David Cross

For other people named David Cross, see David Cross (disambiguation).

David Cross
at the 2007 Plug Awards
Born	April 4, 1964 (1964-04-04) (age 47) Atlanta, Georgia, US
Medium	Stand up, Television, Film, Books
Nationality	American
Years active	1992–present
Genres	Satire, Black comedy, Blue comedy, Observational comedy, Sketch comedy
Subject(s)	Recreational drug use, Drinking culture, Race relations, American culture, Self-deprecation, Human behavior, Religion, Human sexuality
Notable works and roles	Host/Various – Mr. Show Tobias Funke – Arrested Development

David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American actor, writer and stand-up comedian perhaps best known for his work on HBO's sketch comedy series Mr. Show and for his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox sitcom Arrested Development.

Cross stars in The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret and had a recurring role in the Fox sitcom Running Wilde.

Early life

Cross was born in Atlanta, Georgia to a Jewish family;^{[citation needed]} the son of Susi^[1] and a father who immigrated from Leeds, England.^[2] Six months after his birth, Cross's family moved to Florida. After additional moves to New York and Connecticut, the family settled back in Roswell, Georgia, where Cross remained for nearly a decade. His father was often absent, and his family was poor. Cross and his family were evicted from their home while living in Georgia. He spent some time living in motels and at friends' homes while growing up.^[3] Cross has been estranged from his father since age 19, although they both reside in New York City.^[3] He has two sisters, and once bailed his youngest sibling out of jail.^[4]

Career

Beginnings in comedy

Cross began performing stand-up comedy at 17. The day after he graduated from high school, Cross went to New York. Lacking a plan, he drifted around, working briefly for a lawn care company on Long Island, and later enrolled at Emerson College in Boston. He would drop out after only a semester, but during his time there he discovered his new favourite things: partying and sketch comedy. Cross joined This is Pathetic, a college sketch group, where he met John Ennis. In the summer of 1985, the two aspiring actors took a road trip to Los Angeles, although this did not significantly further their acting careers. In Boston, Cross began to perform stand-up more regularly. From the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, Boston had a booming comedy scene, although Cross did not fit the types of acts being booked most of the time. He recalls that it was "a loud-, dumb-, pandering-, racist-, homophobic-type scene".^[5]

In 1990, a new comedy scene began to emerge at the famous comedy club chain called Catch a Rising Star (where many of the comedians of the 1970s and 1980s got their start). Cross—along with Janeane Garofalo, Louis C.K., and other comics—appeared regularly several nights a week. Cross formed the sketch comedy group "Cross Comedy" with twelve other performers, and they put on a new show every week. They were known for playing tricks on the audience, such as introducing fake comics or planting fake hecklers. Cross became increasingly focused on his comedy work.^[5] Cross performed at the alternative comedy club Un-Cabaret in Los Angeles.

Work on The Ben Stiller Show, Mr. Show and other programs

Cross began his professional television career as a writer on The Ben Stiller Show. The short-lived Fox Network series hired him toward the end of its run, and he occasionally made brief appearances in the sketches. He had a speaking role in "The Legend of T.J. O'Pootertoot", a sketch written almost entirely by Cross. It was during this period that he first met Bob Odenkirk, with whom he would later co-create the HBO sketch comedy series Mr. Show in 1995. Cross won an Emmy for his work on The Ben Stiller Show in 1993.^[6]

Cross later co-starred as Tobias Fünke in Arrested Development, which was originally intended to be only a minor role. He has also played smaller roles on programs such as Just Shoot Me!, The Drew Carey Show, NewsRadio, Strangers with Candy, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Since October 2005, Cross has appeared on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report as Stephen Colbert's arch-nemesis, a fictional liberal radio talk show host from Madison, Wisconsin named "Russ Lieber". Cross also developed an animated series for Comedy Central called Freak Show, which co-starred H. Jon Benjamin, and was cancelled due to low ratings. He has appeared several times on the MTV2 series Wonder Showzen.

