Biography

Ben Stiller was born on November 30, 1965, in New York, New York to legendary comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. It's not surprising that Ben Stiller has followed in his family's footsteps. Ben's parents made no real effort to keep their son away from the Hollywood lifestyle and he grew up among the stars, wondering just why his parents were so popular. At a young age, he and his sister Amy Stiller would perform plays at home, wearing Amy's tights to perform Shakespeare. Ben also picked up an interest in being on the other side of the camera and, at age 10, began shooting films on his Super 8 camera. The plots were always simple: someone would pick on the shy, awkward Stiller...and then he would always get his revenge. This desire for revenge on the popular, good-looking people may have motivated his teen-angst opus Reality Bites (1994) later in his career. He both directed and performed in the film, which costarred Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke.

Before he even got his start in Hollywood, Ben put in several consistently solid years in the theater. After dropping out of UCLA, he performed in the Tony Award winner, "The House of Blue Leaves". While working on the play, Stiller shot a short spoof of The Color of Money (1986) starring him (in the Tom Cruise role) and his "American Playhouse: The House of Blue Leaves (#6.16)" (1987) costar John Mahoney (in the Paul Newman role). The short film was so funny that Lorne Michaels purchased it and aired it on "Saturday Night Live" (1975). This led to Ben spending a year on the show in 1989.

Ben made his big screen debut in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun (1987) in 1987. Demonstrating early on the multifaceted tone his career would take, he soon stepped behind the camera to direct Back to Brooklyn for MTV. The network was impressed and gave Stiller his own show, "The Ben Stiller Show" (1992). He recruited fellow offbeat comedians Janeane Garofalo and Andy Dick and created a bitingly satirical show. MTV ended up passing on it, but it was picked up by Fox. Unfortunately, the show was a ratings miss. Stiller was soon out of work, although he did have the satisfaction of picking up an Emmy for the show after its cancellation.

For a while, Ben had to settle for guest appearance work. While he was doing this, he saved up his cash and in the end was able to scrape enough together to make Reality Bites (1994), now a cult classic which is looked upon favorably by the generation it depicted. Ben continued to work steadily for a time, particularly in independent productions where he was more at ease. However, he never quite managed to catch a big break. His first big budget directing job was Jim Carrey's The Cable Guy (1996). Although many critics were impressed, Jim Carrey's fans were not.

In 1998, There's Something About Mary (1998) had propelled Ben into the mainstream spotlight. With his wince-inducing turn in the Farrelly brothers' gross-out film, Ben really "struck a nerve" with mainstream America. In recent years, Ben has starred in such hit movies as Keeping the Faith (2000) and Meet the Parents (2000). Ben excels at cerebral comedy, but he knows how to get down and lowbrow when he needs to, making him one of America's currently most popular performers.

