 1997. It featured a wide variety of stories that were both live-action and animated....

 in 1994 based on the works of Marilyn Sadler

Marilyn Sadler

Marilyn Sadler is a children's writer with a deadpan sense of humor. She was born November 17. One of her best known works was made into a television movie, under the title Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century...

. She voiced "Nurse Molly" on Camp Candy

Camp Candy

Camp Candy was a 1989-1992 animated television series produced by DiC Entertainment, with comedian John Candy providing the voice for an animated version of himself.-Overview:The show was set in a fictional summer camp run by Candy...

and has provided voices for Popples

Popples

Popples is a series of fantasy characters created by Those Characters From Cleveland , a subsidiary company of American Greetings. Popples resemble brightly colored teddy bears or marsupials , and have pouches on their backs that they can go into and resemble brightly colored balls.-History:Susan...

, Animaniacs

Animaniacs

Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as simply Animaniacs, is an American animated series, distributed by Warner Bros. Television and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of Steven...

, Tiny Toon Adventures

Tiny Toon Adventures

Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures, usually referred to as Tiny Toon Adventures or simply Tiny Toons, is an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. It began production as a result of Warner Bros....

, Superman: The Animated Series

Superman: The Animated Series

Superman: The Animated Series is an American animated television series starring DC Comics' flagship character, Superman. The series was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on The WB from September 6, 1996 to February 12, 2000. Warner Bros...

and other animated shows.

Other credits

In the early 1990s, Bromfield served as a co-producer on Going Places. She was also a supervising producer on The Kids in the Hall

The Kids in the Hall

The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy group formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson. Their eponymous television show ran from 1988 to 1994 on CBC in Canada, and 1989 to 1995 on CBS and HBO in the United States...

. Bromfield has been credited as a writer on a number of shows in which she has appeared and other television shows such as That Thing (1978) and Space Cases

Space Cases

Space Cases is a science fiction television series that aired on Nickelodeon for two seasons. Created by Peter David and Bill Mumy, it premiered on March 2, 1996, and was cancelled a year later. It aired for a time on Nickelodeon's Saturday night block of shows known as SNICK, and on Nickelodeon...

(1996).

Family

Her sister, Lois Bromfield

Lois Bromfield

Lois Bromfield is a Canadian comedic actor, writer, and television producer with a long list of credits including Roseanne, Grace Under Fire, The Jackie Thomas Show, and The New Hollywood Squares...

, is also a comedic actor, writer, and producer with a long list of credits.

External links