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David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, director, comedian, and producer. He gained worldwide recognition for portraying Ross Geller in the sitcom Friends (1994-2004), for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1995. While still acting in Friends, his first leading film role was in The Pallbearer (1996), followed by roles in Kissing a Fool; Six Days, Seven Nights; Apt Pupil (all 1998); and Picking Up the Pieces (2000). He was then cast in the miniseries Band of Brothers (2001) as Herbert Sobel.

Schwimmer began his acting career performing in school plays at Beverly Hills High School. He appeared in a number of television roles in the early 1990s, including L.A. Law, The Wonder Years, NYPD Blue, and Monty. Schwimmer was cast as Ross Geller in 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, which made him the first cast member of Friends to receive such a nomination. He also played the minor role of Russ in the episode "The One With Russ" (1996). During the show's 10-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.

After the series finale of Friends in 2004, Schwimmer branched out into film and stage work. He was cast as the title character in the 2005 drama film Duane Hopwood, and voiced Melman the Giraffe in the computer-animated Madagascar film franchise, acted in the dark comedy Big Nothing (2006), and the thriller Nothing but the Truth (2008). Schwimmer made his West End stage debut in the leading role in 2005's Some Girl(s). He made his Broadway debut in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial in 2006. His feature film directorial debut followed in 2007 with the comedy Run Fatboy Run, and the following year he made his Off-Broadway directorial debut in Fault Lines. In 2016, Schwimmer starred as lawyer Robert Kardashian in The People v. O. J. Simpson, for which he received his second Primetime Emmy Award nomination, this time for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.

Schwimmer has also worked as a director, including 10 episodes of Friends during his time on the series. Along with the rest of the main cast, he participated in the 2021 reunion special Friends: The Reunion. The episodes Schwimmer directed were "The One With The Birth Mother" (2004), "The One With Phoebe's Birthday Dinner" (2002), "The One Where Joey Dates Rachel" (2002), "The One With The Stripper" (2001), "The One With The Red Sweater" (2001), "The One With The Truth About London" (2001), "The One With All The Candy" (2000), "The One With Ross' Library Book" (2000), "The One With Rachel's Assistant" (2000) and "The One On The Last Night" (1999).

Biography[]

Early Life[]

David Schwimmer was born in Astoria, Queens, New York, to Jewish parents, Arthur Schwimmer and Arlene Colman. They lived in Valley Stream, Long Island, til he was 2. He was raised in Los Angeles, California, where he attended Beverly Hills High School.

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.

Career[]

RossGeller

Ross Geller, the role that gained Schwimmer worldwide recognition

Schwimmer began his acting career performing in school plays at Beverly Hills High School. He appeared in a number of television roles in the early 1990s, including L.A. Law, The Wonder Years, NYPD Blue, and Monty.

Schwimmer was cast as paleontologist 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. He also played the minor role of Russ in the episode "The One With Russ" (1996).

Schwimmer has also worked as a director, including the following 10 episodes of Friends during his time on the series:

During the show's 10-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 host 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 '90s, apart from Matt LeBlanc who never hosted.

After the series finale of Friends in 2004, Schwimmer branched out into film and stage work. He was cast as the title character in the 2005 drama film Duane Hopwood, and voiced Melman the Giraffe in the computer-animated Madagascar film franchise, acted in the dark comedy Big Nothing (2006), and the thriller Nothing but the Truth (2008). Schwimmer made his West End stage debut in the leading role in 2005's Some Girl(s). He made his Broadway debut in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial in 2006. His feature film directorial debut followed in 2007 with the comedy Run Fatboy Run, and the following year he made his Off-Broadway directorial debut in Fault Lines.

In 2005, Schwimmer portrayed the main protagonist in the independent drama Duane Hopwood, and received positive reviews for his role as an alcoholic looking to turn his life around. In 2007, David directed his first film, the British comedy Run, Fat Boy, Run, produced by Robert Jones, where he teamed up with British actor Simon Pegg. A film about a man training for the London Marathon after running away from his pregnant fiancé on their wedding day. The movie starred Hank Azaria who had starred as David In Friends. He had previously starred with Pegg in the movie Big Nothing and briefly in Band of Brothers.

In 2016, Schwimmer portrayed the late Robert Kardashian in the first season of American Crime Story, subtitled The People v. O.J. Simpson, which garnered him an Emmy Award nomination.

In May 2021, he participated in the special episode Friends: The Reunion.

Personal Life[]

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 among others. He is said to be related to Benji Schwimmer, second season winner of So You Think You Can Dance (America).

