Ben Stiller

Ben Stiller is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and director whose career has moved between television, studio comedies, and more dramatic projects. Born in New York City on November 30, 1965, he grew up in a family of performers: his parents were comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara.

His first major television exposure came through “The Ben Stiller Show,” a Fox sketch series that aired in 1992. Although it lasted only one season, the program won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program. Stiller then appeared in films including “There’s Something About Mary” (1998), where he played Ted Stroehmann, a man whose disastrous high school romance becomes entangled with Cameron Diaz’s Mary.

His breakthrough as a leading comic star came with “Meet the Parents” (2000). As Greg Focker, he played a male nurse trying to win the approval of Robert De Niro’s suspicious former CIA agent, Jack Byrnes. The film became a major commercial success and led to “Meet the Fockers” (2004) and “Little Fockers” (2010).

Stiller also established himself as a filmmaker with “Zoolander” (2001), in which he directed and played Derek Zoolander, a dim celebrity model manipulated into assassinating Malaysia’s prime minister. Its exaggerated fashion satire became especially associated with the fictional “Blue Steel” pose and inspired the sequel “Zoolander 2” (2016).

In Wes Anderson’s “The Royal Tenenbaums” (2001), Stiller took a less broad role as Chas Tenenbaum, a widowed father whose intense concern for his children shapes the film’s family drama. He later portrayed the title character in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (2013), directing the film as well. Walter is a Life magazine photo editor who leaves his routine after a missing negative sends him across Greenland, Iceland, and Afghanistan in search of photographer Sean O’Connell.

Stiller has also worked in ensemble franchises. In the “Night at the Museum” films, he played Larry Daley, a museum security guard who discovers exhibits come alive after dark because of an ancient Egyptian tablet. He also played Tugg Speedman, an overconfident action star, in the 2008 satire “Tropic Thunder,” which he directed and co-wrote with Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen.

Beyond acting, he produced projects and returned to television in “Severance,” serving as executive producer and directing episodes of the Apple TV+ series created by Dan Erickson recently.