Known as Ben Stiller, Benjamin Edward Stiller is a well-known comedian, actor, director and producer. Born on 30 November, 1965, in New York, he inherited his comic abilities from his actor parents, comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara.
Stiller is the winner of many awards, including an Emmy Award, a Teen Choice Award and a MTV Movie Award. He starred in the cult classic, Reality Bites (1994), which was also his directorial debut. Other well-known films include Empire of the Sun (1987), There’s Something About Mary (1998), Zoolander (2001), Meet the Parents (2000), Meet the Fockers (2004), Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004) and Night at the Museum (2006).
The younger of two siblings, Stiller has been interested in films since childhood. At 10, he started making films on his Super 8 camera featuring his elder sister, actress Amy Stiller, and her friends. He and his sister were part of show business from childhood as their parents were well-known actors. They often visited the sets and travelled on location.
After graduating from Calhoun School, Stiller enrolled at the University of California as a film student. However, he was more fascinated with the real world of theatre, so he quit UCLA and moved to New York City.
His first break was on Broadway in The House of Blues with actor John Mahoney, for which he won four Tony Awards. During his Broadway performances, Stiller created his first satirical mockumentary based on co-star Mahoney. On finding an encouraging audience in the cast and crew, he made a ten minute spoof of the Martin Scorsese film The Colour of Money starring Tom Cruise, which he called The Hustler of Money. The hit short film was bought and aired on Saturday Night Live.
On the acting front, Stiller got his first small role in Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun. Other films like Stella (1990) and Highway to Hell (1992) followed. Then Stiller saw moderate success with his directorial debut in Reality Bites. Produced by Danny DeVito, the film starred Ethan Hawke, Wynona Ryder and Stiller himself. No box-office wonder, it was well received by critics. His first commercial success was opposite Cameron Diaz in There’s Something About Mary. His ambitious directorial venture, The Cable Guy (1996) with Jim Carrey, did not fare well at the box office. However, Stiller found success with The Ben Stiller Show on Fox for which he won an Emmy Award.
Stiller is married to Christine Taylor and they have two children. Considered “the leader” of the Frat Pack (a group of like-minded veteran actors) Stiller is undoubtedly considered a good actor, but perhaps not part of the big league in Hollywood.
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