Jeff Garlin

Jeff Garlin is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and director best known for playing Jeff Greene on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm. Born June 5, 1962, in Chicago, Illinois, he grew up in Morton Grove and attended the University of Miami before leaving to pursue comedy. He began performing stand-up in Chicago and worked with the city's Second City Theatre, an important training ground for improvisational comedy. Garlin's early professional years included work as a doorman at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles, where he encountered established comedians and developed his own observational, conversational stage style. His comedy often draws on everyday anxiety, aging, family life, social discomfort, and absurdity of minor rules and expectations. Garlin became closely associated with Larry David after being cast as David's manager and friend Jeff Greene in Curb Your Enthusiasm, which premiered in 2000. Greene is married to Susie Greene, played by Susie Essman, and their volatile arguments became a recurring part of the series. Garlin also served as an executive producer on Curb Your Enthusiasm and directed several episodes. In December 2021, HBO announced that he had left the show's final season following an internal investigation into complaints about his behavior on set. Beyond Curb, Garlin provided the voice of Captain B. McCrea in Pixar's WALL-E (2008), the captain of the Axiom, whose dependence on automated life is central to the film's satire. He played Murray Goldberg, the family patriarch on ABC's The Goldbergs, from its 2013 debut through 2022. The sitcom was inspired by creator Adam F. Goldberg's childhood and used a fictionalized version of his family. Garlin also appeared in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and voiced Butter in Toy Story 3 (2010). As a director, he made I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (2006), a Chicago-set independent comedy starring Dan Castellaneta and Sarah Silverman. Garlin directed Dealin' with Idiots (2013), a mockumentary about competitive youth baseball, and starred as Max Morris, a father navigating the sport's intense parental culture. His nonfiction television work includes the IFC series The Zen of Garlin, in which he improvised extended conversations and outings with guests such as Conan O'Brien and Stephen Colbert. He has released stand-up albums including Young and Handsome (2008) and Commerce of the Vince (2010). Garlin also wrote the book Curbing It: How to Lose Weight and Lose Your Mind (2010), describing his experiences with weight loss.