Alie Ward

{{Infobox person

| name =

| image = Alie Ward by Gage Skidmore.jpg

| caption = Ward at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1976|11|6}}

| birthname = Alison Ann Ward

| birth_place = San Francisco, California, U.S.

| alma_mater = University of California, Santa Barbara

| othername =

| occupation = Actress, writer, painter

| yearsactive = 1998–present

| spouse = Jarrett Sleeper (married July 2021 - present)

| website = {{URL|https://www.alieward.com/}}

}}

Alison Ann "Alie" Ward (born November 6, 1976) is an American writer, actress, and television and podcast host. Born in California, Ward graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a degree in cinema. In 2016, she won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing Special Class for the CBS series Innovation Nation. In 2022, the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards named her podcast Ologies “Best Science Podcast”, and the Webby Awards honored Ward as “Best Podcast Host.”{{Cite web |title=2022 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards: See The Full List of Winners |url=https://www.iheart.com/content/2022-02-03-2022-iheartradio-podcast-awards-see-the-full-list-of-winners/ |access-date=2022-03-31 |website=iHeart |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Top Best Host: Podcasts |url=https://winners.webbyawards.com/winners/podcasts/features/best-host?years=0 |access-date=2022-09-14 |website=The Webby Awards |language=en}}

On television, Ward has appeared as a recurring role in Nash Bridges and in several small roles for shows including Grey's Anatomy, King of the Hill, and Comedy Central's Key & Peele. Ward has recorded a number of fan recaps for the ABC series Once Upon a Time, Revenge, and Scandal. She has also illustrated and been a columnist for LA Weekly and cohosted the Netflix show 100 Humans.

Early life

Ward was born Alison Ann Ward in San Francisco, California, to Nancy, an accountant, and Lawrence, a journalist and news broadcaster. She has two older sisters, Celeste and Janelle. Ward moved frequently around northern California during her childhood due to her father's career, living in Tahoe, Sacramento, El Dorado Hills, and Cameron Park before returning to the Bay Area.{{cite news |last1=Ito |first1=Robert |title='Ologies' Host Alie Ward Is Making Science Wonderfully Entertaining |url=https://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/alie-ward-ologies/ |access-date=11 May 2021 |work=Los Angeles |date=February 25, 2021}} When she was 18, she enrolled at University of California, Santa Barbara to study biology, with the intention of pursuing a career in biological illustration. Eventually, she changed her course of study and obtained a degree in cinema at San Francisco State University before moving to Los Angeles. Her father had multiple myeloma.{{cite web |title=Live from Los Angeles: It's the IMF Facebook Comedy Pre-Show Extravaganza |url=https://www.myeloma.org/high-risk-smoldering-trial-launching |website=International Myeloma Foundation |access-date=February 13, 2019}}{{cite tweet |user=alieward |number=922146526876483585 |date=October 22, 2017 |title= My dad has #multiplemyeloma & I'm honored to be part of this benefit. Performing: @kumailn @NikkiGlaser @hannibalburess @marcmaron @iliza ++}}

Career

File:Alie & Georgia at 2015 Taste Awards.jpg at the 6th Annual Taste Awards]]

= Acting, media, and journalism =

While studying cinema in San Francisco, Ward attended an audition for the television series Nash Bridges, which filmed in the area. She was cast as Miranda, a role that recurred for three seasons. After moving to Los Angeles, Ward continued to take television roles but noticed she received mostly "victim"-type roles during a crime show boom, which she developed a distaste for after she was mugged in 2002. She began pursuing painting as a therapeutic hobby and a form of self expression, leading to roles in media, with Ward describing the change as "I felt like I went from not having a voice to having my voice being my identity and my job, which was really gratifying."{{Cite web|url=http://submergemag.com/lifestyle/alie-ward/|title=Renaissance Woman • Alie Ward Finds Her Voice by Celebrating Her Curiosity |work=Submerge |date=23 October 2018 |access-date=April 25, 2020}}

Ward comes from a family of journalists.{{cite web |title=This American Wife |url=http://www.thisamericanwifepodcast.com/index.php?id=46 |access-date=October 18, 2017 |website=www.thisamericanwifepodcast.com}} In late 2005, L.A. Weekly hired her to illustrate the column 24/7 and in early 2006 she was offered a writing assignment to cover a concert. Within a few months, Ward had a weekly nightlife and culture column called The Mental Ward.{{cite web |date=18 April 2007 |title=Alie Ward - Los Angeles News and Events |url=http://www.laweekly.com/authors/alie-ward |access-date=October 18, 2017 |website=L.A. Weekly}} Ward also wrote for the Los Angeles Times{{cite web |title=Alie Ward at L.A. Times |url=http://www.latimes.com/search/dispatcher.front?Query=alie+ward&target=article |access-date=October 18, 2017 |work=Los Angeles Times}} and for Metromix L.A., a website and newspaper owned by the Los Angeles Times,{{Cite web |date=10 July 2007 |title=Metromix Makes Cool Debut |url=https://www.latimes.com/la-mediacenter-2007-0710-story.html |access-date=April 8, 2019 |work=Los Angeles Times}} as well as appearing on-camera for live news segments on KTLA.

