Ben Stiller
☼ Born on 30 December 1965, in New York City, New York, USA
Biography
Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller was born on November 30, 1965, in New York City, New York, to legendary comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. His father was of Austrian Jewish and Polish Jewish descent, and his mother was of Irish Catholic descent (she converted to Judaism).
His 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 (1994) later in his career. He both directed and performed in the film, which co-starred Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke.
Before he got to Hollywood, he 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 (1986) starring him (in the Tom Cruise role) and his The House of Blue Leaves (1987) costar John Mahoney (in the Paul Newman role). The short film was so funny that Lorne Michaels purchased it a
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nd aired it on Saturday Night Live (1975). This led to his spending a year on the show in 1989.
Stiller made his big screen debut in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun (1987) 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 (1992). 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, Stiller had to settle for guest appearance work. While doing this, he saved up his cash and in the end was able to scrape enough together to make Reality Bites (1994), 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 (1996). Although many critics were impressed, Jim Carrey's fans were not. In 1998, There's Something About Mary (1998) had propelled Stiller into the mainstream spotlight. He also starred in such hit movies as Keeping the Faith (2000) and Meet the Parents (2000).
In the role of actor
Tower (31/07/2016)
This review was originally published as part of my coverage of Hot Docs 2016 The United State’s first mass school shooting is recounted in Tower. On August 1, 1966, a lone sniper climb atop the tower at the University of Texas and began to unleash a violent assault. Through the eyes of many of those present, […]
Tower (27/04/2016)
The United State’s first mass school shooting is recounted in Tower. On August 1, 1966, a lone sniper climb atop the tower at the University of Texas and began to unleash a violent assault. Through the eyes of many of those present, the events of these terrible day are recreated through rotoscoped reenactments. Tower is a […]
Zoolander 2 (28/02/2016)
Derek Zoolander and Hansel return for more adventures in the world of male modelling in Zoolander 2. After a tragic accident, Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) and Hansel (Owen Wilson) have entered into separate lives of seclusion. They resurface to be part of a fashion show in Rome put on by Alexanya Atoz (Kristen Wiig), with Zoolander hoping to […]
Tower (12/09/2012)
According to the Q&A after the screening, the film Tower was not intentionally meant to be about Asperger’s Syndrome. However, as someone who has Asperger’s and was able to greatly relate with the main character of the film, I will say that I believe that Tower is probably the most genuine and unbiased cinematic portrayal of […]
Tower Heist (06/11/2011)
Tower Heist is one of those films where you don’t have to think too much about what it is about. Essentially it’s about a group of people who rob a tower. There not really that much more to say about the film other than the fact that I thought it was quite funny. You can also […]
Little Fockers (02/01/2011)
It has become somewhat of a tradition for me to always include Meet the Parents and its sequel Meet the Fockers amongst the DVDs I take with me to my family’s cottage and I often will watch both films over the course of an afternoon. I thought the first film was (and still is) a […]
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (23/05/2009)
I thought that the original Night at the Museum was a fun family movie in the vein of Jumanji (maybe one reason why the producers cast Robin Williams in a supporting role). The sequel aimed to make things bigger by placing the action at the Smithsonian. Most of the original museum characters take a back […]
Tropic Thunder (13/08/2008)
Who would have thought that in the end it would be Simple Jack that generated controversy? In a film that features Robert Downey Jr. playing an Australian actor, who darkens his skin to play an African American sergeant, the biggest complaint about this film involves a subplot, where Ben Stiller‘s character plays a mentally disabled […]
The Heartbreak Kid (08/10/2007)
Back in my Movies of the Moment post, I was hoping that this film, which reunited Ben Stiller with the Farrelly Brothers would have recreated the magic of There’s Something About Mary. Sadly, I have to say that is not the case. The film did have it’s moments. I thought the scenes where Stiller’s comedy […]
In the role of director
Zoolander 2 (28/02/2016)
Derek Zoolander and Hansel return for more adventures in the world of male modelling in Zoolander 2. After a tragic accident, Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) and Hansel (Owen Wilson) have entered into separate lives of seclusion. They resurface to be part of a fashion show in Rome put on by Alexanya Atoz (Kristen Wiig), with Zoolander hoping to […]
Tropic Thunder (13/08/2008)
Who would have thought that in the end it would be Simple Jack that generated controversy? In a film that features Robert Downey Jr. playing an Australian actor, who darkens his skin to play an African American sergeant, the biggest complaint about this film involves a subplot, where Ben Stiller‘s character plays a mentally disabled […]