Patti Harrison

American comedian and actor Patti Harrison was born in Orient, Ohio. Her father served in the US Army and met her Vietnamese mother during the war. Harrison decided to pursue a career in comedy after performing with an improv team while studying at Ohio University. She first made a name for herself for her appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" (NBC, 2014-) where, as a transgender comedian, she poked fun at the news regarding a ban of transgender people in the US military. Harrison was named one of "10 Comics to Watch for 2019" in Variety magazine. She appeared as a comedian in "Unsend" (Comedy Central, 2017-) and "History of Swear Words (Netflix, 2021). Continuing to get steady work as a comic, host, and actress, she joined the main cast of "Shrill" (Hulu 2019-21) as Ruthie. Behind the camera Harrison was also an accomplished staff writer for the drama series "Dispatches From Elsewhere" (AMC, 2020) and the sketch comedy "I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson" (Netflix, 2019-). She joined the writing staff for the third season of "Big Mouth" (Netflix, 2017-). In 2021 Patti Harrison was recognized as the first known transgender actor to voice a character in a Disney animated film with "Raya and the Last Dragon" (2021).