Cross teamed up with Odenkirk to produce a feature film, based on one of their Mr. Show characters, called Run Ronnie Run. The film satirized the reality television craze, and featured cameos from many stars. However, Cross and Odenkirk came into creative conflict with the director, Troy Miller, and after nearly two years of production, New Line Cinema released it direct-to-video. In 1994 and again in 1999, Cross was a guest voice actor on Joe Frank's radio show, featured in the episodes "The Last Run", "A Hearing", "The O.J. Chronicles", and "Jam".

Cross continues to perform stand-up, in which he blends liberal-leaning political commentary and satire.^[7] In 1999, he was given his own one-hour comedy special on HBO, entitled The Pride Is Back. He has released three recordings, Shut Up You Fucking Baby!, It's Not Funny, and Bigger and Blackerer. Cross' stand up material was featured in Comedy Central's animated series Shorties Watchin' Shorties. In 2004, Shut Up You Fucking Baby! was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. In 2003, he released his first tour film, Let America Laugh, and was named #85 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest stand-ups of all time. He appears on Un-Cabaret compilation albums, including Freak Weather Feels Different and The Good, the Bad and the Drugly.

In 2004, Cross provided voices for a Marine in the Xbox game Halo 2, and a store clerk named Zero in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. He also was the voice of the violent, alcoholic "Happy-Time Harry" doll and Bert Banana in Aqua Teen Hunger Force (although the part was credited as Sir Willups Brightslymoore). He has also made guest appearances in the Adult Swim series Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!. He directed the music video for The Black Keys' song "10am Automatic", a spoof of public-access television.

Cross at the 2009 Brooklyn Book Festival

Cross appeared in The Strokes' music video for "Juicebox" as a bad local "morning zoo" radio DJ. He also appeared in The New Pornographers' video for "Use It", in Superchunk's video for "Watery Hands" (along with Janeane Garofalo), and in Yo La Tengo's video for "Sugarcube" (along with Bob Odenkirk and John Ennis). Cross contributes to Vice magazine, writing a column titled "My America".

In 2005, he contributed to the UNICEF benefit song "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?".

In the Beastie Boys' 2006 concert film Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!, Cross played the character Nathaniel Hörnblowér in the fictional segment "A Day in the Life of Nathaniel Hörnblowér". In the Bob Dylan biographical film I'm Not There, Cross played the role of poet Allen Ginsberg. Both Bill Lawrence and Zach Braff of Scrubs were ambitious to have Cross cameo on the show as Tobias Fünke, but because of the series' cancellation, the plan never came to fruition.^[8][9]

Cross provided commentary on the Vicarious music video DVD for the band Tool. He has previously performed comedy as an opening act for the band, and its members appeared on Mr. Show several times. He played Ian Hawke in the 2007 movie Alvin and the Chipmunks and Crane in the 2008 movie Kung Fu Panda, a role which he has continued through most of the animated franchise.

Cross starred in a pilot for HBO called David's Situation which filmed in May 2008 and included many Mr. Show alumni at the taping. On August 6, 2008, Bob Odenkirk announced on bobanddavid.com that David's Situation would not be produced.

Cross' comedy series The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, which he co-wrote with writer Shaun Pye, has run on Channel 4 in the UK and the cable channel IFC in the U.S. Cross's first book, I Drink For A Reason, was published in August 2009.

In September 2009, Cross performed at his own comedy stage at the ATP New York 2009 music festival, for which he picked Eugene Mirman, Jon Benjamin & Jon Glaser and Derrick Brown & The Navy Gravy to join him. In 2009 Cross, along with Jon Benjamin, created and wrote for Paid Programming, a live action television pilot for Cartoon Network's late night programing block, Adult Swim. Paid Programming was not picked up for a full series, and Benjamin referred to it as an "abject failure".^[10]

On March 29, 2010 Cross's first comedy special in six years "Bigger and Blackerer" was streamed on Epix HD. A CD with "slightly different content" was released on May 25, 2010.^[11]

Personal life

Cross was raised Jewish; however he is an atheist and does not practice Judaism.^[12][13] Actress Amber Tamblyn confirmed on August 17, 2011, that she and Cross had become engaged.^[14]

