David Schwimmer extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

David Schwimmer
David Schwimmer, 2007
Born	David Lawrence Schwimmer November 2, 1966 (1966-11-02) (age 42) Astoria, New York, U.S.
Occupation	film, television actor film, television director Film producer
Years active	1988-present
Awards won Other awards Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television 2002 Band of Brothers

David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966) is an Emmy-nominated American actor and director for television and film, who gained popularity when playing Ross Geller on the hugely popular American sitcom Friends.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Filmography 5 Awards and nominations 6 Theatre 6.1 Broadway 7 See also 8 Further reading 9 References 10 External links

Early life

Schwimmer was born in Astoria, Queens, New York, the son of attorneys Arlene Colman-Schwimmer and Arthur Schwimmer.¹ He was raised Jewish² and lived in Valley Stream, Long Island until he was two years old. His family subsequently moved to Los Angeles, California, where he attended Beverly Hills High School.

Having attended Northwestern University’s summer “Cherub” program (the National High School Institute) in 1983, he subsequently enrolled at the university as a theater major, joining Delta Tau Delta Fraternity and Arts Alliance in addition to acting and directing. In 1988, along with seven other Northwestern graduates, he co-founded Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre Company.

Career

Schwimmer is best known for his role as paleontologist Dr. Ross Geller in the television sitcom Friends. The program was hugely successful and Schwimmer, along with his co-stars, gained widespread and worldwide recognition among television viewers. He earned an Emmy Award nomination in the “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series” category for the role in 1995. This made him the first cast member of Friends to receive such a nomination. He also dubbed the voice of the giraffe, Melman, in the movie Madagascar.

Aside from acting, he also directed 10 episodes of the series. During the show’s 10-year run, Schwimmer appeared in numerous movies but perhaps gained most recognition outside of Friends playing Captain Herbert Sobel in the dramatic mini-series Band of Brothers. He was the second Friends cast member to host Saturday Night Live in 1995, with all the other main cast members to follow in his footsteps over the rest of the seasons in the '90s, apart from Matt LeBlanc who never hosted.

Schwimmer played himself on the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm. He also appeared in the TV series The Wonder Years as Karen's live-in boyfriend and future husband, Michael.³ In 2005, Schwimmer portrayed the main protagonist in the independent drama Duane Hopwood, and received positive reviews for his role as an alcoholic looking to turn his life around. In 2007, David directed his first film, the British comedy Run, Fat Boy, Run, produced by Robert Jones, where he teamed up with British actor Simon Pegg. The film topped the UK box office in its opening week and remained at the top of the chart for four straight weeks. To date it has earned over £10.5 million. In the United States, the film enjoyed more limited success.

He is currently directing the in-studio segments for Little Britain USA.

Personal life

Schwimmer dated Natalie Imbruglia and Mili Avital, (broke up in 2001)⁴ and Carla Alapont. After they broke up in 2003, he was linked to Emmanuelle Perret amongst others.⁵

He is related to Benji Schwimmer, second season winner of So You Think You Can Dance (America) and Lacey Schwimmer, who made her debut on Dancing with the Stars (U.S. season 7) in 2008.^{citation needed}

