Elizabeth Littleford (born July 17, 1968) is an American actress and comedian known as an original correspondent on Comedy Central's The Daily Show from 1996 to 2000. She was among the former correspondents recognized when The Daily Show with Jon Stewart received a 2015 institutional Peabody Award.
Littleford's later television roles include Nancy Blaford on the Fox sitcom Method & Red and Ellen Jennings on the Disney Channel series Dog with a Blog. Her film roles include Claire Riley in the 2011 romantic comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Early life
Littleford was born in Nashville, Tennessee, the daughter of Jackie, a professor, and Philip O. Littleford, a cardiologist and inventor. She grew up in Winter Park, Florida and attended the Park Maitland School. Her father and brother died when she was sixteen in a pontoon plane accident during an Alaskan fishing trip.
A National Merit Scholarship Program finalist in high school, she attended Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania for three years before taking up acting classes at New York University; she eventually graduated from The New School for Social Research.
Career
Early in her acting career, Littleford worked in improvisational theatre with Chicago City Limits, wrote and performed the one-woman show This Is Where I Get Off at the Circle Repertory Company, and appeared in the romantic comedy film Picture This.
Littleford was one of the original correspondents on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, appearing during both Craig Kilborn's and Jon Stewart's tenures as host. Her recurring celebrity-interview segments were performed in the style of Barbara Walters. In 1998, Comedy Central aired The Beth Littleford Interview Special, a compilation of her previously shown interview segments. In 1999, Entertainment Weekly described The Daily Show as a launching pad for Littleford and other correspondents, noting that she was expanding her recurring role on Spin City and had appeared in the film Mystery, Alaska. That year, she was also listed among the celebrity participants at Austin's Big Stinkin' International Improv & Sketch Comedy Festival.
Littleford played Nancy Blaford on the 2004 Fox sitcom Method & Red. and the Disney Channel series Dog with a Blog, in which she played Ellen Jennings. and the 2021 film Senior Moment, in which she played Tess Woodson.
Personal life
Littleford lives in Los Angeles. She was married to Rob Fox, a director and producer who worked alongside her on The Daily Show, from 1998 to 2015; they had a son (b. 2005) and an adopted daughter (b. 2012). Fox died in 2017.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
|1998
|'
|Suzanne
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1999
|'
|Lynn Shapiro
|
|-
|Mystery, Alaska
|Janice Pettiboe
|
|-
|Picture This
|Patty
|
|-
|2008
|Drillbit Taylor
|Barbara Drennan
|
|-
|2009
|Veiled
|Marie
|Short
|-
|2011
|Crazy, Stupid, Love
|Claire
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2012
|Music High
|Lucy Bates
|
|-
|Kidnap Party
|Alison Slater
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2013
|It's Not You, It's Me
|Sandy
|
|-
|Movie 43
|Mrs. Cutler
|
|-
|2017
|Random Tropical Paradise
|Martha Crandall
|
|-
| 2018
| I'll Be Next Door for Christmas
| Fran
| Christmas comedy film written and directed by David Jay Willis
|-
|2021
|Senior Moment
|Tess Woodson
|Feature Film - Released theatrically and on demand
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
|1996–2000
|The Daily Show
|Herself
|Original Female Correspondent
|-
|1998–2000
|Spin City
|Deirdre West
|Recurring role
|-
|2001
|Boston Public
|Marcia Fennel
|Episode: "Chapter 24"
|-
| rowspan="4" |2002
|'
|WKZN Philadelphia Anchor Leslie
|Episode: "The U.S. Poet Laureate"
|-
|Still Standing
|Kristy Duncan
|Episode: "Still in School"
|-
|What I Like About You
|Susan
|Episode: "Copy That"
|-
|Andy Richter Controls the Universe
|Reggie Meadows
|Episode: "The Show Might Go On"
|-
| rowspan="2" |2002–03
|Greetings from Tucson
|Marna
|2 episodes
|-
|Life with Bonnie
|Dr. 'Mrs.' Casey
|2 episodes
|-
|2003
|'
|Laurie Laemke
|TV film
|-
|2003–04
|One on One
|Geraldine Murphy
|Recurring role
|-
| rowspan="2" |2004
|Method & Red
|Nancy Blaford
|Main role
|-
|Frasier
|Creationism Date
|Episode: "Match Game" (season 11)
|-
|2005
|Joey
|Carla
|Episode: "Joey and the Premiere"
|-
| rowspan="2" |2006
|Rodney
|Amy O'Brien
|Episode: "Rodney Gets a Leg Up"
|-
|Love, Inc.
|Charlene
|Episode: "Anything But Love"
|-
|2006–12
|Family Guy
|Various (voice)
|Guest role
|-
| rowspan="2" |2007
|Without a Trace
|Diane Neese
|Episode: "Two of Us"
|-
|Ben 10: Race Against Time
|Sandra Tennyson
|TV film
|-
| rowspan="2" |2008
|Samantha Who?
|Audrey Rhodes
|Episode: "The Girlfriend"
|-
|Ben 10: Alien Force
|Sandra Tennyson (voice)
|Episode: "Grounded"
|-
|2009
|Take 2
|Amy
|TV film
|-
|2009–10
|Rules of Engagement
|Laura
|3 episodes
|-
|2009–11
|I'm in the Band
|Beth Campbell
|Recurring role
|-
| rowspan="6" |2010
|StarStruck
|Barbara Olson
|TV film
|-
|CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
|Nurse Mona
|Episode: "Field Mice"
|-
|Ben 10: Ultimate Alien
|Sandra Tennyson (voice)
|Episode: "Hit 'Em Where They Live"
|-
|'
|Tony Kershaw
|Episode: "Get Smarter"
|-
|Neighbors from Hell
|Various (voice)
|Recurring role
|-
|CSI: Miami
|Elena Manus
|Episode: "Sleepless in Miami"
|-
|2010–11
|'
|Suzanne Berger
|Recurring role
|-
|2010–13
|'
|Various (voice)
|Guest role
|-
|2011
|Desperate Housewives
|Dana
|2 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" |2012
|Melissa & Joey
|Suzanne Haber
|Episode: "Good to Go"
|-
|Mad
|Tasha / Various (voice)
|1 episode
|-
|2012–15
|Dog with a Blog
|Ellen Jennings
|Main role
|-
|2013
|'
|Helen
|Episode: "Mindy's Minute"
|-
|2013–14
|Ben 10: Omniverse
|Sandra Tennyson
|Voice, 3 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" |2016
|Mistresses
|Lindsay Lehman
|Episode: "Under Pressure"
|-
|Unwanted Guest
|Anna Roberts
|TV film
|-
|2016–17
|'
|Realtor
|3 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" |2017
|2 Broke Girls
|Bonnie
|Episode: "And the Stalking Dead"
|-
|Liberty Crossing
|Special Agent Margaret Smith
|Episode: "Comfort Zones"
|-
|2018
|My Dead Ex
|Laurel
|Recurring
|-
| rowspan="2" |2019
|Dead to Me
|Doug's Wife
|Episode: "I Can Handle It"
|-
|Home Is Where the Killer Is
|Patricia Wade
|TV film
|-
|2020–21
|Love, Victor
|Sarah
|Hulu Original Series
|}
Podcasts
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
|2018
|Gossip
|Rockin' Robin
|12 episodes
|}