In October 2005, Cross was sued by Nashville club owner Thomas Weber, who accused Cross of taping him without permission for Shut Up You Fucking Baby and Let America Laugh in violation of Weber's privacy rights. In April 2006 the case against Cross himself was dismissed and the case proceeded with Warner Music, Subpop Records, WEA Corporation, and the Alternative Distribution Alliance.^[15][16]

Criticism of others

Larry the Cable Guy

In April 2005, Cross criticized stand-up comedian Larry the Cable Guy in a Rolling Stone interview, saying, "It's a lot of anti-gay, racist humor — which people like in America — all couched in 'I'm telling it like it is.' He's in the right place at the right time for that gee-shucks, proud-to-be-a-redneck, I'm-just-a-straight-shooter-multimillionaire-in-cutoff-flannel-selling-ring-tones act. That's where we are as a nation now. We're in a state of vague American values and anti-intellectual pride." In response, Larry devoted a chapter in his book GIT-R-DONE to Cross and the "P.C. left", claiming that Cross had "screwed with my fans, it was time for me to say something". Larry claimed that Rolling Stone was baiting comedians to attack him, and they turned to Cross only after Lewis Black refused. Cross responded with An Open Letter to Larry the Cable Guy posted on his website.^[17] He continued to mock Larry in his stand-up, satirizing Blue Collar TV during a guest appearance on Wonder Showzen. In December 2005, he ended his performance on Comedy Central's Last Laugh '05 by mockingly yelling "GIT-R-DONE!" (Larry the Cable Guy's catchphrase) to the audience as he left the stage. He pokes fun at Larry's comedy in Freak Show with a character called "Danny the Plumber Guy".

James Lipton

Cross has criticized Inside the Actors Studio host James Lipton, calling him "pretentious."^[18] Lipton, who thought that Cross's impression of him was not good-natured, would later appear alongside Cross in Arrested Development, in the recurring role of Prison Warden Stefan Gentles. During filming, Cross was impressed with Lipton's acting and comedic ability, and the two became good friends.^[19] On one commentary track for season four of Mr. Show, Cross discussed the encounter, complimenting Lipton for his professionalism and performance but maintaining his criticism of Lipton's show for its depiction of celebrities (which was displayed earlier in The Pride Is Back).

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Responding to critics of his decision to appear in the critically panned but commercially successful Alvin and the Chipmunks, Cross noted that the film paid for a summer home,^[20] and more than "all my other projects combined: book, TV show, the two pilots, Year One, yeah."^[21] Cross reprised his Chipmunks role in the film's two sequels.

Discography

• Shut Up, You Fucking Baby! (2002) 2CD
• Let America Laugh (2003) DVD
• It's Not Funny (2004) CD
• Bigger and Blackerer (May 2010) CD/DVD

Compilation appearances

• Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1 (2004) CD/DVD (featured clip on bonus DVD)
• Invite Them Up (Compilation) (2005) CD/DVD
• Comedy Death-Ray (Compilation) (2007) CD

Filmography

Television

The TV Wheel – Various (1995) Mr. Show – Host/Various (1995–1998) The Drew Carey Show (1996, 1997) – Earl NewsRadio (1996, 1998) – David/Theo (2 episodes) Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist (1997) Space Ghost Coast to Coast (1997) (1 episode) David Cross: The Pride Is Back (1999) Tenacious D (1999) Home Movies (2001) Just Shoot Me! (1999, 2000, 2003) – "Slow" Donnie Aqua Teen Hunger Force (2002–2003, 2008) (3 episodes)            King of the Hill (2003) – Ward Rackley (1 episode) Oliver Beene (2003) – Narrator Arrested Development (2003–2006) – Dr. Tobias Fünke Crank Yankers (2003, 2004) – Various (2 episodes) Celebrity Poker Showdown (2004) – Himself The Colbert Report (2005) – Russ Lieber Last Laugh 2005 (2005) – Himself