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1988	Biloxi Blues	Soldier on Train	Uncredited Role
1991	Flight of the Intruder	Duty Officer
1992	Crossing the Bridge	John Anderson
1993	Twenty Bucks	Neil Campbell
	The Waiter	Evil Waiter
	The Pitch	Vinnie	Short film
1994	Wolf	Cop
1995	The Party Favor		Short film
1996	The Pallbearer	Tom Thompson
1997	Breast Men	Dr. Kevin Saunders
1998	The Thin Pink Line	Kelly Goodish/J.T.
	Kissing a Fool	Max Abbitt
	Six Days Seven Nights	Frank Martin
	Apt Pupil	Edward French
1999	It's the Rage	Chris
2000	Love & Sex	Jehovah's Witness	Uncredited Role
	Picking Up the Pieces	Father Leo Jerome
2001	Hotel	Jonathan Danderfine
2005	Duane Hopwood	Duane Hopwood
	Madagascar	Melman	Voice Role
2006	Big Nothing	Charlie
2008	Nothing But the Truth	Ray Armstrong
	Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa	Melman	Voice Role
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	A Deadly Silence	Robert 'Rob' Cuccio	ABC TV-Movie
1991–1992	The Wonder Years	Michael	Episode: The House That Jack Built Episode: Dinner Out Episode: Stormy Weather Episode: The Wedding
1992–1993	L.A. Law	Dana Romney	Episode: Second Time Around Episode: Love on the Rox Episode: Christmas Stalking Episode: Bare Witness Episode: Hello and Goodbye
1993	NYPD Blue	Josh '4B' Goldstein	Episode: Pilot Episode: 4B or Not 4B Episode: Brown Appetit Episode: True Confessions
	Blossom	Sonny Catalano	Episode: Six and Sonny Episode: Blossom's Dilemma
1994	Monty	Greg Richardson
	Friends	Ross Geller
1995	The Single Guy	Dr. Ross Geller	Episode: Neighbors
1996	ER	Dr. Karubian	Uncredited Role Episode: Doctor Carter, I Presume
1998	Since You've Been Gone	Robert S. Levitt	ABC TV-Movie
2001	Band of Brothers	Captain Herbert Sobel	HBO Miniseries Episode: Currahee Episode: Replacements Episode: Points
2007	30 Rock	Greenzo/Jared	Episode: Greenzo

Awards and nominations

American Comedy Awards

• 1996: Nominated, "Funniest Supporting Male Performer in a TV Series" - Friends (shared w/Matthew Perry)

Blockbuster Entertainment Award

• 1999: Nominated, "Favorite Supporting Actor in a Comedy/Romance" - Six Days Seven Nights

British Independent Film Awards

• 2007: Nominated, "Douglas Hickox Award" - Run Fatboy Run

Emmy Awards

• 1995: Nominated, "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series" - Friends

Razzie Awards

• 1997: Nominated, "Worst New Star" - Friends (shared w/Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow & Matt LeBlanc)

Satellite Awards

• 2002: Won, "Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television" - Band of Brothers

Screen Actors Guild Awards

• 1999: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series" — Friends (shared w/co-stars)
• 2000: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series" — Friends (shared w/co-stars)
• 2001: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series" — Friends (shared w/co-stars)
• 2002: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series" — Friends (shared w/co-stars)
• 2003: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series" — Friends (shared w/co-stars)
• 2004: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series" — Friends (shared w/co-stars)

TV Guide Awards

• 2000: Won, "Editor's Choice" — Friends (shared w/co-stars)

TV Land Awards

• 2006: Nominated, "Most Memorable Kiss" - Friends (shared w/Jennifer Aniston)
• 2007: Nominated, "Break Up That Was So Bad It Was Good" - Friends (shared w/Jennifer Aniston)

Theatre

Broadway

• The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial by Herman Wouk (2006) – Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, New York City – as defense attorney Barney Greenwald (Broadway debut)⁶

See also

• Back Stage West Garland Awards, for his Lookingglass Theatre Company, production of Arabian Nights

Further reading

• Greenstreet, Rosanna (2007-09-08). "Q&A: David Schwimmer", The Guardian. Retrieved on 23 September 2007. 
• Cooper, Tim (2001-11-25). "Friends in high places", The Observer. Retrieved on 20 December 2007. 

References

External links

• Funny Interview with David Schwimmer Director of Run Fatboy Run
• David Schwimmer at the Internet Movie Database
• WVAH Fox11 bio
• Lookingglass Theatre Company

v • d • e Friends Characters Rachel Green · Monica Geller · Phoebe Buffay · Joey Tribbiani · Chandler Bing · Ross Geller Cast Jennifer Aniston · Courteney Cox Arquette · Lisa Kudrow · Matt LeBlanc · Matthew Perry · David Schwimmer Significant episodes The Pilot · The One with the Lesbian Wedding · The One After the Superbowl · The One with the Prom Video · The One Where No One's Ready · The One with the Embryos · The One with Ross's Wedding · The One with All the Thanksgivings · The One After Vegas · The One with the Apothecary Table · The One with the Proposal  · The One with the Rumor · The Last One Joey · Recurring characters · Guest stars · Awards and nominations · Central Perk · "I'll Be There for You" · Quotes · Media