Early life

Schwimmer was born in Flushing, Queens, New York City, to attorneys Arthur and Arlene Coleman-Schwimmer. He has an older sister named Ellie (born 1965). His family subsequently moved to Los Angeles, where Schwimmer had his first experiences of acting at the age of 10 when he was cast as the fairy godmother in a Jewish version of Cinderella. In 1979, Schwimmer went to a Shakespeare workshop given by English actor Ian McKellen in Los Angeles. He recalls that he was riveted by the experience. Schwimmer then entered a contest in the Southern California Shakespeare Festival three years in a row, winning two first prizes.

Following his mother's successful career as a divorce lawyer, the family moved to Beverly Hills, where Schwimmer attended Beverly Hills High School. Schwimmer admitted to being an outsider during his time at the school, recalling, "When I was there I always felt: 'This is not me, I'm surrounded by people with a different value system. And I just wanted to get out of California.'" He was best at the subjects of science and math and thought he would become a doctor. Schwimmer enrolled in a drama class, where he appeared in stage productions. Encouraged by his school drama teacher to further his acting, he flew to Chicago for an acting workshop. He noted that the experience was both "enlightening and exhilarating". In 1984, Schwimmer graduated from Beverly Hills High and wanted to go straight into acting, but his parents insisted he go to college first so he would have something to fall back on. Schwimmer moved to Chicago to attend Northwestern University, where he had attended a summer drama course when he was 16 years old. At the university, he studied theater was in an improv group with Stephen Colbert, the No-Fun Mud Piranhas. After graduating in 1988, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater and speech, Schwimmer co-founded the Lookingglass Theatre Company. Subsequently, he returned to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.

Career

1989-1994: Early work

After his supporting role debut in the ABC television movie A Deadly Silence (1989), Schwimmer followed this with roles on the legal drama L.A. Law in 1992, and the comedy-drama series The Wonder Years. He made his feature film debut in Flight of the Intruder (1991), had a recurring role as a lawyer-turned-vigilante in NYPD Blue before auditioning, unsuccessfully, for a series pilot called Couples. He landed his first regular series role as the liberal son of a conservative talk show host (Henry Winkler) in the sitcom Monty.

1994-2004: Breakthrough

In 1994, Schwimmer was cast as Ross Geller in NBC's situation comedy Friends, a series that revolved around a group of friends who live near each other in Manhattan. He played a hopeless-romantic paleontologist who works at a museum and later becomes a professor at a university. Schwimmer initially turned down the role as Ross, but accepted afterwards. Executive producer Kevin S. Bright said that he had previously worked with Schwimmer, the character of Ross was written with him in mind, and he was the first actor cast. Schwimmer based Ross on Nicolas Cage's role of Charlie from the 1986 film Peggy Sue Got Married. The show debuted on September 22, 1994, and was watched by almost 22 million American viewers. Friends quickly developed a loyal audience, with the show and Schwimmer receiving strong reviews. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was complimentary of Schwimmer, calling him "terrific". Variety's television reviewer, said: "All six of the principals, especially (Courteney) Cox and Schwimmer, appear resourceful and display sharp sitcom skills". For this performance, he earned an Emmy Award nomination in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1995.

Schwimmer starred in his first leading film role in the 1996 romantic comedy film, The Pallbearer with Gwyneth Paltrow. In the film, Schwimmer plays a man asked to deliver the eulogy for a high school friend he cannot remember, and begins an affair with the friend's mother. Critics dismissed The Pallbearer as a poor imitation of the 1967 film The Graduate. Variety's film reviewer complimented the actor, writing that he had enjoyed his performance, stating that he displayed "a winning, if rather deadpan, personality along with good comic timing". It also concluded that Schwimmer had a "promising bigscreen future". Janet Maslin of The New York Times cited that his first film "relegates him to a drab role". When asked why he decided to accept the role, Schwimmer admitted the decision was to "make an effort to find roles that are as far away from the character of Ross as possible". He was offered a role to star alongside Tommy Lee Jones in the 1997 science-fiction comedy Men in Black, but turned it down in favor of starring in The Pallbearer, explaining, "This is an opportunity to grow rather than go for the quick cash".

