Benjamin Stiller (born November 30, 1965 in New York City) is an American comedian, actor, and film director, the son of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, both of whom are veteran comedians and actors. Stiller is best known for his roles in the films There's Something About Mary, Zoolander, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Meet the Parents, and its sequel, Meet the Fockers.

Stiller grew up in Manhattan, the second child of his famous comedy parents, who frequently took him on the sets of their appearances. He displayed an early interest in film making, making Super 8 movies with his sister and friends. At ten years old, he made his acting debut as a guest on his mother's series Kate McShane.

In 1983, he enrolled as a film student at the University of California, Los Angeles. Stiller lasted nine months before dropping out to relocate back to New York City as he made his way through acting classes, auditioning and trying to find an agent.

He landed a role in the Broadway revival of John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves, alongside John Mahoney, a play which later garnered four Tonys. During its run, Stiller produced a satirical mockumentary whose principal was fellow actor Mahoney. His comedic work was so well received that he followed up with a 10 minute short called "The Hustler of Money," a parody of the Martin Scorsese film The Color of Money featuring him in a send-up of Tom Cruise's Vince character and Mahoney in the Paul Newman role-- only this time as a bowling hustler instead of a pool shark. The short got the attention of Saturday Night Live, which aired it in 1987, and two years later offered him a spot as a writer.

In 1989, Stiller wrote and appeared on a season of Saturday Night Live as a featured performer. He was offered his own vehicle on MTV as host and performer in a self-titled comedy sketch show, which led to The Ben Stiller Show on the Fox Network in 1992. The show lasted 12 episodes on FOX-- with a thirteenth unaired episode broadcast by Comedy Central in a later revival. Throughout its short run, the Ben Stiller Show frequently appeared at the bottom of the ratings, even as it garnered critical acclaim, eventually winning the Emmy for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing in a Variety or Music Program" after it was cancelled. The show also starred (and launched the careers of) his frequent collaborators Andy Dick, Janeane Garofalo, and Bob Odenkirk.

Stiller directed both Reality Bites and The Cable Guy, to generally mixed reviews. Stiller put aside his directing ambitions to star in There's Something About Mary, which launched Stiller's career into the stratosphere. Another directorial effort, 2001's Zoolander was well-received, showing he could be a bankable star both behind the camera as well as in front of it.

In the parody self-help book they co-authored, Feel This Book, he and frequent co-star Janeane Garofalo wrote about, as they put it, their "train wreck of a relationship", but it was done with a tongue-in-cheek style. During much of the 1990s, he was involved with actress Jeanne Tripplehorn.

Although Stiller is best known for his film roles, he has appeared in many sitcoms, the earliest being the 1997 Friends episode The One With the Screamer playing Rachel's angry boyfirend 'Tommy'. In recent years he has made notable cameos in groundbreaking shows such as Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm, as well as the British sitcom Extras. In the latter two programs, Stiller appeared as a twisted version of himself: a Hollywood hotshot who is pithy, childish, and hot-tempered. In Arrested Development he took on the role of "Tony Wonder," a bumbling magician.

Among his film credits include a tyrannical nursing home employee in Happy Gilmore, an evil fitness instructor named Tony Perkis in Heavyweights, a put upon attorney in Zero Effect and a second rate superhero in Mystery Men. He also appeared in dramatic roles as a slimy detective in Black and White and as drug-addicted writer Jerry Stahl in the film version of Stahl's Permanent Midnight.

Personal

In May 2000, Stiller married Christine Taylor, whom he met while filming a never-broadcast television pilot for the FOX network called Heat Vision and Jack, starring Jack Black. He and Taylor have a daughter, Ella Olivia, born April 10, 2002, and a son, Quinlin Dempsey, born July 10, 2005.

Amy Stiller, his older sister, is also an actress.

Princeton University's Class of 2005 inducted Stiller as an honorary member of the class during its "Senior Week" in April 2005.

In 2005, Stiller admitted to having bipolar disorder, an illness he says runs in his family.

Filmography

Trivia

• Stiller frequently does spot-on impersonations of many of his favorite performers, including U2's Bono, Tom Cruise and Bruce Springsteen.
• Stiller has played a fictionalized version of himself in the television shows The Larry Sanders Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Extras.
• Stiller was featured in Limp Bizkit's video for their hit song "Rollin'," in which he gives the keys to friend Fred Durst and tells him "Don't scratch the car."
• Stiller also appears in Tenacious D's video "Tribute", in which he merely walks across the shot in the mall during the climax of the song.
• Stiller appears in Jack Johnson's music video, "Taylor," in which he runs over a chicken.
• Stiller struggles with bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression. After letting off unexplained mood changes of aggressivity and happiness during the making of Zoolander, he was quoted as saying, "I have not been an easygoing guy. I think it's called bipolar manic depression. I've got a rich history of that in my family."
• Stiller is left-handed.
• Stiller appeared in the second season of Arrested Development as fictional magician "Tony Wonder" in the episode titled "Sword of Destiny." He also appeared in a recent episode (episode 9, season 3) of Arrested Development for a small cameo of the same role.
• Stiller is featured in P.Diddy's "Bad Boy for Life" video as P. Diddy's neighbor.
• Stiller is a supporter of the Republican Party and donated money to George Bush's 2004 U.S. Presidential campaign.