In 1993, Amanda Bynes attended a comedy camp, with guest-instructors including Arsenio Hall and Richard Pryor, and began professionally acting at the age of seven, appearing in a television advertisement for Buncha Crunch candies. During her childhood, Amanda Bynes also appeared on stage in versions of Annie, The Secret Garden, The Music Man and The Sound of Music. After taking acting classes, Amanda Bynes became a regular cast member of Nickelodeon's Figure It Out and All That (both in 1996). Amanda Bynes remained a regular cast member on All That until its presumed cancellation in 2000, though Amanda Bynes appeared in the sketches since shooting and preparing as the star of her own sketch show The Amanda Show, also on Nickelodeon. The Amanda Show features a combination of comical skits and sketches, including Amanda Bynes playing Judge Trudy, a judge based on Judge Judy that always rules in kids' favor, and Penelope Taynt, an Amanda-obsessed fan.
Amanda Bynes was born and raised in Thousand Oaks, California, the daughter of Lynn (née Organ), a dental assistant and office manager, and Rick Bynes, a dentist who also practiced stand-up comedy. Amanda Bynes has two older siblings, Tommy (born 1974), a chiropractor, and Jillian (born 1983), who has a B.A. in History from UCLA and has also acted. Amanda Bynes' maternal grandparents are from Toronto, Ontario, Canada and she is of Irish, Polish, Russian and Romanian descent. Her father is Catholic and her mother is Jewish; Amanda Bynes has described herself as Jewish, but has also stated "I haven't decided yet. I don't know yet exactly what I believe".
