JEFF GARLIN
Date of Birth: June 5, 1962
Born and raised in Chicago, Jeff Garlin later moved with his family to Florida and went on to study filmmaking at the University of Miami. While in college, he began performing stand-up comedy, and eventually moved back to Chicago to study at Chicago's Second City Theatre. He made his big screen debut in 1992 in two films that were shot in the Chicago area: Straight Talk, starring Dolly Parton and James Woods, followed by Hero, starring Dustin Hoffman and Geena Davis. In Robocop 3 (2003), Garlin played the role of "Donut Jerk," followed by Little Big League, in which he played a Little League manager.
Garlin's substantial stand-up experience includes appearances on Late Show With David Letterman, Late Night With Conan O'Brien, and The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. He made guest appearances on TV series such as Baywatch and Roseanne before landing a role in the Disney TV movie remake of The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes. Small roles in more movies followed, but his big break came when he landed a regular role in the hit TV sitcom Mad About You, playing Marvin from 1997 to 1999. He played Cyclops in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) before getting together with Larry David to create the HBO comedy special Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm. Garlin executive-produced the special, as well as taking on the role of Jeff Greene, Larry's self-involved manager. The special led to a weekly series called Curb Your Enthusiasm, which debuted in October 2000. The show won a Golden Globe in 2003.
In addition, Garlin has found the time to play the Emcee in the feature film Bounce (2000) starring Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow, hosted the NBC-TV series Late Friday, co-starred in the ABC-TV sitcom What About Joan, and voiced the character Jeff in Comedy Central's series Crank Yankers. He was hired by Steven Soderburgh to do an impersonation of Harvey Weinstein, the co-owner of Miramax Films in the feature film Full Frontal (2002) when Weinstein turned down the opportunity to appear as himself.
Garlin took on his first co-starring role in a major feature film in Daddy Day Care (2003), opposite Eddie Murphy. He has also appeared onstage in Concentrated, That Jeff Garlin Thing, Uncomplicated and I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With. He studied acting at New York's The Acting Studio and the Piven Theater in Evansville Illinois. Other television credits include Everybody Loves Raymond, King of the Hill and The Michael Richards Show.
Garlin lists "eating puddin' and taking naps" as his main hobbies.