In 2007, Schwimmer started dating English photographer Zoe Buckman. In March 2010, Schwimmer and Buckman announced their engagement they were married in a small private ceremony the following June. On May 8, 2011, Schwimmer and his wife welcomed a daughter, Cleo Buckman Schwimmer.

The family splits their time between Los Angeles and Chicago, where as of 2008 they own homes.

Filmography[]

Film[]

Year Title Role Notes
1991 Flight of the Intruder Duty Officer
1992 Crossing the Bridge John Anderson
1993 Twenty Bucks Neil Campbell
The Waiter Evil Waiter Short film
The Pitch Vinnie
1994 Wolf Cop
1995 The Party Favor Unknown Short film
1996 The Pallbearer Tom Thompson
1998 Kissing a Fool Max Abbitt Also executive producer
Six Days Seven Nights Frank Martin
Apt Pupil Edward French
The Thin Pink Line Kelly Goodish/J.T.
1999 All the Rage Chris
2000 Love & Sex Door to door preacher Uncredited
Picking Up the Pieces Father Leo Jerome
2001 Hotel Jonathan Danderfine
Uprising Yitzhak "Antek" Zuckerman
2003 Great Family Tony Adams
2005 Duane Hopwood Duane Hopwood
Madagascar Melman (voice)
2006 Big Nothing Charlie
2007 Run, Fatboy, Run Man Handing Dennis a Beer During Race Uncredited
2008 Nothing but the Truth Ray Armstrong
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Melman (voice)
2012 John Carter Young Thark Warrior
The Iceman Josh Rosenthal
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted Melman (voice)
2013 Madly Madagascar Short film
2019 The Laundromat Matthew Quirk
2024 Little Death Completed

Television[]

Year Title Role Notes
1989 A Deadly Silence Rob Cuccio TV movie
1991–1992 The Wonder Years Michael 4 episodes (seasons 4-5)
1992–1993 L.A. Law City Attorney Dana Romney Recurring role (season 7)
1993 NYPD Blue Josh '4B' Goldstein 4 episodes
Blossom Sonny Catalano 2 episodes
1994 Monty Greg Richardson Main cast
1994–2004 Friends Ross Geller Main cast (also played Russ in "The One With Russ"; credited as Snaro)
1995 The Single Guy Episode: "Neighbors"
Uncredited
Saturday Night Live Himself (host) Episode: "David Schwimmer/Natalie Merchant"
1996 ER Dr. Karubian (voice) Episode: "Doctor Carter, I Presume"
Uncredited
1997 Breast Men Dr. Kevin Saunders TV movie
1998 Since You've Been Gone Robert S. Levitt
2001 Uprising Yitzhak Zuckerman
Band of Brothers Captain Herbert M. Sobel Miniseries, main cast (first 3 episodes)
2003 MADtv Himself Episode: "9.3"
2004 Curb Your Enthusiasm 3 episodes
2007 30 Rock Greenzo/Jared Episode: "Greenzo"
2009 Merry Madagascar Melman (voice) Television special
Entourage Himself Episode: "Running on E"
2011 Come Fly With Me Episode 2
2012 Web Therapy Newell L. Miller Recurring role (season 2)
2015 Episodes Himself Episode: "Episode Five"
2016 The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story Robert Kardashian Miniseries, main cast
Feed the Beast Tommy Moran Main cast
2018–2019 Will & Grace Noah Broader Recurring role (season 10)
2019 Mysterious Planet Narrator Television documentary series
2020–present Intelligence Jerry Berstein Main cast
2021 Friends: The Reunion Himself HBO Max special; also executive producer
2023 Extrapolations Harris Goldblatt Episode: "2047: The Fifth Question"
Captain Fall Joel Moon (voice) Episode: "Boner Medicine"

Director/producer[]

Year Title Notes
1996 Shoot the Moon Executive producer
1998 Since You've Been Gone Director; television film
1999–2004 Friends Director; 10 episodes
2003 Humanoid Executive producer
2004 Americana Director; television film
The Tracy Morgan Show Director; episode: "Miracle Street"
Nevermind Nirvana Director/executive producer; pilot
2004–2005 Joey Director; 2 episodes: "Joey and the Perfect Storm" (2004)/"Joey and the Taste Test" (2005)
2005 New Car Smell Director; television film
2007 Run, Fatboy, Run Director
2008 Little Britain USA Director; 6 episodes
Fly Like Mercury Executive producer
2010 Trust Director
2014 Growing Up Fisher Director/executive producer; episode: "Pilot"
Irreversible Director/executive producer; television film

Trivia[]

  • David Schwimmer is allergic to cats.

External Links[]

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