Ben Stiller

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13 Feb 2024

Ben Stiller

Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller, born on November 30, 1965, is an American actor, filmmaker, and comedian. He hails from a family deeply ingrained in the entertainment industry, being the son of comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara.
Stiller gained prominence as a member of the group of comedic actors known as the Frat Pack. His films have collectively grossed over $2.6 billion in the United States and Canada, with an average of $79 million per film. Over the course of his career, he has been recognized with various awards and honors, including an Emmy Award, a Directors Guild of America Award, a Britannia Award, and a Teen Choice Award.

Early in his acting career, Stiller wrote several mockumentaries and hosted a variety sketch comedy series titled The Ben Stiller Show, which aired on MTV from 1990 to 1992. His work on the show earned him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Program. Stiller also made appearances on popular television shows such as Friends, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development, and Extras, garnering critical acclaim and earning Emmy nominations for his guest appearances.

Transitioning into the world of film, Stiller made his directorial debut with Reality Bites and continued to direct and star in various films, including The Cable Guy, Zoolander, Tropic Thunder, and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. He is perhaps best known for his roles in successful studio comedies like There’s Something About Mary, Along Came Polly, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Starsky & Hutch, and Tower Heist. Stiller has also been part of several franchise films, including the Meet the Parents series, the Madagascar franchise, and the Night at the Museum trilogy.

In addition to his work in film, Stiller has ventured into television showrunning in recent years. He directed the Showtime limited series Escape at Dannemora in 2018, earning critical acclaim and nominations for both a Directors Guild of America Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2022, he served as a director and executive producer on the Apple TV+ series Severance, receiving further Emmy nominations for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series.

Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller was born on November 30, 1965, in New York City and grew up on the Upper West Side. His father, Jerry Stiller, was a comedian and actor of Jewish descent, while his mother, Anne Meara, was an actress and comedian from an Irish Catholic background who later converted to Reform Judaism. Though not particularly religious, Stiller's family celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas, and he had a Bar Mitzvah.
Stiller's upbringing was influenced by his parents' show business careers, often accompanying them to sets and television appearances from a young age. His interest in filmmaking began early, and he started making Super 8 movies with his sister, Amy, and friends. Stiller made his acting debut at age 9 on his mother's television series, Kate McShane.

During high school, Stiller was inspired by sketch comedy shows like Second City Television and developed a passion for sketch comedy. He also pursued music, serving as the drummer for the post-punk band Capital Punishment, which released an album in 1982. After graduating from the Calhoun School in New York in 1983, Stiller briefly attended the University of California, Los Angeles, as a film student before returning to New York to focus on his acting career.
In New York, Stiller immersed himself in acting classes, auditions, and the cabaret circuit, performing as an opening act for Jadin Wong. He worked hard to establish himself in the entertainment industry, eventually finding success in both acting and filmmaking.

When Stiller was around 15 years old, he landed a small part with a single line on the television soap opera Guiding Light, although he later admitted his performance was not his best. However, he continued to pursue acting and was cast in a role in the 1986 Broadway revival of John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves, alongside John Mahoney, which received four Tony Awards.
During the Broadway production, Stiller produced a satirical mockumentary with Mahoney as the principal character. His comedic work was well-received, and he followed up with a 10-minute short film titled The Hustler of Money, a parody of Martin Scorsese's The Color of Money, where he spoofed Tom Cruise's character. The short caught the attention of Saturday Night Live, which aired it in 1987 and subsequently offered Stiller a position as a writer two years later.

In the interim, Stiller had a minor role in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun. In 1989, he wrote for and appeared on Saturday Night Live as a featured performer. However, since the show did not want him to continue making short films, he departed after four episodes. Stiller then created Elvis Stories, a short film about a fictitious tabloid focusing on alleged sightings of Elvis Presley. The film featured his friends and co-stars like John Cusack, Jeremy Piven, Mike Myers, Andy Dick, and Jeff Kahn. It was well-received and led him to develop another short film called Going Back to Brooklyn for MTV, which was a music video parody starring comedian Colin Quinn, mocking LL Cool J's hit "Going Back to Cali".

Impressed by the success of Going Back to Brooklyn, producers at MTV offered Ben Stiller a 13-episode show in the experimental "vid-com" format. Titled The Ben Stiller Show, this series blended comedy sketches with music videos and parodied various television shows, music stars, and films. Starring Stiller, along with main writer Jeff Khan and Harry O'Reilly, the show also featured occasional appearances by his parents and sister.

Although The Ben Stiller Show was canceled after its first season on MTV, it led to another opportunity on the Fox Network in 1992. The revamped series aired 12 episodes on Fox, with a 13th unaired episode later broadcast by Comedy Central in a revival. Notable writers on The Ben Stiller Show included Stiller and Judd Apatow, and the ensemble cast featured Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, Andy Dick, and Bob Odenkirk. Denise Richards and Jeanne Tripplehorn also appeared as extras in various episodes.
Despite critical acclaim, The Ben Stiller Show struggled in the ratings throughout its short run. However, it eventually earned an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program" posthumously, recognizing its creative contributions to television comedy.