 Born November 30, 1965 in New York, Ben had
always been exposed to the Hollywood lifestyle. He and his sister,
Amy, would often perform plays during their youth, and at age 10,
Ben first began making films on a Super 8 camera. As he got older,
Ben moved on to theater and later, film and television.
After spending a year as a cast member on
"Saturday Night Live", Ben was given his own series, aptly titled
"The Ben Stiller Show". Though the show was cancelled after only a
handful of episodes, Ben had the satisfaction of picking up an Emmy
for his writing contributions to the show. Soon after, he was hired
to direct the Gen-X flick Reality Bites, in which he also
co-starred with Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke. He also acted in a
string of independent features and guest spots on various sitcoms.
Eluding breakout success for a number of years,
he finally hit the jackpot with There's Something About Mary,
released in 1998. The film, directed by the Farrelly brothers, was a
gross-out smash hit that threw Ben (and the rest of the cast) into
mainstream film.
Since then, he has gone on to star in numerous
hit films, and get behind the camera with the hysterical satire on
the modeling profession, Zoolander. In May 2000, Ben
married actress Christine Taylor. They have a daughter, Ella, and
are expecting their second child this summer.
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