His next film roles in 1998 were Kissing a Fool, Six Days Seven Nights, and Apt Pupil. In Kissing a Fool, a romantic comedy, Schwimmer played Max, a dapper, smart-mouthed ladies' man. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "Fans of the sitcom Friends may be surprised by David Schwimmer in Kissing a Fool. Take it from someone who has never seen Friends and comes at Schwimmer with no preconceptions: He does just fine. As a TV sports reporter in Kissing a Fool, he oozes the command and self-satisfaction of a young, successful man". The film was critically and financially unsuccessful. In Six Days Seven Nights, he played the boyfriend of Anne Heche's character. In Apt Pupil, adapted from a novella of the same name by Stephen King, he had a supporting role as a school guidance counselor. "I was scared of the part", Schwimmer said, "but I wanted to be part of the movie". At the time, he noted it was a "little frustrating" that people would typecast him due to his role on Friends. He subsequently appeared opposite Woody Allen and Sharon Stone in Alfonso Arau's straight-to-cable comedy Picking Up the Pieces (2000).

In 2001, Schwimmer played Captain Herbert M. Sobel in Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks' HBO World War II miniseries Band of Brothers. The television miniseries is based on the book of the same title written by historian and biographer Stephen Ambrose. Although Band of Brothers was met with largely positive reception, Schwimmer's performance was criticized; the BBC News concluded, "Part of the problem ... may have been the ridiculous fact that Friends favourite David Schwimmer plays the hard and cruel Captain Herbert Sobel. The only thing believable about Schwimmer's acting is when he cowers in the face of true battle. His puppy dog eyes make him appear even more pitiful". Later that year he portrayed Yitzhak Zuckerman in the war drama Uprising, based on the true events of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943.

In March 2004, Schwimmer appeared as himself on HBO's comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm. During the lengthy run of Friends, Schwimmer directed ten of the show's episodes. The show's tenth and final season ended on May 6, 2004.

2004-2010: Directing

After Friends, Schwimmer starred in the 2005 independent drama Duane Hopwood, as the titular character who is an alcoholic whose life is spiraling downward rapidly after a divorce and is looking to turn his life around. The film received ambivalent reviews. Despite the reception, Schwimmer's performance was favored by critics; Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the role was Schwimmer's "career-transforming performance". Duane Hopwood was screened at a special presentation at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. Furthermore, in the same year he voiced Melman, a hypochondriac giraffe, in the computer animated film Madagascar (2005). The Washington Post noted that Schwimmer is particularly appealing as Melman. Despite the mixed response from critics, the film was a commercial success, earning US$532 million worldwide, making it one of the biggest hits of 2005.

Schwimmer starred on the London stage in May 2005, with Catherine Tate, Lesley Manville, Sara Powell, and Saffron Burrows, in Neil LaBute's Some Girl(s) at the Gielgud Theatre. In the production, he plays a teacher who is ready to settle down and marry, but decides to visit four ex-girlfriends first. For his performance, Schwimmer received critical reviews. The Independent wrote that Schwimmer "is not called upon to extend his range nearly as far as one might have expected in Some Girl(s). Schwimmer remains bland, competent, and boyish—though not fatally boyish in the manner that appears to have turned these women on". However, Charles Spencer of The Daily Telegraph praised Schwimmer, reporting he "proves inspired casting. He takes to the stage with ... his endearing gaucheness seems designed to ensure our continued sympathy. Schwimmer mercilessly lays bare his character's opportunism, casual cruelties, and chronic self-deception".

In 2006, he made his Broadway debut in Herman Wouk's two-act play The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. Schwimmer played the role of Lieutenant Barney Greenwald in the production, which was directed by Jerry Zaks. In an interview with New York magazine, he revealed that he had wanted to try Broadway, however said "a couple of things came up that just never quite felt right. Either because I liked the play but wasn’t hot on the director, or there was another star attached that I wasn't jazzed about working with". He further added that when showed a copy of Wouk's novel "...I was shocked at how good the writing was". His next film role was in the 2006 black comedy Big Nothing, in which he played a bitter, unemployed scientist.

