Jennette McCurdy is an actress and singer from Garden Grove, California. She had a number of small appearances on several television series before being cast as Trisha Kirby, Dustin's mean girlfriend, in an episode of Zoey 101. As Dan was creating the character of Sam Puckett for iCarly, he wrote the character with Jennette in mind. Jennette sings country music and released an EP called "Not That Far Away," along with a self-titled album. She was born on June 26, 1992.