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David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966 in Astoria, Queens, New York) is an Emmy-nominated American actor and director for television and film, who gained popularity when playing Dr. Ross Geller on the hugely popular American sitcom Friends. The tall, gangly dark-haired Schwimmer first caught the attention of TV audiences in 1992 as the hippie boyfriend of Olivia d'Abo's Karen Arnold on the nostalgia-laden ABC sitcom "The Wonder Years". A turn as an ambitious lawyer on the Stephen Bochco-produced "L.A. Law" (1992-93) followed before the actor garnered additional attention as an uptight lawyer turned vigilante on the initial episodes of the ABC drama "NYPD Blue", also produced by Bochco. True small screen stardom arrived in 1994 when Schwimmer was cast as Ross Geller, the geeky paleontologist, in NBC's hit ensemble sitcom "Friends" (1994-2004). Schwimmer subsequently appeared opposite Woody Allen and Sharon Stone in Alfonso Arou's straight-to-cable comedic misfire "Picking Up the Pieces"(2000), had a terrific uncredited cameo in the underrated indie "Love & Sex" (2000) and took smaller roles in the ensembles of "The Thin Pink Line" (1998), "All the Rage" (1999) and Mike Figgis' "Hotel" (2001). The actor fared better on the small screen with roles as an Army captain in Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks' acclaimed HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers" (2001) and as a Jew in the Warsaw ghetto in that cable network's powerful film "Uprising" (2001), directed by Jon Avnet. Also on HBO, the actor had a fine recurring stint playing an uptight version of himself in the 2004 season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," where he was cast opposite Larry David in a stage version of Mel Brooks' "The Producers" and soon engaged in a rivalry with his co-star. Schwimmer was born in Astoria, Queens, New York, to Jewish parents, Arthur Schwimmer and Arlene Colman, and then lived in Valley Stream, Long Island, until he was 2 years old. He was raised in Los Angeles, California, where he attended Beverly Hills High School. Born on his mother's birthday. Graduated from Northwestern University. Along with best friend & fellow actor Joey Slotnick, he helped found the Looking Glass Theater Company, based in Chicago, Illinois. Before "Friends" (1994) Schwimmer competed against high-school friend Jonathan Silverman and actor Jon Cryer for a role in the TV pilot Couples (1994) (TV). Silverman won the role opposite Helen Slater, but ABC passed on the show. The producers later reconceived the show for singles and sold it to NBC as "Friends" (1994) in which Schwimmer was the first actor to be cast. Called up a London talk show to deny false claims that cast members of "Friends" (1994) were demanding $1,000,000 each per episode. Has worked extensively on the stage both as actor and director. Is on the board of directors of the Rape Foundation for the Rape Treatment Center of Santa Monica. Dated Australian singer actress Natalie Imbruglia. Split up from Mili Avital in November 2001. Member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity. January 2003 - Premiered his play "Turnaround" at the 99-seat West Hollywood Coast theater. All of his "Friends", were in attendance. He graduated Beverly Hills High School in 1984 and performed in stage productions there under the direction of John Ingle. Went to the same High School as Angelina Jolie, Michael Klesic, Nicolas Cage, Lenny Kravitz, Jonathan Silverman, Gina Gershon, Rhonda Fleming, Jackie Cooper, Rob Reiner, Antonio Sabato Jr., Pauly Shore, Michael Tolkin, Betty White, Corbin Bernsen, Elizabeth Daily, Albert Brooks and Crispin Glover. Both his parents, Arlene Coleman-Schwimmer and Authur Schwimmer, had small parts in Since You've Been Gone (1998) (TV), which he directed. David once said in an interview, he would like to become a public school teacher after Friends ended. Has an older sister, Ellie Schwimmer. Playing Michael in The Wonder Years, he rides a 500cc Triumph Daytona motorcycle. The same motorcycle, also seen in other episodes, is also seen mounted on the back of his character's Volkswagen van. He is related to So You Think You Can Dance contestants Benji Schwimmer, Lacey Schwimmer & Heidi Groskreutz. 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. Schwimmer is best known for his role as palaeontologist 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. Aside from acting, he also directed ten episodes of the series, once being credited as 'Snaro.' During the show’s ten 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 first Friends character to present 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 nineties, apart from Matt LeBlanc who never presented it. David played himself on the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm. David also appeared in the TV series The Wonder Years. In 2007, David directed his first film, the British comedy Run, Fat Boy, Run, produced by Robert Jones, where he again teamed up with British actor Simon Pegg. He had previously starred with Pegg in the movie Big Nothing and briefly in Band of Brothers. He is currently in talks to direct Simon Pegg's and Nick Frost's new project Paul. As the final season of "Friends" came to close in 2004 promising closure on the long-running Ross-Rachel relationship Schwimmer set his sights on the future early on, directing episodes of the show's spin-off "Joey" (NBC, 2004- ) starring his co-star Matt LeBlanc. In 2005 the actor made his London stage debut at the Gielgud Theater in the play "Some Girls" opposite Lesley Manville and Saffron Burrows. He also voiced Melman the Giraffe in “Madagascar” (2005), Disney’s animated adventure about four zoo animals who escape and inadvertently find themselves in Africa where the city slickers struggle to survive in the wild. Schwimmer dated Natalie Imbruglia and Mili Avital, (broke up in 2001) and Carla Alapont. After they broke up in 2003, he was linked to Emmanuelle Perret amongst others. Schwimmer divides his time between Chicago, New York and Los Angeles; where parked in his garage are a Range Rover and a 1976 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Schwimmer is related to So You Think You Can Dance contestants Benji Schwimmer, Lacey Schwimmer, and Heidi Groskreutz. |
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