Schwimmer made his directorial feature debut in the 2007 British comedy film Run Fatboy Run. The film stars Simon Pegg as a man who signs up for a marathon (he is out of shape) to convince his former fiancée and five-year-old son that he has turned his life around. When asked why he decided to direct the film, Schwimmer said: "As a director, I was struck by the challenge that I thought the script presented, which was that it was kind of three films in one. You had some great, big physical comedy, and I thought funny dialogue and characters. And then there was some real emotion to it with the relationship between the father and the son and the romance aspect". Run Fatboy Run garnered mixed reception, with the New York Daily News rating it one-and-a-half out of five stars and writing, "Most disappointing is how Schwimmer—who spent 10 seasons on a sitcom filled with hyperverbal characters—manages to bumble 'Fatboy's' tender moments". USA Today, however, was favorable towards Schwimmer, reporting he possesses filmmaking finesse "having wisely chosen strong comic material for his debut behind the camera". For his directorial work, he was nominated for a British Independent Film Award in the category of Best Debut Director.

On November 8, 2007, Schwimmer made a guest appearance in the second season of the television series 30 Rock, where he played Greenzo, an NBC environmental mascot. The following year, he was part of an ensemble cast that included Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, Alan Alda, Angela Bassett, and Noah Wyle in the thriller Nothing But the Truth (2008). The movie received generally favorable reviews. The success of Madagascar led Schwimmer to return to the role of Melman in the 2008 sequel, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. The film earned US$603 million at the international box office. Schwimmer took part in directing in-studio segments for Little Britain USA, an American spinoff of the British BBC television series Little Britain. In regard to this, he commented that he had "a good time directing episodes" for the show.

In October 2008, Schwimmer made his Off-Broadway directorial debut in Fault Lines at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York. The production won a mixed review from the Los Angeles Times, which wrote: "Based on Fault Lines ... we can't really tell whether Schwimmer has much talent as a director. We're surprised he didn't try something more challenging for his debut. If not much else, Schwimmer has encouraged his actors to intense their energy levels and comic timing at all costs". The New York Post, however, noted that Schwimmer "knows a thing or two about freewheeling banter ... and for a good while the play crackles with terrific dialogue, expertly delivered". In February 2009, he returned to theater in a Chicago production of Thornton Wilder's three-act play Our Town as George Gibbs at the Lookingglass Theatre. "Schwimmer ... turns in a poignant, richly textured and demonstrably heartfelt performance as George Gibbs. I've seen a fair bit of Schwimmer's post-Friends stage work in London and New York, and I've never seen him better", commented the Chicago Tribune.

On August 2, 2009, Schwimmer played himself in the sixth season of the HBO television series, Entourage. In the episode, Ari Gold's (Jeremy Piven) agency tries to steer his career back to television. Schwimmer directed his second feature, Trust, starring Clive Owen and Catherine Keener. The film, a drama, is about a family whose teenage daughter becomes victim of an online sexual predator. Trust premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival.

2010-present: Return to television

On January 1, 2011, Schwimmer guest-starred on the British comedy series Come Fly With Me starring Matt Lucas and David Walliams, whom he directed in Little Britain USA.

In 2014, it was announced that Schwimmer has been cast as the lead in the ABC comedy pilot Irreversible. He will play "one half of a somewhat eccentric, self-absorbed couple" in his first comedic television role since Friends finished in 2004. As of January 2016, Schwimmer is playing Robert Kardashian in the first season of the FX anthology series American Crime Story. The series is developed by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski and is based on the novel, The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson by Jeffrey Toobin. In January 2016, it was announced that Schwimmer and Jim Sturgess would be starring in the new AMC crime drama, Feed the Beast. Schwimmer will be playing Tommy Moran, while Sturgess will play Moran's best friend, Dion Patras

Personal life

In the early 2000s, Schwimmer dated Australian pop singer Natalie Imbruglia, Israeli actress Mili Avital, and American actress Rochelle Ovitt. In 2007, Schwimmer and British artist Zoë Buckman began a relationship. In March 2010, Schwimmer announced their engagement and married Buckman in a small private ceremony that June. On May 8, 2011, the couple had a daughter, Cleo Buckman Schwimmer.

In June 2006, Schwimmer won a US$400,000 defamation lawsuit against Aaron Tonken, a former charity fundraiser. Tonken claimed Schwimmer had demanded Rolex watches in order to appear at his own charity event, a claim that Schwimmer had denied.

