Fans Of Friends

David Lawrence Schwimmer was born on his mother's birthday (November 2, 1966) in New York and raised in Los Angeles. David is an American actor and director of television and film. His family moved to Los Angeles when he was two. He began his acting career performing in school plays at Beverly Hills High School. In 1988, he graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Arts in theater and speech. After graduation, along with best friend and fellow actor Joey Slotnick, Schwimmer helped found the Looking Glass Theater Company, based in Chicago, Illinois. For much of the late-1980s, he lived in Los Angeles as a struggling, unemployed actor.

Heading back West, Schwimmer began to find roles on television, landing a recurring role as Olivia d'Abo's hippie boyfriend in the waning seasons of "The Wonder Years" (ABC, 1988-1993). Following his feature acting debut in the coming-of-age drama, "Crossing the Bridge" (1992), he had recurring roles as an ambitious lawyer on "L.A. Law" (NBC, 1986-1994) and an unstable mugging victim on "NYPD Blue" (ABC, 1993-2005). Schwimmer had his first regular series gig as the liberal son of a conservative talk show host in the failed Henry Winkler vehicle, "Monty" (Fox, 1993-94).

Schwimmer later gained worldwide recognition for playing Ross Geller in the sitcom Friends. David earned the sympathy and attention of audiences who bought into his on-again, off-again relationship with Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), which was perhaps the most talked-about aspect of the entire series.

Before "Friends" (1994) Schwimmer competed against high-school friend Jonathan Silverman and actor Jon Cryer for a role in the TV pilot Couples (1994) (TV). 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. Later, in April 2000 David was called up a London talk show to deny false claims that cast members of "Friends" (1994) were demanding $1,000,000 each per episode.

During his run on "Friends," Schwimmer had his first leading role in a feature, playing an architect asked to deliver the eulogy for a high school friend he doesn't remember in "The Pallbearer" (1996). Critics dismissed the dark comedy as a pale imitation of "The Graduate" (1967) while audiences virtually ignored the film. He did have a rather unique turn in "Breast Men" (HBO, 1997), a docudrama in which he played one of the doctors responsible for introducing the world to silicone breast implants. But like most of his "Friends" castmates, Schwimmer struggled to translate his small screen appeal onto the big screen. But based on the strength of the show's success, he was signed to a multi-picture, non-exclusive deal by Miramax under which he directed "Since You've Been Gone" (ABC, 1998), a comedy about a 10-year high school reunion. Perhaps attempting to reposition himself in the marketplace, Schwimmer began accepting supporting roles in major releases like Bryan Singer's "Apt Pupil" (1998), based on a Stephen King novella, and Ivan Reitman's comedy "Six Days/Seven Nights" (1998), in which he played the noncommittal boyfriend of Anne Heche.

Schwimmer subsequently appeared opposite Woody Allen and Sharon Stone in Alfonso Arou's straight-to-cable comedic misfire "Picking Up the Pieces"(2000), had a terrific uncredited cameo in the underrated indie "Love & Sex" (2000), and took smaller roles in the ensembles of "The Thin Pink Line" (1998), "All the Rage" (1999) and Mike Figgis' "Hotel" (2001). He fared better on the small screen with roles as an Army captain in Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks' acclaimed HBO miniseries, "Band of Brothers" (2001), and as a Jew in the Warsaw ghetto in the cable network's powerful film, "Uprising" (2001). Also on HBO, he had a fine recurring stint playing an uptight version of himself during the 2004 season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (2001- ), where he was cast opposite Larry David in a stage version of Mel Brooks' "The Producers" and soon engaged in a caustic rivalry with his badgering co-star. Then after 10 highly-rated seasons, "Friends" finally came to close in 2004, with Ross' long-running relationship with Rachel ending with their reunion after what appeared to be their inevitable and permanent split.

With the show firmly in the past, Schwimmer set his sights on the future, directing episodes of the show's spin-off "Joey" (NBC, 2004- ) starring "Friends" co-star Matt LeBlanc. In 2005, he made his London stage debut at the Gielgud Theater in "Some Girls" opposite Lesley Manville and Saffron Burrows. He also voiced Melman the Giraffe in "Madagascar" (2005), Disney's animated adventure about four zoo animals who escape and inadvertently find themselves in Africa where the city slickers struggle to survive in the wild. After making his Broadway debut in a revival of Herman Wouk's "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial" (2006), Schwimmer made his feature debut as a director with "Run Fatboy, Run" (2007), which starred Simon Pegg as an overweight man who tries to win back the fiancée (Thandie Newton) he left five years before by running a marathon. Following a guest episode of "30 Rock" (NBC, 2006- ) as an out-of-control environment mascot, he revived the voice of Melman for "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" (2008) and the Christmas special "Merry Madagascar" (NBC, 2009). Though taking time off from acting to direct the independent movie "Trust," Schwimmer was back in the news following his engagement to photographer Zoe Buckman, which the couple announced in March 2010

Following the series finale of Friends in 2004, Schwimmer was cast as the titular character in the 2005 drama Duane Hopwood. Other film roles include Melman in the computer animated Madagascar films, the dark comedy Big Nothing (2006), and the thriller Nothing But the Truth (2008). Schwimmer made his London stage debut in the leading role in Some Girl(s) in 2005. In 2006, he made his Broadway debut in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. Schwimmer made his feature film directorial debut with the 2007 comedy Run Fatboy Run. The following year he made his Off-Broadway directorial debut in the 2008 production Fault Lines.

David Schwimmer Relationships:

Arthur Schwimmer - Father

Ellie Schwimmer - Sister

Natalie Imbruglia - Ex-significant Other

Mili Avital - Ex-significant Other

Zoe Buckman - Wife

Arlene Coleman-Schwimmer - Mother

Cleo Buckman Schwimmer - Daughter