Ben Stiller – biography, photos, facts, family, kids, affairs, height and weight 2020

Biography of Ben Stiller

Ben Stiller is an unofficial leader of the brotherhood of American movie comedians, Gaylord Faker from the comedy triptych about family values, Zoolander of Hollywood, producer, director, and screenwriter. He is the only one, who was lucky to be nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for the worst actor in five movies, shot by him in 2004.

His Childhood: New York City, West Side

The boy, born in November 1965, in the family of Polish Jew Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, an Irish Catholic, who converted to Judaism, was named Benjamin Edward. Amy, a four-year-old daughter of the comedians, has seriously said that she will help to bring up her brother. These words became true, because the parents often took their children, going to work. While Anne and Jerry were acting in the comedy programs, Amy and Ben, imitating their dad and mom, were staging their own show behind the scenes.

The boy celebrated his tenth birthday as a cameraman and director of the first home movie – his loving family gave him a real eight-millimeter camera. As always, Amy was assisting his brother. Ben was so carefully imitating the shooting that his mother decided to involve her son in the detective series Kate McShane, where she played the lead role.

Stiller Jr. successfully played his role. Although at that time, he had dreamed rather of the world tour and archaeological excavations, not the cinema, he thought about his parents’ profession and dealt with the archeology only in his future movies.

The Stillers as the progressive parents do not interfere their children-teenagers with going to the cool parties and rock concerts at the legendary club Studio 54 in the Upper West Side. But, following the conventional passion for psychotherapy, the family attended group sessions with the doctor. The problems were not identified, but it was believed that it was easier and more reliable to understand yourself and your true desires. Ben had only one desire: to finish school and make a movie as soon as possible.

His Youth: California – New York City

Ben Stiller chose the profession. Having finished school, he enrolled in a course of cinematography at the University of California. But what could you teach a student who saw the world of cinema inside in his childhood? Ben moved back to New York City and graduated from acting classes in his small homeland... and then got the role in John Guare’s television play-game The House of Blue Leaves. Steven Spielberg noticed Ben and invited him to play Dainty in the movie Empire of the Sun (1987), where the guy worked with John Malkovich and Christian Bale.

Ben Stiller in the movie Empire of the Sun

Then Ben Stiller played the role of Lawrence Isabella in the thriller Next of Kin and worked with such talented actors as Liam Neeson, Helen Hunt, Adam Baldwin, Patrick Swayze. It seemed there would be more serious roles, famous directors, but the genes of his parents-comedians prevailed. It started with a ten-minute parody of Tom Cruise in the movie The Color of Money (1986) by Martin Scorsese - and then everything followed it.

Stiller was invited on television as a comedian, and then he became the presenter of his own show on MTV, which soon was shown on the Fox channel. The project was closed after angry criticism for the banter over the pretentious stars of show business. But Stiller won the Emmy Award for Best Screenplay of the TV show.

His Career: Acting Flair and Directing Ambition

The desire to try himself as a director became stronger. Then Ben’s attention was drawn to the screenplay of 19-year-old Helen Childress, describing the life of four students after their graduation. A year was spent on its completion, then Stiller invited Winona Ryder (Lelaina Pierce) and Ethan Hawke (Troy Dyer) to star in his directorial debut movie Reality Bites (1994), playing the main character Michael Grates himself. In this dramatic comedy, he also took his mother Anne Meara.

Ben Stiller works on the movie Reality Bites

Wanting to continue working as a director, Ben set to black humor in The Cable Guy (1996). At first, Stiller decided to play the eccentric cable guy Chip Douglas himself, but his first experience had shown that it was better to focus on one thing - either acting or direction. The lead role was played by Jim Carrey in his characteristic manner, and the ingenuous character of Steven Kovacs, who became a friend of the cable guy, was played by Matthew Broderick. The movie won the MTV Movie & TV Awards for Best Villain of the year.

The scene from the shooting of the movie The Cable Guy

However, Ben Stiller appeared in the movie: on the background of the main events, it was the story of the trial of actor Sam Sweet, who had killed his twin brother. The role of this character was played by Stiller.

In the same year, Stiller starred as the young father Mel Coplin in the comedy Flirting with Disaster by David O. Russell. Then the trio of Ben Stiller, Matt Dillon and Cameron Diaz delighted the audience in the romantic comedy There's Something About Mary, directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly.

Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz in the melodrama There's Something About Mary

The actor fully showed his potential of a comedian in Jay Roach's movie Meet the Parents, where he worked with the stunningly funny Robert De Niro, who played a CIA agent in retirement.

Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro in the movie Meet the Parents

The success of the movie was so stunning that a few years later, the actors met on the set again, first in Meet the Fockers, then in its sequel Little Fockers. Barbara Streisand and Dustin Hoffman (parents of Gaylord Focker, played by Ben) joined the brilliant tandem. In addition to the shootings in these comedies, Stiller’s filmography replenished with such images as David Starsky from Todd Phillips' action comedy Starsky & Hutch, Eddie from The Heartbreak Kid, Lonnie from School for Scoundrels.

Little Fockers – a trailer

The vigorous energy of Stiller as a writer and director also continued impressing. It was released his Zoolander, a comedy, where even Donald Trump, the future president of the USA, acted. The movie was notable for the nepotism: the lead female role was played by Ben’s wife Christine Taylor, the lead male role (except his own) – his closest friend Owen Wilson, the secondary one – his mother Anne Meara.

Then Ben wrote the screenplay and shot Tropic Thunder, a mock black comedy for several Hollywood movies about the war. This was the fourth movie, directed by Stiller. Tom Cruise and Robert Downey Jr. were nominated for the Golden Globe for their roles in this movie.

Zoolander 2 – a trailer

It is worth mentioning the fantasy-comedy triptych Night at the Museum (2006, 2010, 2014) by Shawn Levy, where Stiller has played the night-shift security guard Larry Daley. Ben’s friend Owen Wilson, inimitable Robin Williams, charming Carla Gugino acted in this movie. During the 2000s, Stiller also became an ideologist and the main voice of the animated movie Madagascar (2005, 2008, 2012), where he voiced Alex, a lion. In 2016, Ben produced Zoolander 2, a sequel about Derek Zoolander.

73 questions to Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller)

Personal Life of Ben Stiller: His Wife, Children, Divorce

Following the example of his parents, Ben had always dreamed of his own friendly and strong family. But Stiller wanted to marry none of his girlfriends (Jeanne Tripplehorn, Amanda Peet, Janeane Garofalo, Calista Flockhart).

The actor married Christine Taylor, an actress, when he was 35. After 18 years of a family life of this couple, which was considered the strongest in Hollywood, their daughter and son – Ella Olivia and Quinlin Dempsey – were born.

Stiller admitted that their marriage was based on the laughter of his wife. She taught Ben to laugh at home, not only for the shooting. Together they defeated the actor’s cancer, buried his mother. In 2017, the actors divorced, having shocked their relatives and friends. But they find time for meetings, conversations, reasons to laugh. Ex-wife, as no one else, understands her ex-husband, but they do not talk about the reasons for their divorce.

Ben Stiller Now

In 2017, Stiller starred in two good movies: the tragicomedy The Meyerowitz Stories, which won one of the awards at the Cannes Film Festival, and Brad’s Status, where Ben played Brad Sloan, experiencing a midlife crisis.

Ben Stiller in the movie Brad’s Status (a trailer)

As a director, Stiller intends to start shooting the new movie Help Me Spread Goodness, based on Mark Friedman’s screenplay. He will star as a banker, faced with online fraud. He will also produce this movie.