Schwimmer is an active director of the Rape Treatment Center in Santa Monica, which specializes in helping victims of date rape and child rape. He has also campaigned for legislation to ban drugs such as Rohypnol and GHB. In November 2011, he gave the Scottish charity Children 1st permission to screen his film Trust to commemorate World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse and Violence against Children.

In 2012 he rebutted two longstanding rumors: one that he appeared as a soldier on a train in Biloxi Blues (1988), saying, "No. I don't know why that's on IMDb, but I never was in that", and the other that he is related to dancer Lacey Schwimmer, saying, "No, not at all. Please set the record straight. I guess it's a natural assumption because we have the same last name, but no. I've never even met her".

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Flight of the Intruder	Duty Officer
1992	Crossing the Bridge	John Anderson
1993	Twenty Bucks	Neil Campbell
1994	Wolf	Cop
1996	The Pallbearer	Tom Thompson
1997	Breast Men	Dr. Kevin Saunders
1998	The Thin Pink Line	Kelly Goodish/J.T.
1998	Kissing a Fool	Max Abbitt
1998	Six Days Seven Nights	Frank Martin
1998	Since You've Been Gone	Robert S. Levitt	Also director
1998	Apt Pupil	Edward French
1999	It's the Rage	Chris
2000	Love & Sex	Jehovah's Witness	Uncredited
2000	Picking Up the Pieces	Father Leo Jerome
2001	Hotel	Jonathan Danderfine
2005	Duane Hopwood	Duane Hopwood
2005	Madagascar	Melman	Voice
2006	Big Nothing	Charlie
2007	Run Fatboy Run		Director
2008	Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa	Melman	Voice
2008	Nothing But the Truth	Ray Armstrong
2010	Trust		Director
2012	John Carter	Young Thark Warrior
2012	Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted	Melman	Voice
2012	The Iceman	Josh Rosenthal
2013	Madly Madagascar	Melman	Voice Short film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991-1992	The Wonder Years	Michael	4 episodes
1992-1993	L.A. Law	Dana Romney	5 episodes
1993	NYPD Blue	Josh '4B' Goldstein	4 episodes
1993	Blossom	Sonny Catalano	2 episodes
1994	Monty	Greg Richardson	13 episodes
1994-2004	Friends	Ross Geller	236 episodes; also directed 10 episodes
1995	The Single Guy	Ross Geller	Episode: "Neighbors"
1996	ER	Dr. Karubian (voice)	Uncredited Episode: "Doctor Carter, I Presume"
1998	Since You've Been Gone	Robert S. Levitt	Television film
2001	Band of Brothers	Captain Herbert Sobel	3 episodes
2001	Uprising	Yitzhak Zuckerman	Television film
2004	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Himself	3 episodes
2004-2005	Joey		Directed 2 episodes
2007	30 Rock	Greenzo/Jared	Episode: "Greenzo"
2008	Little Britain USA		Director
2009	Entourage	Himself	Episode: "Running on E"
2009	Merry Madagascar	Melman	Voice Television special
2011	Come Fly With Me	Himself	episode 1.2
2012	Web Therapy	Newell Miller	4 episodes
2014	Growing Up Fisher		Director ("Pilot")
2015	Episodes	Himself	Episode #4.5
2016	The People v. O.J. Simpson	Robert Kardashian	10 episodes
2016	Feed the Beast	Tommy Moran	Upcoming series

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Series	Result
1995	Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
1996	American Comedy Awards	Funniest Supporting Male Performer in a TV Series	Friends	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Friends	Won
1999	Blockbuster Entertainment Award	Favorite Supporting Actor in a Comedy/Romance	Six Days, Seven Nights	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
2000	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
	TV Guide Awards	Editor's Choice	Friends	Won
2001	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
2002	Satellite Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television	Band of Brothers	Won
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
2003	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
2004	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
2006	TV Land Award	Most Memorable Kiss	Friends	Nominated
2007	British Independent Film Awards	Douglas Hickox Award	Run Fatboy Run	Nominated
	TV Land Awards	Break Up That Was So Bad It Was Good	Friends	Nominated

Charities

David Schwimmer supports the following charitable causes: Domestic Violence, Rape/Sexual Abuse.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]