Ben Stiller
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Ben Stiller is a member of the comedic acting brotherhood known as the Frat Pack, a group made up of similarly shaky comic actors such as Vince Vaughn and both Wilson brothers. As a nebbish little twerp, Stiller would most likely have a very difficult time getting into an actual frat. Okay, maybe not the Jewish frat, but still.
Though he has made many, many cameos upstaging his friends in total shit-bomb TV shows and movies, Ben Stiller is best known for roles everyone thinks are absolutely hilarious based on only a handful of legitimate and usually completely non-sequitur gags. These include Zoolander (break-dance fighting), Something About Mary (penis stuck in zipper; hair splooge), and Meet the Parents (a name that sounds like, but isn’t—ha, ha—“Gay Fucker”).
Most recently, Stiller co-wrote, directed, produced, and starred in Tropic Thunder, a movie that poked fun of Hollywood blockbusters by spending nearly $100 million on pyrotechnics. This film has also received public outcry, interestingly enough over the word “retard,” and not over the fact that one of the main characters spends the entire film wearing blackface.
One thing you can say for Ben Stiller, though: at least he hasn’t produced any Rob Schneider vehicles. And he does a really good imitation of Bono. Seriously. YouTube it.
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Childhood
Ben Stiller began building up a wholly undeserved reputation as a comedic genius from his birth on November 30, 1965, a birthday he shares with Dick Clark, Billy Idol, the guy who played Benson, and Stacey Q.
Born in New York City, Stiller is the son of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, a pair of way past their prime late-Borscht belt comics who were also only marginally humorous. Well, aside from Jerry Stiller’s turn as Frank Costanza on TV’s Seinfeld, a role he marred by reprising it again and again and again in everything he’s done since then (which has pretty much only been Ben Stiller films).
Stiller graduated from snooty New York prep academy Calhoun School in 1983, enrolled at UCLA, couldn’t cut it on the outside, and headed back to New York with his dick tail between his dick legs to cash in on his family’s show business connections.
Career
After making several comedy shorts, Ben Stiller wrote for and appeared in the 1989 season of Saturday Night Live, but left after only five shows. This is probably the best decision he’s ever made, aside from casting both Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand in the otherwise yawn-inducing sequel to Meet the Parents.
Shortly after that, oblivious to the fact that American audiences do not like sketch comedy, MTV decided to intersperse Stiller-produced bits with popular music videos. This led to The Ben Stiller Show on MTV. Such a colossal failure was The Ben Stiller Show on MTV that the Fox network picked it up, leading to The Ben Stiller Show on Fox. Such a colossal failure was The Ben Stiller Show on Fox, that Hollywood began allowing Stiller to write, direct, produce, and star in feature-length films.
Among Stiller’s early film highlights: Reality Bites, notable mostly for its soundtrack; Along Came Polly; which popularized the term “sharting” in modern vernacular; and Permanent Midnight, a film about the creator of the TV show ALF. Seriously. They made that into a movie.
In 2001, Stiller wrote, directed, and produced Zoolander, a film that sent-up the fashion industry by giving Stiller 89 minutes to make a weird kissy-face and a whole bunch of unrelated pop cultural references all mashed-up together. Still, many people love this film. Many people also love cheese in a can.
In 2004, Stiller inflicted six different motion pictures on America, including Envy, Along Came Polly, and Meet the Fockers, which somehow grossed nearly $520 million worldwide. This makes it the highest grossing live action comedy in history, which sounds a lot more impressive than it really is considering Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Three Men and a Baby all crack the Top 10.
Most recently, Stiller wrote, directed, and produced Tropic Thunder. Released in August, 2008, the film can’t help but give the impression that Stiller made it just so he could go shoot on location in Hawaii. Nonetheless, Tropic Thunder has been one of the most successful comedies of 2008, which isn’t saying a lot, considering the rest of the crop includes Semi-Pro, The Love Guru, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, and Witless Protection starring Jenny McCarthy and Larry the Cable Guy. Wow, was that bad.
Ben Stiller is one of the few people in Hollywood other than paparazzi who are still excited to work with Tom Cruise.
Frat Pack
Not only is Ben Stiller a member of the Frat Pack, a group of actors who tend to appear with each other, he is also widely acknowledged as its leader. Of the 34 primary films that can be considered Frat Pack Films, he has had his dick hand in 20. Maybe two of these 34 can be considered thoroughly good, three tops.
Personal Life
Ben Stiller is short. Like Dudley Moore short. Nonetheless, he was still able to bag that total hottie who played Marcia in those Brady Bunch movies. The couple married in 2000, and have two children, who will undoubtedly continue to trade on their father’s name long after Ben Stiller, himself, ceases to be relevant.
