Curb Your Enthusiasm

Background:

“It used to be that people thought I was Norm from “Cheers” (1982). Ten years ago everyone would say that to me. Then, in the last year, I was at a newsstand in Studio City and I saw George Wendt. He said he had just gone on an audition and they said they were looking for a Jeff Garlin type.” Jeff Garlin

A multi-faceted comedian who also produces, writes, directs, acts and performs stand-up comedy, Jeff Garlin has built a successful career since making his debut at the celebrated Second City comedy troupe in his hometown of Chicago. He is best known for portraying Jeff Greene, Larry David's manager, on the critically acclaimed HBO show “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (2000-2005, also an executive producer and directed an episode in 2001). For his producing effort, Garlin jointly picked up two PGA Golden Laurel Awards, in addition to Emmy nominations. The comic actor also has had recurring roles in “Mad About You” (1997-1999) and “Arrested Development” (2005-2006), as well as appeared as a guest in numerous TV series. On the wide screen, Garlin has acted in supporting or cameo roles in various productions, including Little Big League (1994), Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), Full Frontal (2002), After the Sunset (2004), Fun with Dick and Jane (2005) and more recently, Trainwreck: My Life as an Idiot (2007). He achieved co-star status with Eddie Murphy for the box office hit Daddy Day Care (2003) and made his directorial debut with the romantic comedy I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (2006), where he also took on writing and acting duties. Moviegoers should look forward to Garlin's appearance in the upcoming comedies Strange Wilderness (2007) and The Rocker (2008).

An accomplished comedian, Garlin derives his style of comedy from the comedians of the 60s and early 70s, among them Woody Allen, Michael P. Haase, Shelley Berman, Richard Pryor, and Mort Sahl. He has written and starred in three critically praised solo shows: “I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With,” “Uncomplicated” and “Concentrated.” In 1997, he starred in his own HBO half-hour comedy special.

Outside of the spotlight, Garlin currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Marla, and their two children. His hobbies include eating puddin’ and taking naps.

Chicago Bears Fan

Childhood and Family:

Jeff Garlin was born on June 5, 1962, in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in Chicago and then South Florida. The Nova High School graduate dropped out of the University of Miami, in Miami, Florida, where he studied international law and commerce, in his last semester to pursue his comedy career.

Jeff is married to Marla Garlin and the couple has two kids. He is a fan of the Chicago Bears. In 2006, New York Times Magazine featured a profile of Jeff and reported he deals with a variety of debilitating health problems, including partial complex seizures (a form of epilepsy), sleep apnea, diabetes, and ADD. Before his 38th birthday, Jeff had already suffered a stroke and undergone operations to correct a childhood heart defect and fix back problems originating from an auto accident.

Daddy Day Care

Career:

Chicago native Jeff Garlin became interested in comedy while still a young child and spent time listening to the comedy albums of Woody Allen and Richard Pryor. He, however, did not start his own venture into comedy until college, where he performed stand-up comedy at the University of Miami. After leaving college, Garlin moved back to Chicago where he shared a room with Conan O'Brien for a while and joined the famed Second City comedy troupe. Lured by this extensive comedy experience, he later penned three one-man shows, “I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With,” “Uncomplicated” and “Concentrated,” all of which received rave reviews.

In 1992, Garlin made his feature film acting debut with a bit part in the Dolly Parton comedy vehicle Straight Talk, which he soon followed with a featured role in director Stephen Frears' Hero (1992), which starred Dustin Hoffman and Geena Davis. He then appeared in Robocop 3 (1993) and Little Big League (1994), in which he was cast as the manager of the opponent Little League team. In 1995, Garlin had a part in his first TV film with the Peyton Reed directed The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, playing Agent Reese. He rejoined the director two years later for another television movie, The Love Bug, this time appearing as a highway patrolman. It was also in 1997 that Garlin performed in his own half-hour comedy special on HBO. This gig led to his recurring role as Marvin on the last three seasons of the well-liked NBC series “Mad About You” (1997-1999).

Following small roles in the comedies Senseless (1998) and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), Garlin triumphantly revisited the small screen when he landed the coveted role of Larry David's manager, Jeff Greene, on the HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (2000-2005), from which he shared a 2006 SAG nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. Also an executive producer, he jointly won two PGA Golden Laurels for Television Producer of the Year in Episodic Comedy (2003 and 2005) and received four Emmy nominations in the category of Outstanding Comedy Series and a 2007 PGA Golden Laurel nomination for Television Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Comedy.

Garlin went on to appear in such films as a drama-romance starring Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow called Bounce (2000), the comedy Run Ronnie Run (2002), Steven Soderbergh's Full Frontal (2002), starring David Duchovny, and the blockbuster hit Daddy Day Care (2003), where he costarred with Eddie Murphy. Meanwhile, the actor also hosted the short-lived variety show “Late Friday” (2001), joined the cast of the comedy series “What About Joan” (2001-2002), which also had a short life, and had guest spots on such shows as “Everybody Loves Raymond” (2 episodes, 2001-2003) and “Three Sisters.” His other TV efforts included supplying his vocals for the Comedy Central animated series “Crank Yanker” (2003) and appearing as himself in “Celebrity Poker Showdown” (2004).

Regularly cast in comedy cameos or supporting roles, Garlin next could be seen as Jay Corky in the teen comedy Sleepover (2004), found himself acting with Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek and Woody Harrelson in the action/comedy After the Sunset (2004), and had unaccredited parts in Kenan Thompson's Fat Albert (2004) and the remake Fun with Dick and Jane (2005), starring Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni. He played the recurring role of Mort Meyers in the cult Fox comedy “Arrested Development” from 2005 to 2006 and starred in his own show for TBS titled “The Jeff Garlin Program” (2006).

2006 also saw Garlin make his film directorial debut with I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With, a comedy/romance he wrote and starred in about a man, the food he loves and the woman who torments him. He derived the screenplay from his Second-City inspired one man comedy show of the same name. I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With premiered to good reviews at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. Among his costars in the movies were Sarah Silverman and Bonnie Hunt. The same year, Garlin also provided his vocals for the animated TV film The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 3: The Jerkinators (2006) and appeared in an episode of the short-lived comedy series “Campus Ladies” (2006).

Recently, in 2007, Garlin portrayed Lenny in Trainwreck: My Life as an Idiot, a dramatic comedy directed and scripted by Tod Harrison Williams, based on a book by Jeff Nichols. He also has a supporting part in the comedy Strange Wilderness, which will debut in the UK in 2007 and the US in early 2008. He is now filming the upcoming comedy The Rocker (2008), starring Rainn Wilson, Christina Applegate, Jane Lynch and Emma Stone.

Awards:

• PGA Golden Laurel: Television Producer of the Year in Episodic Comedy, “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” 2005 (shared with Larry David, Robert B. Weide and Tim Gibbons)

• PGA Golden Laurel: Television Producer of the Year in Episodic Comedy, “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” 2003 (shared with Larry David, Robert B. Weide and Tim Gibbons)