Tom Goes to the Mayor (2005) – Todd (1 episode) Wonder Showzen (2006) – Various (3 episodes) Family Guy (2006) – Jerry Kirkwood (1 episode) Freak Show (2006) – Benny, Primi & Various Night of Too Many Stars (2006) – Himself Odd Job Jack (2007) Julius J Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! (2007, 2008, 2010) – Various (3 episodes) Never Mind the Buzzcocks (2007) – Himself Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2007) – Ronnie Chase (1 episode) David's Situation (2008) – David (HBO pilot) Important Things with Demetri Martin (2009) – Co-worker (1 episode) Paid Programming (2009) – Co-creator (failed pilot) The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret (2010–present) – Todd Margaret Running Wilde (2010–2011) – Dr. Andy Weeks Soul Quest Overdrive (2011) – Bert Archer (2011) - Noah Modern Family (2011) - Duane (Recurring Role)

Films

Destiny Turns on the Radio (1995) – Ralph Dellaposa The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996) – Male Radio Caller/Bookstore Man       The Cable Guy (1996) – Sales Manager Waiting for Guffman (1996) – UFO Expert Men in Black (1997) – Newton, the Morgue Attendant Small Soldiers (1998) – Irwin Wayfair Ghost World (2000) – Gerrold Chain of Fools (2000) – Andy One Day... (2001) – The Turd Scooby Doo: Night of the Living Doo (2001) – Himself Life Without Dick (2001) – Rex Pootie Tang (2001) – Pootie Tang imposter Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001) – Dog/Animal Groupie #2 Scary Movie 2 (2001) – Dwight Hartman Men in Black II (2002) – Newton, the Video Store Attendant Martin & Orloff (2002) – Dan Wasserman Run Ronnie Run (2002) – Ronnie Melvin Goes to Dinner (2003) – Seminar Leader Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) – Rob Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That! (2006) – Nathaniel Hörnblowér She's the Man (2006) – Principal Gold

Curious George (2006) – Junior Bloomsberry (voice) School for Scoundrels (2006) – Ian Winsky Crashing (2007) – Man in Space The Grand (2007) – Larry Schwartzman I'm in Hell (2007) – Scott I'm Not There (2007) – Allen Ginsberg Battle for Terra (2007) – Giddy (voice) Alvin and The Chipmunks (2007) – Ian Hawke The Toe Tactic (2008) – Timmy (voice) Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008) – Yivo (voice) Kung Fu Panda (2008) – Master Crane (voice) The Legend of Secret Pass (2008) – Loo (voice) Demoted (2009) – Ken Castro Year One (2009) – Cain Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009) – Ian Hawke Cat Tale (2010) – Stork (voice) Megamind (2010) – Minion (voice) Fight For Your Right Revisited (2011) – Nathaniel Hörnblowér Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011) - Ian Hawke Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) – Crane (voice) Arrested Development (2012) - Tobias Funke

Music videos

• "Watery Hands" by Superchunk (1997) – Actor
• "Sugarcube" by Yo La Tengo (1997) – Actor
• "10 A.M. Automatic" by The Black Keys (2004) – Director
• "Juicebox" by The Strokes (2005) – Actor
• "Use It" by The New Pornographers (2005) – Actor
• "Vicarious" DVD by Tool (2006) – Commentary
• "Make Some Noise" by Beastie Boys (2011) – Actor

Video games

• Halo 2 (2004) – Marine
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) – Zero
• Brütal Legend (2009) – The Screamer

