Ben stiller Biography

Benjamin Stiller was born in the city that never sleeps, New York. His parents are veteran actors and comedians, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Ben completely grew up in the world of films and television and it was only but natural that he too joined this world. He was taken by his parents to the sets they were working irrespective of what time it was. He also got a chance to make an appearance on a show his mother was a part of. That is how he started his career when he was just 10 years old. He also made a few home movies with his sister and friends.

Despite his leanings, Ben still did continue with his education. He attended the Cathedral School and later graduated from Calhoun School. He started working on his stand-up act and opened for cabaret performers. To further his acting career, Ben moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in the University of California to take acting lessons. But it didn’t work out as planned, and Ben moved back to New York a few months later. He landed a role in Broadway theatre where he made a few useful friends. He wrote a few mockumentaries and a short movie called Hustler of Money which was a parody on Martin Scorsese’s The Color of Money. The movie did well and was also telecast on Saturday Night Live. The producers at SNL hired Ben as a writer for the show and he even made an appearance on the show. But it did not last very long and Ben left the show after they did not want him to make short movies.

Ben’s stint on SNL helped him get work with MTV. He made another shirt movie with them; they loved his work so much that they gave a 13 episode sketch called The Ben Stiller Show. Ben had always wanted to do sketch comedy and this was right up his alley. The show was canceled from MTV after one season but another show by the same name was started on Fox. This show too was cancelled after one season but garnered a lot of critical acclaim and even won an Emmy.

By now, Ben had already made his film debut in Empire of the Sun (1987) where he played a minor role. He was still concentrating on his writing and direction skills. He directed his debut full feature film, Reality Bites. The movie actually did well but garnered mixed reviews. His next was The Cable Guy. Many were excited with the prospect of Ben teaming up with one of the best in the business, Jim Carrey. The movie also had Matthew Broderick in the supporting role. Ben played a small cameo in the movie. But just when something is most awaited it turns out be disappointing. The same happened with The Cable Guy. The critics panned the film and so did the fans. Fans found a darker version of Jim hard to digest then but today the movie has become a cult classic.

Writing and direction was Ben’s first love but he liked acting too. He took a sort of a sabbatical from direction to act in movies. His first proper starring role was in There’s Something About Mary opposite Cameron Diaz. The movie did well and Ben was off to a god start. He also did a few drama films like Zero Effect (1998) and Permanent Midnight (1998) but audiences preferred him in funny roles. Ben’s acting career really took off in 2000 after Meet the Parents. He got the opportunity to work with the great Robert De Niro. The movie was about a guy meeting his future in-laws, an event which most people go through in their life. Very rarely the audience saw De Niro in such a role and they loved it. The film set the cash registers ringing and left the doorway open for a sequel. Ben held the megaphone again for third time for Zoolander. This time he starred with his good friend Owen Wilson. He again teamed up with Owen for The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) which was also written by Owen. The movie did well and was also nominated for an Oscar. Since then, he and Owen have been friends and frequently team-up in movies or do cameos for each others’ movies.

The year 2004, turned out to be Ben’s most busy year as he appeared in no less than six movies. The sequel to Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers was released. The movie this time also had Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand playing Ben’s parents. The movie was even a bigger hit than the previous one. He also teamed up with Jennifer Aniston in Along Came Polly. The year proved to be good for Ben as most of his movies did well. Later in 2005, Ben lent his voice for the animation flick Madagascar (2005). It seemed whatever he touched turned to gold as this film too was hit. It even lead to a sequel, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008).

One of Ben’s biggest successes is Night at the Museum (2006). The film is a story of a night watchman who gets job at the museum where all the statues and figurines come to life. The film set many box-office records and earned more than $550 million at the box-office. Its sequel, Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian (2009) too was a hit and made close to $500 million. It seems now that Ben has hit top form. His last directorial venture Tropic Thunder was a major hit and was nominated for an Oscar in Best Film category. The movie had stars like Robert Downey Jr., Tom Cruise, Jack Black and Matthew McConaughey. Ben is currently awaiting the release of Madagascar 3 (2012) and is also planning a movie with Tom Cruise called The Hardy Men.