Amy Schumer has described the 2015 film Trainwreck, which takes place in New York, as being heavily influenced by her own childhood.
Amy Schumer grew up in Manhattan, New York City, and Rockville Centre on Long Island. She lived in Manhattan until her father lost his business due to having Multiple Sclerosis. Then the family moved to Long Island but her parents divorced shortly after the move. Her mother had an affair with another man. Schumer lived with her mom after that.
You can read more below about Amy Schumer’s childhood in Manhattan, her parent’s divorce, and her days on Long Island.
Amy Schumer’s Life on the Upper East Side
Amy Schumer was born to Sandra and Gordon Schumer on June 1, 1981. Gordon owned a successful baby furniture store and Sandra was a teacher of the deaf.
The family was wealthy due to the success of Gordon’s furniture store and they lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York. So Amy lived a comfortable life.
One of Amy’s most treasured items from her childhood is her creepy stuffed animal named Pokey. It is a family heirloom that has been passed down from parent to child since 1948.
She gave Pokey to her son Gene after his birth.
Sometime around the age of nine-years-old, her father was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. His health began to deteriorate and he eventually lost his business.
It wasn’t only his business that was lost either. Apparently, they lost everything including the family’s farm which is located in an undisclosed area.
Through her childhood, Schumer didn’t have just her parents and the issues that lay there. She had the support of her younger sister Kim.
She told People about their relationship “She literally keeps me having fun and laughing and feeling grounded. If we didn’t have each other to turn to and say, ‘What are we doing?’… She makes life feel real. I just love her.”
After her father lost his business and the farm, the entire family ended up moving to Rockville Centre on Long Island. This small town is located just outside of New York City.
It was there that things between her parents ended up falling apart completely.
Amy’s Parents Divorce
It seems to be unclear what age Amy Schumer was when her parents divorced. However, from her description of finding out about the divorce in her book The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, it seems that she must have been around 13-years-old.
In her book, Schumer talks about the moment she found out that her parents were divorcing. She said that she came home from school one day to find her mother slumped over on the couch and crying.
When Amy asked her what was wrong, she used sign language to say that she was leaving Amy’s father because she had fallen in love with Lou. Lou was the father of Amy’s best friend.
Schumer then goes on to say that “I was a child, new to my teens, and she was treating me like a seasoned psychiatrist.”
You can watch the below video of Amy Schumer in an interview with Barbara Walters about her comedy career and her family.
In fact, a lot of her book goes on to highlight that she used humor as a way to cope with the tragedy that had befallen her family. Her mother became completely dependent on her for validation over her actions.
Schumer has even stated that her mother manipulated her into blindly supporting her actions. This caused Amy to eventually realize she needed to set boundaries in their relationship.
Amy Schumer on Long Island
While living in Rockville Centre, Amy Schumer attended the South Side High School. She also attended Hebrew School at the Central Synagogue of Nassau County.
In fact, her Rabbi from Hebrew School, Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin, has stated that she was a jokester when she attended classes there. He said she would often ask probing and humorous questions.
Other than this, Amy has said that her parents instilled great confidence in her and that she felt like God’s gift to the world because of them. Often times other kids at school would be confused by her confidence in everything she did.
When graduating from her high school in 1999, she was voted ‘Class Clown’ and ‘Teacher’s Worst Nightmare.’ If you’ve seen her comedy specials, both of these titles are definitely perfect fits.