David Schwimmer
2 November 1966
Astoria, New York, USA
6' 1" (1,85 m)
Born in New York and raised in Los Angeles. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Grace Z
Born on his mother's birthday.
Graduated from Northwestern University. His classmate was his friend, Roger Kumble.
Along with best friend & fellow actor Joey Slotnick, he helped found the Looking Glass Theater Company, based in Chicago, Illinois.
Before Friends (1994) Schwimmer competed against high-school friend Jonathan Silverman and actor Jon Cryer for a role in the TV pilot Couples (1994). Silverman won the role opposite Helen Slater, but ABC passed on the show. The producers later reconceived the show for singles and sold it to NBC as Friends (1994) in which Schwimmer was the first actor to be cast.
Called up a London talk show to deny false claims that cast members of Friends (1994) were demanding $1,000,000 each per episode. [April 2000]
Has worked extensively on the stage both as actor and director.
Is on the board of directors of the Rape Foundation for the Rape Treatment Center of Santa Monica.
Split up from Mili Avital in November 2001.
Member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity.
January 2003 - Premiered his play "Turnaround" at the 99-seat West Hollywood Coast theater. All of his "Friends" were in attendance.
He graduated Beverly Hills High School in 1984 and performed in stage productions there under the direction of John Ingle.
Went to Beverly Hills High School, the same high school as Logan Lerman, Angelina Jolie, Michael Klesic, Nicolas Cage, Lenny Kravitz, Jonathan Silverman, Gina Gershon, Rhonda Fleming, Jackie Cooper, Rob Reiner, Antonio Sabato Jr., Pauly Shore, Michael Tolkin, Betty White, Corbin Bernsen, Elizabeth Daily, Albert Brooks and Crispin Glover.
Both his parents, Arlene Coleman-Schwimmer and Arthur Schwimmer, had small parts in Desde que os fuisteis (1998), which he directed.
David once said in an interview, he would like to become a public school teacher after Friends (1994) ended.
Has an older sister, Ellie Schwimmer.
Playing "Michael" in Aquellos maravillosos años (1988), he rides a 500cc Triumph Daytona motorcycle. The same motorcycle, also seen in other episodes, is also seen mounted on the back of his character's Volkswagen van.
Ate only lox and bagels from Cassels Market in Margate, during the filming of Duane Hopwood (2005).
Was originally going to direct "The Persuaders" (2009) with George Clooney and Hugh Grant in the lead roles but the movie got scrapped.
Was so busy filming Mi desconocido amigo (1996) that he missed Lisa Kudrow's wedding.
Turned down Ben Affleck's role in Persiguiendo a Amy (1997).
Turned down Will Smith's role in Hombres de negro (1997).
Allergic to cats.
Revealed that he had conflict with writers and cast members of Friends (1994).
He was awarded the 1991 Joseph Jefferson Award Citation for Director - Play for directing a stage adaptation of "The Jungle" at the Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois.
Joy Gregory and he were nominated for a 2003 Joseph Jefferson Award for New Adaptation for "Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About" at the Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.
Lives in Los Angeles, California.
Became good friends with John Krasinski during the filming of Duane Hopwood (2005). Schwimmer attended Krasinski's July 2010 marriage to Emily Blunt.
With Andy Bellin, nominated for a 2010 Joseph Jefferson Award for New Work - Play for "Trust" at the Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.
Became a 1st time father at age 44 when his wife Zoe Buckman gave birth to their daughter Cleo Buckman Schwimmer on May 8, 2011.
Starring in a London West End play, Neil LaBute's "Some Girl(s)" at the Gielgud Theatre with Saffron Burrows. [April 2005]
His family is Ashkenazi Jewish (from Ukraine, Austria, Russia, Germany, and Belarus). While most of his family moved directly to the United States, one of his paternal great-grandmothers was born in Liverpool, England, to immigrant parents.
I've made a good amount of money. I'm very happy that I can now support my theatre company and support friends and family, and I'm ready to maybe go back to school and change careers.
To be perfectly honest, I feel I have a duty to use my celebrity status in a positive way. Most rape victims are women, so the bulk of the discussion is loaded towards women. I thought I could find a way to approach the subject of rape in such a way that men are going to respond to it. My most devastating moment was when a 13-year-old girl told me her story. At that moment, I realized just how important this center really is. Nothing else had ever made me connect with reality like that.
[on his post-Friends (1994) activity in live theatre] The best thing about going back to drama was discovering how good I feel as a leader. I feel I'm a natural collaborator, but I'm also good at bringing people together..People really have to know their opinion matters. And I can remember the days when I was happiest as an actor were those days when my opinion seemed to make a difference.
[on Friends (1994)] The miracle is the casting. Having been on the other side of it now in terms of directing and producing, to find one magical actor who is just right for the role is difficult enough, but to find six and then to have them actually have chemistry with each other is just kind of a miracle. I looked at the five of them. I watched their work and thought, Everyone is just so talented and perfect for their character. And they grew into their characters and enriched them and deepened them.
I don't think I responded very well to the sudden celebrity, the sudden fame, and the loss of privacy. There were several moments that were quite traumatic for me. I remember just going to the airport and walking to my gate, when I heard bloodcurdling screams and I thought someone was being killed. Before I knew it, a group of girls was running at me and literally dragging me and wouldn't let me go.
[on David Crane, Marta Kauffman and other writers on Friends (1994)] They really invited our ideas. They created an atmosphere in which we could play and fail and pitch stuff. And because of that it wasn't about any individual - it was about all of us trying to come up with the funniest and the best and the most emotional material we could. It was hands down the best creative experience I've had professionally, as an actor - a huge high, and it spoils you for life.
[on being the first member of the Friends (1994) cast to receive film offers] I said to the group, "Here's the deal. I'm being advised to ask for more money, but I think - instead of that - we should all go in together... use this opportunity to talk openly about the six of us being paid the same. I don't want to come to work feeling that there's going to be any kind of resentment from anyone else in the cast down the line". I thought it was significant for us to become a mini-union.
As an actor, the training I received was that I walk through the world as an observer of life and of people. My job is to actually be looking out all the time and watching people. But the effect of celebrity on me was that I suddenly found myself with a baseball cap, with my head down, hiding everywhere I went.
Friends (1994) $24.000.000 (2002-3 season)
Friends (1994) $750.000 / episode
Friends (1994) $22.500 /episode (1995)
Friends (1994) $75.000 /episode (1996)
Friends (1994) $1.000.000 from season 8 to 10
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