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Jeffrey Tambor

 
Actor: Jeffrey Tambor
  • Born: Jul 08, 1944 in San Francisco, California
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '80s-2000s
  • Major Genres: Comedy, Children's/Family
  • Career Highlights: Pollock, Muppets from Space, Weapons of Mass Distraction
  • First Major Screen Credit: The Awakening of Candra (1981)

Biography

Character actor Jeffrey Tambor has built his career in comedies playing the role of the uptight boss, or more generally, the stuffy guy. After graduate school, teaching, and a prolific stage career, Tambor started making television guest-starring appearances in the early '70s. He showed up on Three's Company enough that he eventually got a spot on the spin-off series The Ropers as the disapproving next-door neighbor Jeffrey. After the show's two-season run, he did a few TV movies before landing a reoccurring roles on the television version of 9 to 5, naturally playing the Dabney Coleman boss character. Throughout the '80s and early '90s, he continued to play the role of the stuffy guy on television (The Golden Girls, L.A. Law, Max Headroom) and movies (Mr. Mom, City Slickers, Life Stinks). His big break came in 1992, when he was cast as Garry Shandling's smiling sidekick, Hank Kingsley, on HBO's The Larry Sanders Show, his most recognizable role. For the rest of the '90s, he frequently returned to playing snide characters for movies (Teaching Mrs. Tingle, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Muppets From Space), although he would be more well-known for his work on television. In 1999, he appeared on the AMC series The Lot for its two-season run and provided voice talent for the MTV cartoon show 3 South. He played another boss type in the heist film Scorched in 2002. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
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Jeffrey Tambor

Tambor interviewed at the 1991 Emmy Awards
Born Jeffrey Michael Tambor
July 8, 1944 (1944-07-08) (age 65)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation Actor
Years active 1976 – present
Spouse(s) Kathryn Mitchell (1991–1999)
Kasia Ostlun (2001–present) 2 children

Jeffrey Michael Tambor (born July 8, 1944) is an American actor, perhaps most known for his roles as George Bluth Sr. on the television series Arrested Development and Hank Kingsley on The Larry Sanders Show.

Contents

Personal life

Tambor was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Eileen (née Salzberg), a housewife, and Barney Tambor, a flooring contractor. He grew up in a Conservative Jewish family with roots in Hungary.[1][2] Tambor is a graduate of San Francisco State University, where he studied acting and then went on to receive a master's degree from Wayne State University

Some reports state that, like Tambor's longtime associate, acting coach Milton Katselas, Tambor is a Scientologist.[3] However, in February 2008, Tambor expressed concern about "internet reports" that he is involved with the religion and stated that he "took some Scientology classes at one time, studied Scientology for a while, but no more. I have nothing against it, but I am no longer a Scientologist."[4]

In 1991, Tambor married Kathryn Mitchell. They divorced in 1999. His second marriage was with Kasia Ostlun, and married in 2001. They have four children.

His daughter, Allisa Tambor, received a degree at York University early in June.

On The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on June 3, 2009, Tambor announced his wife is pregnant with twin boys due in October 2009. The boys, Hugo Bernard and Eli Nicholas were born on October 4.[5]

Career

Early career

Tambor first moved to repertory theater, later making his Broadway debut in the comedy Sly Fox (1976), appearing with George C. Scott and directed by Arthur Penn. He appeared in Measure For Measure in the same year, and in 2005 in David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross. He has had a significant career in episodic TV, where he made numerous guest appearances and played characters on different shows. Among those shows were Taxi, Kojak, M*A*S*H, Three's Company, and The Ropers. Tambor played four different characters on Three's Company at various points between 1979 and 1982. In an early TV job, an ad for Avis rent-a-car, he was seen running (huffing and puffing) through an airport, mocking O.J. Simpson's "Go, O.J., go!" ads for Hertz. In 1987–88, Tambor appeared as a regular on the prime time ABC series Max Headroom as Murray, Edison's editor. Later on in his career, he would have success starring in The Larry Sanders Show as egocentric side kick Hank Kingsley.

The Larry Sanders Show

Tambor is often remembered as Hank Kingsley, the sidekick of fictional talk show host Larry Sanders on The Larry Sanders Show. Tambor received four Emmy nominations for his performance on the show - all of which he would lose to Michael Richards for Seinfeld, David Hyde Pierce for Frasier, and his co-star, Rip Torn. He is also often remembered for his then famous catch phrase "Hey now."

Arrested Development

In 2003, he starred in the television comedy Arrested Development in a dual role as twin brothers, George Bluth Sr. and Oscar Bluth. In 2004, Tambor was nominated for his fifth Emmy award, but lost to David Hyde Pierce for the final season of the sitcom Frasier. In 2005, Tambor received his sixth Emmy nomination for his work on the show. Par for the course, he lost to Brad Garrett for his performance in the final season of Everybody Loves Raymond.

Later career

Tambor served as the announcer for the game show Hollywood Squares in 2002 and 2003 and also made an appearance as well. He was also the voice of King Neptune in 2004's The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. In the spring of 2005, he starred as George Aaronow in the Broadway revival of Glengarry Glen Ross.

After the cancellation of Arrested Development in April 2006, Tambor signed on to a series with John Lithgow called Twenty Good Years about two men who ponder the last 20 years of their life. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 2006, but was taken off the air after only a few episodes. Also in 2006, he portrayed George Washington on The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd. He also starred as "Uncle" Saul in the CBS comedy Welcome to The Captain until its cancellation in March 2008. He made a cameo appearance in Entourage Season 5, Episode 7, as himself. He appeared again in Season 6 Episode 5.

For several years, based on his availability, Tambor has also taught a popular class for actors. He was formerly a longtime teaching associate of famed acting coach Milton Katselas.

In 2009, Tambor appeared in the animation film Monsters vs. Aliens and in the comedy The Hangover.

TVGuide.com has reported that Tambor will star in a new indie comedy, Lucky.[6]

Awards and nominations

Tambor has been nominated for two Emmy Awards on Arrested Development and four for The Larry Sanders Show. He has won a Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He has been nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast of Arrested Development, for Best Cast in a Comedy Series. He has also been nominated for a Television Critics Association Awards for Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Comedy Series.

Filmography

Preceded by
Shadoe Stevens
Hollywood Squares announcer
2002–2003
Succeeded by
John Moschitta

In popular culture

In The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror XVII", Homer turns into a large blob, and eats Dr Phil and states that he tastes like Jeffrey Tambor.

References

  1. ^ Schleier, Curt. A ‘bagelly Jew’, Jewish News Weekly of Northern California, 21 May 2004.
  2. ^ Jeffrey Tambor interview, Tavis Smiley, 30 January 2008.
  3. ^ Oppenheimer, Mark. The Actualizer, The New York Times, 15 July 2007.
  4. ^ Beck, Marilyn and Stacy Jenel. The Hollywood Exclusive, LA.com, 4 February 2008.
  5. ^ Adam Bryant. "Jeffrey Tambor, Wife Welcome Twin Boys". TVGuide.com. http://www.tvguide.com/News/Jeffrey-Tambor-Twins-1010872.aspx. 
  6. ^ Gina DiNunno (4 September 2009). "Colin Hanks and Jeffrey Tambor Get Lucky". TVGuide.com. http://movies.tvguide.com/Movie-News/Colin-Hanks-Jeffrey-1009466.aspx. Retrieved 2009-09-08. 

External links


 
 
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