Ben Stiller

Season 7, Episode 718

Original Airdate: September 30, 2001

Ben Stiller was the second child of comics Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. When Stiller was just ten years old he made his professional acting debut in guest appearance on the TV show Kate McShane, which starred his mother.

He started as a film major at UCLA in 1983, but lasted only nine months before deciding the college scene had little to offer him. He returned to his hometown, New York, took acting classes, and got an agent.

In 1985, he starred in a Broadway revival of John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves. This highly successful production ultimately won four Tonys. During the show's run, Stiller shot a short “mockumentary” with fellow Blue Leaves cast member John Mahoney (now better known as Martin on the NBC sitcom hit Fraiser) It was a parody of the Paul Newman/Tom Cruise film The Color of Money, and Saturday Night Live eventually aired it in 1987. Also in 1987, Stiller made his film acting debut in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun. He was back on TV for the first time in 12 years to reprise his House of Blue Leaves role for the PBS American Playhouse series.

He joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 1989, and shortly thereafter directed an MTV comedy special, Back to Brooklyn. The network liked it so much that he was offered a weekly program, The Ben Stiller Show. Fox picked up the show for fall 1992, and joining Stiller in the cast were comedians Janeane Garofalo and Andy Dick.

Stiller made more TV appearances, but his big break came in directing and starring in 1994's cult hit Reality Bites, starring Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke. Success with Reality Bites lead Stiller to directing The Cable Guy (1996) with Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick. That same summer he starred in the indie hit Flirting With Disaster, co-starring Tea Leoni, Patricia Arquette, Lily Tomlin, Alan Alda. In 1998, Stiller starred in the huge comedy hit, There's Something About Mary, playing opposite Cameron Diaz. He has since had roles both dramatic and comedic, including Permanent Midnight (1998), Zero Effect (1998), The Suburbans (1999), Mystery Men (1999), Keeping the Faith (2000), and Black and White (2000) and the surprise comedy blockbuster Meet the Parents (2000), which pitted Stiller against Robert DeNiro. His latest directorial effort, Zoolander, hit theatres in September 2001.