References

Notes

1. ^ "David Cross biography". Yahoo! Singapore. http://sg.movies.yahoo.com/David+Cross/biography/109040/. Retrieved September 24, 2011. 
2. ^ "'While I’m doing Alvin And The Chipmunks, I'm thinking of awful risque‭ ‬things': Interview with David Cross". Chortle.com.uk. October 29, 2010. http://www.chortle.co.uk/interviews/2010/10/29/12031/while_i%92m_doing_alvin_and_the_chipmunks%2C_i%92m_thinking_of_awful_risque%26%238237%3B_%26%238236%3Bthings. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Adam Carolla Podcast Interview
4. ^ "David Cross 10/7/2010". Adam Carolla Show. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. http://web.archive.org/web/20110723131717/http://www.adamcarolla.com/ACPBlog/2010/10/07/david-cross/. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Odenkirk, Naomi. (2002). Mr. Show What Happened?! Beverly Hills, CA: The Management Group. ISBN 9713597-8-4
6. ^ Deutsch, Ron (1999-10-08). "Something Completely Different". Austin Chronicle. http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:74197. Retrieved 2008-07-07. 
7. ^ "David Cross Biography – Yahoo! Movies". Movies.yahoo.com. 1964-04-04. http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800343908/bio. Retrieved 2010-09-14. 
8. ^ Mischalova (Sep. 6, 2006). "Zach Braff on Scrubs, Fletch and Being Goofy". The Hollywood Gossip.com. http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/categories/scrubs/. Retrieved Oct. 3, 2010. "The one person I want right now is David Cross. I wanted David Cross to come on as Tobias Funke ... I love that character, and the fact that character is over for good, I want him to at least have one more little life." 
9. ^ "Scrubs: Zach May Come Back & An Arrested Development Guest?". TV Series Finale.com. Sep. 9, 2006. http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/scrubs-zach-may-come-back-an-arrested-development-guest/. Retrieved Oct. 3, 2010. "What is for sure is Zach’s desire to work with actor David Cross.[...]Zach and Bill both love Cross’ character from Development and prompted Zach to say “I want David Cross to come on as Tobias. I’m trying to broker that deal. I think that it would be so funny because I love [that character]. I want him to have at least one more life.”" 
10. ^ Heisler, Steve (4 February 2011). "Random Roles H. Jon Benjamin". The A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/articles/h-jon-benjamin,51327/. Retrieved 5 February 2011. 
11. ^ "David Cross- new CD/DVD announced". idiomag. http://www.idiomag.com/peek/108529/david_cross. Retrieved 2010-03-30. 
12. ^ "Interview: David Cross". The A.V. Club. September 15, 1999. http://www.avclub.com/content/node/22961. 
13. ^ NPR: Stand-up Comic David Cross
14. ^ Silverman, Stephen M.; Jordan, Julie (August 17, 2011). "David Cross & Amber Tamblyn Are Engaged". People. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20520739,00.html. 
15. ^ Dylan (Aug. 21, 2006). "Lawsuit Against David Cross, Warner Music Dismissed". Mediabistro.com. http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/lawsuit-against-david-cross-warner-music-dismissed_b3024. Retrieved Nov. 10, 2010. 
16. ^ Riden, Chad (Oct. 12, 2005). "Thomas Weber (Exit-In dude) sues David Cross". nashvillestandup.com. http://nashvillestandup.com/thomas-weber-exit-in-dude-sues-david-cross/. Retrieved Nov. 10, 2010. 
17. ^ An Open Letter to Larry the Cable Guy
18. ^ The Pride Is Back, track: "James Lipton"
19. ^ Will Harris. "A Couple of Questions with James Lipton" Premium Hollywood; May 24, 2007
20. ^ Netburn, Deborah. "Comedian defends his kid-flick role" Los Angeles Times, 3 January 2008.
21. ^ Sicha, Choire. "It's full speed ahead for David Cross" Los Angeles Times, 14 June 2009.

Bibliography

• I Drink for a Reason (2009), Grand Central Publishing, New York (ISBN 978-0-446-57948-3)

External links

• David Cross at the Internet Movie Database
• David Cross: An eye for a tooth and a tooth for an eye That Other Paper
• Interview by Brian M. Palmer
• Interview with Kittenpants.org
• Cross On Atheism
• What Ever Happened To... That Lawsuit Against David Cross?
• Scene Missing Magazine interview
• David Cross on Chortle
• I Drink For A Reason Book website

Persondata
Name	Cross, David
Alternative names
Short description	Emmy-winning American comedian, writer and actor
Date of birth	April 4, 1964
Place of birth	Atlanta, Georgia
Date of death
Place of death