Jennette Michelle Faye McCurdy (born June 26, 1992) is an American actress, screenwriter, producer, singer, and songwriter. She is known for her role as Sam Puckett on the Nickelodeon sitcom iCarly and its spin-off series Sam & Cat. She has also appeared in a number of television series, including Victorious, Zoey 101, True Jackson VP, Malcolm in the Middle, and Lincoln Heights and has also produced, written, and starred in her own online series What's Next for Sarah?. Since May 2015, she has starred in the Netflix / City series Between.

Biography

McCurdy composed an article titled "Off-Camera, My Mom's Fight With Cancer", that was published in the Wall Street Journal on June 11, 2011. It describes in detail her mother Debra's on-going battle with cancer and how her family is coping with the situation. The article also features tips from McCurdy on living with such a situation. On September 20, 2013, her mother died after battling cancer for 17 years.

McCurdy briefly dated NBA player Andre Drummond in September 2013. In March 2014, three personal photos of McCurdy were leaked onto the internet. McCurdy said that the pictures were leaked by Drummond as he had been the only recipient, but Drummond denied leaking the photos.

McCurdy and former iCarly co-star and close friend Miranda Cosgrove were noticeably absent from the 2014 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in an apparent boycott; Sam & Cat won "Favorite Show" and Ariana Grande won "Best Actress", a category for which McCurdy was also nominated. In explaining her absence, McCurdy stated that Nickelodeon put her in an "uncomfortable, compromising, unfair situation" where she had to look out for herself. She said the leaked photos were not an issue. Among various rumors were that McCurdy and Grande were having problems with the network over their respective salaries, and that McCurdy accused Nickelodeon of paying Grande more money; Grande denied this was the case. The network placed Sam & Cat into hiatus. The network initially stated that the hiatus was planned and that the series was not cancelled.

On July 13, 2014, Nickelodeon announced that, after only one season, Sam & Cat was cancelled. For months in between, rumors of a feud between Grande and McCurdy ran high, but these were later proven to be false. The rumors included the possibility that McCurdy was spoofing Grande and their feud with the character of Gloriana in her online series What's Next for Sarah?, but McCurdy later stated this was dramatically exaggerated for comedic effect. In an interview on Entertainment Pop, McCurdy mentioned that she later made up with Grande. She was also among those who gave Grande her condolences when her grandfather died.

Jennette McCurdy attended the 2015 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards where she oversaw Nick Jonas' slime-drinking challenge.