Life and career

Overton was born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, the son of Nancy Overton (née Swain), a singer, and Hall Overton, a teacher and music arranger. He grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, where he attended Dwight Morrow High School.

Overton made his first onscreen appearance in the 1982 film Young Doctors in Love, followed by a small role in Airplane II: The Sequel later that year. In 1987, he wrote an episode of The New Adventures of Beans Baxter while also appearing in various films and television shows including Willow, Amazing Stories and Million Dollar Mystery.

Overton is mostly known for his Oscar-worthy performance as Buddy Claggett in Encyclopedia Brown: The Case of the Missing Time Capsule.

In 1992, he landed a role in the FOX Network sketch comedy show The Edge. The show ended in 1993. Later that year, Overton appeared in two episodes of Seinfeld and landed a small role in Mrs. Doubtfire. The following year, he won an Emmy for writing an episode of Dennis Miller Live.

In 2005, Overton appeared on Alias and Joan Of Arcadia; in the latter he played God explaining to the title character the meaning of real wealth. He also portrayed both H.G. Wells and Orson Welles in a podcast episode of The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd that same year.

In 2009, Overton appeared in the film A Fork in the Road alongside Jaime King.

In 2012, Overton appeared in the music video "Star Power" by Pakistani rapper Adil Omar.

Filmography

• Target Earth? (1978)
• Target...Earth? (1980)
• Young Doctors in Love (1982)
• Airplane II: The Sequel (1982)
• Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
• Gung Ho (1986)
• Odd Jobs (1986)
• A Fine Mess (1986)
• Modern Girls (1986)
• Million Dollar Mystery (1987)
• Willow (1988)
• Traxx (1988)
• Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)
• A Sinful Life (1989)
• Blind Fury (1989)
• The Rocketeer (1991)
• Galaxies Are Colliding (1992)
• Groundhog Day (1993)
• Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
• The High Crusade (1994)
• Married... with Children (1996)
• My Giant (1998)
• Devil in the Flesh (1998)
• EDtv (1999)
• Jackpot (2001)
• Extreme Honor (2001)
• Shoot or Be Shot (2002)
• Eight Legged Freaks (2002)
• Trial and Error: The Making of Sequestered (2003)
• Northfork (2003)
• Motocross Kids (2004)
• Serial Killing 4 Dummys (2004)
• Off the Lip (2004)
• Taxi (2004)
• Fat Albert (2004)
• Comedy Hell (2005)
• Blue Sombrero (2005)
• Frostbite (2005)
• A Lot Like Love (2005)
• Keep Your Distance (2005)
• Popstar (2005)
• Fun with Dick and Jane (2005)
• Billy Schulz (2006)
• The Last Stand (2006)
• The Tripper (2006)
• The Astronaut Farmer (2006)
• National Lampoon's Pledge This! (2006)
• A Plumm Summer (2007)
• The Metrosexual (2007)
• Jelly (Post-Production, 2008)
• A Fork in the Road (in post-production, 2008)
• Dinner for Schmucks (2010)
• Bad Teacher (2011)
• A Haunted House 2 (2014)
• Such Good People (2014)

Television

• Remington Steele (1 episode, 1983)
• Help Wanted: Kids (1986)
• Jonathan Winters: On the Ledge (1987)
• Double Switch (1987)
• Amazing Stories (1 episode, 1987)
• That's Adequate (1988)
• Encyclopedia Brown (1989) one episode (Buddy Clagett) "The Case Of The Missing Time Capsule"
• Babes (10 episodes, 1990)
• Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures (as Rufus, 1992)
• The Edge (7 episodes, 1992-1993)
• Seinfeld (2 episodes, 1993)
• Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 Women (1994)
• Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (2 episodes, 1994-1995)
• Duckman (1 episode, 1995)
• Encino Woman (1996)
• The Single Guy (2 episodes, 1996)
• Married… with Children (2 episodes, 1996)
• Ned and Stacey (1 episode, 1997)
• ER (1 episode, 1997)
• The Weird Al Show (1 episode, 1997)
• Mad About You (2 episodes, 1998)
• Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show (1 episode, 1998)
• It's Like, You Know... (2 episodes, 1999)
• Charmed (3 episodes, 2000)
• The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne (5 episodes, 2000)
• JAG (1 episode, 2001)
• Curb Your Enthusiasm (1 episode, 2001)
• Comic Remix (1 episode, 2002)
• My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star (11 episodes, 2002)
• NYPD Blue (1 episode, 2002)
• According to Jim (1 episode, 2004)
• Six Feet Under (1 episode, 2004)
• Joan of Arcadia (1 episode, 2004)
• Alias (1 episode, 2005)
• Family Plan (2005)
• Lost (1 episode, 2005)
• Van Stone: Tour of Duty (2006)
• Rodney (1 episode, 2006)
• Drive (1 episode, 2007)
• Leverage (3 episodes, 2008-2009)

Video game

• The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (2005)

Writer

• An Evening at the Improv (1 episode, 1983)
• The New Adventures of Beans Baxter (1 episode, 1987)
• Dennis Miller Live (Unknown episodes, 1994)

Awards and nominations

Emmy Awards

• Nominated: Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music Program, Dennis Miller Live (1997)
• Won: Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing for a Variety or Music Program, Dennis Miller Live (1996)

Writers Guild of America Award

• Nominated: Comedy/Variety (Including Talk) - Series, Dennis Miller Live (1997)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]