Ward's paintings are often acrylic on wood and employ wordplay or are in diptych form, which she calls her "dichotomy series". She likens her painting approach to sign making.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} In 2014, LA Weekly named Ward's Instagram account "Best Looking Instagram".{{cite web |date=August 28, 2013 |title=2013 LA Weekly Web Awards |url=https://www.laweekly.com/lawebawards-the-2013-winners-list/ |access-date=July 2, 2019 |work=LA Weekly}}

=Alie and Georgia=

In early 2009, Ward and her friend Georgia Hardstark created a cocktail called the McNuggetini, drafting plans on the back of a popcorn bag at the L.A. dive bar The Roost.{{cite web |title=Alie Ward on This American Wife podcast |url=http://www.latimes.com/search/dispatcher.front?Query=alie+ward&target=article |access-date=October 18, 2017 |work=Los Angeles Times}} Hardstark blogged about it on the website This Recording.{{cite web |title=In Which Georgia Gives You The McNuggetini - Food - This Recording |url=http://thisrecording.com/2008/04/08/in-which-georgia-gives-you-the-mcnuggetini/ |access-date=October 18, 2017 |website=thisrecording.com}} After the extreme food aggregation website This is why you're fat linked to the recipe, it became virally popular. Hardstark and Ward next shot a short instructional video, directed by friend and director of Key & Peele Peter Atencio, and posted it to YouTube in October 2009. The video became the most watched how-to video at the time with over 10,000 hits per day.{{Cite web |date=July 28, 2013 |title=McNuggetini sparks new career for former EDC resident |url=https://www.mtdemocrat.com/news/mcnuggetini-sparks-new-career-for-former-edc-resident/ |access-date=April 8, 2019 |website=Mountain Democrat}} The pair followed up with two farcical how-to videos for the Ham Daiquiri and a Bloody-Maryesque drink known as the Bloody Bacon & Cheese.{{Cite news |last=Quenqua |first=Douglas |date=December 16, 2009 |title=The McNuggetini's Cult Status Gives Its Makers a Shot at Celebrity |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/fashion/17nuggetini.html |access-date=April 8, 2019 |issn=0362-4331}} Next, Ward and Hardstark began making "Classy Ladies with Alie & Georgia" cocktail videos for Scripps Network and Cooking Channel websites, and appearing on the Cooking Channel travel-dessert show Unique Sweets.{{Citation |title=Classy Ladies |url=http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/shows/classy-ladies |access-date=November 13, 2017}}{{Citation |title=Unique Sweets |url=http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/shows/unique-sweets |access-date=November 13, 2017}}

Ward and Hardstark collaborated on several other projects. Their Feral Audio podcast Slumber Party with Alie & Georgia premiered in 2012 and ran for 93 episodes until its end in 2017.{{Cite web |title=Slumber Party with Alie & Georgia |url=https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/starburns-audio/slumber-party-with-alie-and-georgia |access-date=April 25, 2020}} In June 2013, their travel-food show Tripping Out with Alie & Georgia{{Citation |title=Tripping Out with Alie & Georgia |url=http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/shows/tripping-out-with-alie-and-georgia |access-date=November 13, 2017}} premiered on Cooking Channel. Giada De Laurentiis was an executive producer of the show.{{cite web |date=May 13, 2013 |title=Cooking Channel to Premiere Tripping Out With Alie & Georgia, 6/21 |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/Cooking-Channel-to-Premiere-TRIPPING-OUT-WITH-ALIE-GEORGIA-621-20130513 |access-date=April 25, 2020}} In August 2013, the two appeared in Drunk History for an episode on Lewis and Clark.{{cite web |date=September 27, 2013 |title=Behind the Scenes: Drunk History With Alie & Georgia |url=https://www.lamag.com/digestblog/behind-the-scenes-drunk-history-with-alie-georgia/ |access-date=April 25, 2020 |work=Los Angeles}}

=Pivot into science communication=

Inspired by a visit to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in 2013 that led into a weekly volunteer shift,{{Cite news |last=Chang |first=Alisa |date=2023-09-11 |title=All Things Considered: How a friendly museum tour invite shifted 'Ologies' podcast host Alie Ward's life |work=National Public Radio |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/09/11/1198805465/how-a-friendly-museum-tour-invite-shifted-ologies-podcast-host-alie-wards-life |access-date=2023-09-21}} Ward quit her previous job. She began working in science communications media as a correspondent on the CBS series Innovation Nation, for which she won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing Special Class in 2016.{{cite web|url=http://www.litton.tv/in-the-news-1/2016/5/5/the-henry-fords-innovation-nation-receivers-43rd-annual-daytime-emmy-award-and-multiple-37th-annual-telly-awards|title=The Henry Ford's Innovation Nation Receivers 43rd Annual Daytime Emmy® Award and Multiple 37th Annual Telly Awards|date=May 5, 2016|access-date=April 25, 2020|archive-date=August 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805024419/http://www.litton.tv/in-the-news-1/2016/5/5/the-henry-fords-innovation-nation-receivers-43rd-annual-daytime-emmy-award-and-multiple-37th-annual-telly-awards|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://nationalengineeringforum.com/alie-ward/|title=Life Hacks and Laughs ... a Conversation With Innovation Nation's Alie Ward|access-date=April 25, 2020}} The experience of volunteering at the museum and working in science communication further gave her inspiration for starting her podcast Ologies.