Career

Produced a short film parody of The Color of Money (1986) entitled "The Hustler of Money" which got him noticed by "Saturday Night Live" (1975) who eventually offered him employment there.
Brother of Amy Stiller.
Engaged to Christine Taylor. [November 1999]
Longtime girlfriend was Jeanne Tripplehorn.
Is a major fan of Tom Cruise and has impersonated Tom for many years. He even portrayed Tom Cruise's fictitious crazed stunt double, Tom Crooze, on 2000 MTV Movie Awards (2000) (TV) on a segment called Mission: Improbable. (This segment is included on the Mission: Impossible II (2000) DVD.) Tom and Ben have been friends ever since 1996.
Appeared in "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (1998) on May 9, 2001 and walked away with $32,000 for Project ALS. He phoned his mother, actress Anne Meara, for help but lost on the question worth $250,000.
Often casts/co-stars with Janeane Garofalo.
Ben and his wife Christine Taylor, have both guest starred on the TV-show "Friends" (1994), though not in the same episode.
Attended UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television.
Daughter, Ella Olivia, born 10 April 2002 in Los Angeles.
Briefly appears in the film clip for the song "Tribute" by Tenacious D, a band that includes fellow actors Jack Black and Kyle Gass. He's one of the people walking past the studio booth in the shopping center.
Ranked #78 in Premiere's 2003 annual Power 100 List. Had ranked #68 in 2002 and #80 in 2001.
His famous parents, Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller, often make cameo appearances in his movies.
Has a Hollywood "clique" of close friends that have often appeared in his movies: Owen Wilson, Jack Black, Kyle Gass and Janeane Garofalo.
Helped Jenifer Estess raised millions of dollars to combat A.L.S. (Lou Gehrig's disease).
His favorite actress of all time is Diane Keaton. He even wrote an article about her for Premiere magazine in 1997.
Frequent co-star of Vince Vaughn, appearing with him in three movies in 2004 alone.
Is a member of, what the media refers to as, "The Frat Pack," along with Will Ferrell, Jack Black, Vince Vaughn, Steve Carell, Owen Wilson, and Luke Wilson. The "Frat Pack" name is a reference to the film, Old School (2003), featuring Vaughn, Ferrell and Luke Wilson, due to the wide number of films featuring the seven actors. Stiller's "Frat Pack" films include Zoolander (2001), Envy (2004), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)..
Is a big fan of "Star Trek" (1966). He named his production company "Red Hour Films" after an alien riot featured in the episode "Star Trek: The Return of the Archons (#1.21)" (1967). Has a humorous, You Tube website "gag" episode of "Star Trek" where he is imitating Shatner's Captain Kirk.
Holds a distinct Razzie Award record - nominated for most titles in one year. He was nominated in 2004 for Worst Actor in five of the six films in which he appeared: Along Came Polly (2004), Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004), Envy (2004)_, and Starsky & Hutch (2004). The only film he was not nominated in for that year was Meet the Fockers (2004).
Has played two very similar characters in the movies Heavy Weights (1995) and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004). In both films he plays an obnoxious, slightly insane and formerly overweight fitness instructor who's hell-bent on getting others into shape, and perhaps also on making other peoples' lives miserable.
Played the part of an arrogant director in Get Shorty (1995), but the scene was cut.
In "The King of Queens: Shrink Wrap (#4.25)" (2002) he played his own real-life father's father.
Hosted the MTV Movie Awards in 1996 along with Janeane Garofalo
He and wife Christine Taylor have both guest-starred on the TV series "Arrested Development" (2003). She played "Sally Sitwell", the love interest of "Michael Bluth" (two episodes) and he played the incompetent magician "Tony Wonder" in the episode "The Sword of Destiny".
Wife Christine Taylor gave birth to their second child, Quinlin Dempsey Stiller, on July 10, 2005, 8 lb. 2 oz. in Los Angeles, California.
One of his first showbiz jobs was working as an intern on the Alan Thicke show "Thicke of the Night" (1983).
Mother is Irish-American.
Was considered for the role of "Willy Wonka" in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).
Revealed in 2005 that he has bipolar disorder and that it runs in his family.
His wife, Christine Taylor, appeared in one episode of "Seinfeld" (1990) as Jerry Seinfeld's girlfriend. His father, Jerry Stiller, had a recurring role on that series as George Costanza's father.
Every so often he and his father enjoy getting together and going to Alaska to fish in the summer.
2007 - Ranked #20 on EW's The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood.
In 2007, Forbes Magazine estimated his earnings for the year to be $38 million.
Along with Kirk R. Thatcher, one of the few actors to give William Shatner the middle finger (jokingly) on screen.
According to Jews Who Rock, a book by Guy Oseary, Stiller was once a drummer in a band called Capital Punishment.
Fractured his hand in a snowboarding accident on Sunday, December 21, 2008 and was taken to New York's Mount Sinai Hospital.
Auditioned for a part in Platoon, even meeting with Oliver Stone.
Admitted in a Playboy Magazine interview that he auditioned for three or four years before he got a part.
Longtime friend of actor Anthony Barrile. They met at 12 years old as members of First All Children's Theatre Company in New York City, where they were among the 'Meri-Mini Players'.
Lives in Los Angeles, California.
Merited a position in Time magazine's - The 100 Most Influential People in the World ("Heroes" category) - with an homage contributed by friend Robert De Niro. [May 10, 2010]
Along with Gerard Butler, Demi Moore, Susan Sarandon, and director Paul Haggis, he visited a camp for internally displaced persons managed by Sean Penn and his Jenkins-Penn Humanitarian Relief Organization in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.