Fans of iCarly alum Jennette McCurdy might already be familiar with her relationship to her mother, following the 2022 release of McCurdy’s provocatively titled memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died.
The memoir — which followed McCurdy’s retirement from acting to pursue writing and editing — goes into depth about the Nickelodeon star’s childhood, including the trauma and dysfunction she suffered at the hands of her now-deceased mother, Debra McCurdy.
Though he is not the sole subject of the memoir, McCurdy’s father also features in I’m Glad My Mom Died, but the identity of her dad was once a mystery, even to the actress herself.
Who is Jennette McCurdy’s dad?
For most of her childhood, McCurdy was raised by Mark McCurdy, whom she believed to be her biological father. Much like with her mother, McCurdy appears to have a strained relationship with Mark, making mention of his dysfunctional parenting style in the memoir and telling Buzzfeed that she didn’t “have much respect for [Mark’s] approach” to fatherhood.
Mark remained a figure in McCurdy’s life despite their tumultuous relationship, but she would soon discover that he was not, in fact, her biological father, following Debra’s death from cancer. McCurdy was told the revelation during a conversation with Mark, and while she tried to maintain a relationship with him afterwards, she accepted that there was “no connection” and ultimately let the relationship “dissolve”, McCurdy explained on the Drew Barrymore Show.
After hearing the shocking news, McCurdy set out to find her biological father, whom she believed to be a local jazz musician. It was one of the men Debra had an affair with during her marriage to Mark. His identity has never been officially revealed, though some theories believe McCurdy’s biological father is named Andy Martin. After tracking him down, McCurdy maintained a relationship with her biological father for around five months, but it ultimately dissolved.
“It got to a place where that one felt a little strange also,” McCurdy told Barrymore. There’s been no updates around the more recent status of McCurdy’s relationship with her father, but she did sign a two-book, seven-figure deal with Penguin Random House in 2024. Maybe there’ll be more clues once those memoirs arrive.