In 2018, she became a regular contributor on the Netflix educational series Brainchild{{cite web|url=https://www.netflix.com/title/80215086|title=Brainchild - Netflix Official Site|website=Netflix |access-date=April 25, 2020}} and began hosting the CW show Did I Mention Invention? With Alie Ward.{{Cite web|url=http://www.onemagnificentmorning.com/programs/did-i-mention-invention/|title=Did I Mention Invention|website=One Magnificent Morning|language=en-US|access-date=April 9, 2019|archive-date=March 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326010935/http://www.onemagnificentmorning.com/programs/did-i-mention-invention/|url-status=dead}}{{Citation|title=Did I Mention Invention?|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt8992416/|access-date=April 9, 2019}}

In 2020, she co-hosted Netflix's first season of the investigative series 100 Humans alongside Sammy Obeid and Zainab Johnson.

=Ologies podcast=

In 2017 Ward began hosting Ologies, a science podcast. Ward interviews a different expert each week, with episodes including topics such as volcanology, primatology, paleontology, gemology, cosmetology, cosmology and horology. The tagline for the show is "Ask smart people stupid questions".{{cite web|url=https://www.alieward.com/ologies/|title=Ologies Podcast|website=alie ward|date=21 June 2023 }} In 2022, the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards named her podcast Ologies “Best Science Podcast”, and the Webby Awards honored Ward as “Best Podcast Host.” In 2024, it won a Shorty Award and Wired included it in their best podcast list.{{Cite web |title=Science & Technology Podcast in Social Media - Shorty Awards |url=https://shortyawards.com/category/16th/science-tech-podcast/ |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=The Shorty Awards |language=en-US}}

Personal life

At the end of a podcast episode in January 2021,{{Cite web|title=Urban Rodentology (Sewer Rats) with Bobby Corrigan|url=https://www.alieward.com/ologies/urbanrodentology|access-date=2021-01-14|website=alie ward|date=12 January 2021 }} Ward shared that she became engaged to her boyfriend of about ten years, Jarrett Sleeper. They were married in July 2021.{{Cite web |last=Ward |first=Alie |date=2022-07-21 |title=This dude! I married @jarrett_sleeper a decade to the day after meeting him, which was one year ago today. [...] |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf2QbqdvGWR/ |access-date=2023-12-14 |website=Instagram}} As of 2021, she lives in Eagle Rock, California.

Filmography

class="wikitable sortable"

! Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

1998

| Nash Bridges

| Miranda

| 9 episodes

1999

| Where's George

| Anita

2001

| Roswell

| Deb

| 2 episodes

2002

| King of the Hill

| Becky

| Episode: "Dang Ol' Love" (uncredited)

2002

| The District

| Mary Sleight

| Episode: "The Second Man"

2003

| 7th Heaven

| Betty

| Episode: "Smoking"

2005

| Grey's Anatomy

| Tina Herman

| Episode: "Something To Talk About"

2006

| Death Ride

| Make-up Girl

2012

| Key & Peele

| Friend

| 1 episode

2012

| Murderbot Productions

| Episode: "Hose the Rose"

2013

|Drunk History

|Herself - Narrator

|Episode: "Nashville"

2017

| Sidekick with Matt Mira

| Guest

| Episode: "Your Host, Steve Agee"

2018

| Don't Go Alone

| The Storyteller

| 3 episodes

2018

| Brainchild

| Science Lady

| 13 episodes

2020

| 100 Humans

| Host

| 8 episodes

References

External links

{{IMDb name|0911358}}
[https://www.alieward.com AlieWard.com]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20160603105121/http://alieandgeorgia.com/ Alie and Georgia], archived 3 June 2016
[https://web.archive.org/web/20111126155528/http://www.food2.com/series/drinks-with-alie-and-georgia Alie and Georgia], food2
[http://www.thehenryford.org/innovationnation Innovation Nation]

Category:1976 births

Category:20th-century American actresses

Category:21st-century American actresses

Category:21st-century American women journalists

Category:21st-century American journalists

Category:21st-century American painters

Category:21st-century American women painters

Category:21st-century American women writers

Category:Actresses from San Francisco

Category:American science communicators

Category:American science podcasters

Category:American television actresses