Ben Stiller was born on November 30, 1965, in New York, New York to legendary comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. It's not surprising that Ben Stiller has followed in his family's footsteps. Ben's parents made no real effort to keep their son away from the Hollywood lifestyle and he grew up among the stars, wondering just why his parents were so popular. At a young age, he and his sister Amy Stiller would perform plays at home, wearing Amy's tights to perform Shakespeare. Ben also picked up an interest in being on the other side of the camera and, at age 10, began shooting films on his Super 8 camera. The plots were always simple: someone would pick on the shy, awkward Stiller...and then he would always get his revenge. This desire for revenge on the popular, good-looking people may have motivated his teen-angst opus Reality Bites later in his career. He both directed and performed in the film, which costarred Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke.

Before he even got his start in Hollywood, Ben put in several consistently solid years in the theater. After dropping out of UCLA, he performed in the Tony Award winner, "The House of Blue Leaves". While working on the play, Stiller shot a short spoof of The Color of Money starring him (in the Tom Cruise role) and his The House of Blue Leaves costar John Mahoney (in the Paul Newman role). The short film was so funny that Lorne Michaels purchased it and aired it on Saturday Night Live. This led to Ben spending a year on the show in 1989.

Ben made his big screen debut in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun in 1987. Demonstrating early on the multifaceted tone his career would take, he soon stepped behind the camera to direct Back to Brooklyn for MTV. The network was impressed and gave Stiller his own show, The Ben Stiller Show. He recruited fellow offbeat comedians Janeane Garofalo and Andy Dick and created a bitingly satirical show. MTV ended up passing on it, but it was picked up by Fox. Unfortunately, the show was a ratings miss. Stiller was soon out of work, although he did have the satisfaction of picking up an Emmy for the show after its cancellation.

For a while, Ben had to settle for guest appearance work. While he was doing this, he saved up his cash and in the end was able to scrape enough together to make Reality Bites, now a cult classic which is looked upon favorably by the generation it depicted. Ben continued to work steadily for a time, particularly in independent productions where he was more at ease. However, he never quite managed to catch a big break. His first big budget directing job was Jim Carrey's The Cable Guy. Although many critics were impressed, Jim Carrey's fans were not.

In 1998, There's Something About Mary had propelled Ben into the mainstream spotlight. With his wince-inducing turn in the Farrelly brothers' gross-out film, Ben really "struck a nerve" with mainstream America. In recent years, Ben has starred in such hit movies as Keeping the Faith and Meet the Parents. Ben excels at cerebral comedy, but he knows how to get down and lowbrow when he needs to, making him one of America's currently most popular performers.


Little Fockers (2010): $20,000,000
Greenberg (2010): $6,000,000
Zoolander (2001): $2,500,000
There's Something About Mary (1998): $3,000,000

Produced a short film parody of The Color of Money (1986) entitled "The Hustler of Money" which got him noticed by "Saturday Night Live" (1975) who eventually offered him employment there. Engaged to Christine Taylor. [November 1999] Is a major fan of Tom Cruise and has impersonated Tom for many years. He even portrayed Tom Cruise's fictitious crazed stunt double, Tom Crooze, on 2000 MTV Movie Awards (2000) (TV) on a segment called Mission: Improbable. (This segment is included on the Mission: Impossible II (2000) DVD.) Tom and Ben have been friends ever since 1996. Often casts/co-stars with Janeane Garofalo. Attended UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television. Briefly appears in the film clip for the song "Tribute" by Tenacious D, a band that includes fellow actors Jack Black and Kyle Gass. He's one of the people walking past the studio booth in the shopping center. His famous parents, Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller, often make cameo appearances in his movies. Helped Jenifer Estess raised millions of dollars to combat A.L.S. (Lou Gehrig's disease). Frequent co-star of Vince Vaughn, appearing with him in three movies in 2004 alone. Is a big fan of "Star Trek" (1966). He named his production company "Red Hour Films" after an alien riot featured in the episode "Star Trek: The Return of the Archons (#1.21)" (1967). Has a humorous, You Tube website "gag" episode of "Star Trek" where he is imitating Shatner's Captain Kirk. Has played two very similar characters in the movies Heavy Weights (1995) and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004). In both films he plays an obnoxious, slightly insane and formerly overweight fitness instructor who's hell-bent on getting others into shape, and perhaps also on making other peoples' lives miserable. In "The King of Queens: Shrink Wrap (#4.25)" (2002) he played his own real-life father's father. He and wife Christine Taylor have both guest-starred on the TV series "Arrested Development" (2003). She played "Sally Sitwell", the love interest of "Michael Bluth" (two episodes) and he played the incompetent magician "Tony Wonder" in the episode "The Sword of Destiny". One of his first showbiz jobs was working as an intern on the Alan Thicke show "Thicke of the Night" (1983). Was considered for the role of "Willy Wonka" in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). His wife, Christine Taylor, appeared in one episode of "Seinfeld" (1990) as Jerry Seinfeld's girlfriend. His father, Jerry Stiller, had a recurring role on that series as George Costanza's father. 2007 - Ranked #20 on EW's The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood. Along with Kirk R. Thatcher, one of the few actors to give William Shatner the middle finger (jokingly) on screen. Fractured his hand in a snowboarding accident on Sunday, December 21, 2008 and was taken to New York's Mount Sinai Hospital. Admitted in a Playboy Magazine interview that he auditioned for three or four years before he got a part. Lives in Los Angeles, California.