SHORT BIO:
ANNABELLE GURWITCH is a New York Times bestselling author of six books, and two-time Thurber Prize finalist whose books include You're Leaving When? a Thurber Prize Finalist and a New York Times Favorite Book for Healthy Living and the New York Times Bestseller I See You Made an Effort. Her writing appears in The New Yorker, New York Times, Washington Post, Hadassah Magazine, and The Boston Globe amongst other publications. Gurwitch was the longtime co-host of Dinner & a Movie on TBS, an NPR commentator, she was in too many tv shows and movies to name, but she fell into a coma on Seinfeld, didn't die in Michael Bay's Ambulance, she made Candace Bergen's Top 3 list of fired secretaries on Murphy Brown, and as Rabbi Gurwitch on Better Things, she Bat Mitzvahed Academy Award winner Mikey Madison. She performs with The Moth Mainstage and serves as a patient advocate at scientific conferences around the globe. Gurwitch is an unrepentant cat lady, a terrible ukulele player, who lives in Los Angeles.
Her latest memoir which was published in March, The End of My Life is Killing Me, is a national bestseller.
LONGER BIO:
ANNABELLE GURWITCH is an actress, activist, and New York Times Bestselling author. Her 2021 collection of essays, You're Leaving When? Adventures in Downward Mobility was a New York Times Favorite Book for Healthy Living, a Good Morning America Must Read and a finalist for The Thurber Prize for American Humor Writing 2022. "harnessing resilience and learning how life’s disappointments can teach you about the things that matter most” (Tara Parker Pope, NYTimes).
She's written for The New Yorker, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Magazine, Boston Globe, and Hadassah amongst other publications. Her six books include the New York Times bestseller and Thurber Prize finalist I See You Made an Effort. She's written and developed adaptations of her books for HBO, F/X, Hallmark, NBC, Lifetime networks.
She was the longtime cohost of the fan favorite "Dinner & a Movie" on TBS and a regular commentator on NPR. She's performed on the Moth Mainstage, Joe's Pub, at Carolines on Broadway, The New York and Aspen Comedy Fests, many plays Off-B'way and at arts centers around the country. Her acting credits include: "Seinfeld,""Murphy Brown,""Boston Legal," and "Dexter." Once in while she returns to acting playing Rabbi Gurwitch on "Better Things" on FX or a therapist for an FBI agent in Michael Bay’s "Ambulance."
In 2024, she returned to Off-B'way to portray Parkland teacher Ivy Schamis in Room 1214 a play by Michele Kholos Brooks based on Interviews with Schamis, who survived the massacre.
Annabelle has been profiled in the New York Times, Washington Post amongst other publications. Time Magazine featured Annabelle in their “Ten Ideas that are Changing the World” annual series. Her media appearances include: GMA, The Today Show, Real Time with Bill Maher, CBS Early Morning, Oprah, PBS Newshour, and many CNN, MSNBC programs. Annabelle is honored to be featured as a member of the Shalom Y'all tribe and a Southern Jewish author alongside Tony Kushner and Lillian Hellman in the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience in New Orleans.
Annabelle has been chronicling living with stage 4 lung cancer and inequities in healthcare she announced her out-of-the-blue diagnosis during covid diagnosis in The New York Times and on Good Morning America. Since then,she's chronicled her experiences in treatment with precision medications in the New York Times, Boston Globe,and Washington Post. She's given patient advocate talks at scientific conferences and patient support groupd around the globe including in Vienna, Rome, Singapore, Barcelona,and Brisbane. In 2023 she received a Patient Advocate Award from the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC)and she is currently serving in leadership in the IASLC.
She's guest lectured,taught essay writing and storytelling at The School of the New York Times, University of CA Redlands graduate writing program, Miami Dade Community College, Thurber House, George Washington U, Maine Media College, and The Erma Bombeck Writers Conference, University of Dayton, Ohio, and at The Canyon Ranch in Arizona. She leads writing workshops for people in treatment.
Annabelle hosts Ask Me Anything about Living with Lung Cancer, a podcast aimed to provide and inspire candid conversations about issues including communication with doctors and strategies for cultivating joy while coping with long-term treatment. She mentors patients one-on-one through Imermans Angels and she recieved the 2026 Gilda Award from the Cancer Support Community, Los Angeles.
Her greatest pleasure comes from her engagement with The Campfire Project which sponsors writing workshops and therapeutic arts programming for young migrants seeking asylum.
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THE END OF MY LIFE IS KILLING ME Press Release + Advance Praise
Praise for The End of My Life is Killing Me:
“The End of My Life is Killing Me has wit sharp enough to cut through sentimentality and honesty that refuses to look away. Part memoir, part laugh-out-loud commentary on the absurd and irritating realities of life and death, it’s a reminder that even in our darkest hours, we can choose what to notice, what to celebrate, and how to live.”
—Gretchen Rubin, New York Times Bestselling author of The Happiness Project
“You will fall in love with Annabelle Gurwitch’s smart, affirming, funny, and wise approach to embracing life fully…A delight to read that will also leave you deeply moved.”
—Susan Orlean, author of the New York Times bestselling The Library Book
"Gurwitch is at her most fearless—witty, skeptical, and wide awake to the absurdities of being alive."
—Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
