Paul Reiser

Infobox actor
name = Paul Reiser


imagesize = 200px
caption = Paul Reiser in Philadelphia in August 2005
birthdate = birth date and age|1957|3|30
location = New York City, New York, U.S.
deathdate =
birthname =
othername =
notable role = "Paul Buchman" in
"Mad About You"

Paul Reiser (born March 30, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, author and writer.

Biography

Born to a Jewish American family, Reiser attended the East Side Hebrew Institute on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and graduated from Stuyvesant High School in New York City. [cite news |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9506E7D71230F936A3575AC0A961958260 |title=Be It Ever So Urban, It's Green |first=Rick |last=Lyman |date=1997-09-05 |publisher=New York Times |accessdate=2007-11-01] He earned his bachelor's degree at Binghamton University, where he majored in music (piano, composition). He was active in campus theater productions, and founded "The Little Theater That Could", an on-campus community theater organization located in Hinman College, Reiser's dorm community. It was later renamed Hinman Production Company. [http://www.geocities.com/hinman_production_company] Reiser eventually found his calling when he performed in New York City comedy clubs during university summer breaks.

Career

After honing his skills as a stand-up comic in New York City, Reiser's break-out film role came in 1982 when he appeared in Barry Levinson's surprise hit Diner, a highly acclaimed coming-of-age film which not only brought Reiser to the attention of Hollywood, but also helped boost the careers of his co-stars Kevin Bacon, Steve Guttenberg, and Mickey Rourke. Soon to follow was the role of a detective in 1984's Beverly Hills Cop, which he reprised in the 1987 sequel, Beverly Hills Cop II. Reiser gave a memorable performance playing the villain in James Cameron's 1986 movie "Aliens", and later appeared in "The Marrying Man" (1991) and the comedy "Bye Bye, Love" (1995).

Reiser starred for two years on television as one of two possible fathers of a teenage girl in the sitcom "My Two Dads", and later rose to fame in North America as Paul Buchman on the wildly popular "Mad About You", a long-running comedy series he helped create in which Helen Hunt co-starred as his wife. For his work in "Mad About You", Reiser received nominations for an Emmy, a Golden Globe, an American Comedy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild award. In the successful show's final 1999 season, he and Hunt were paid US $1 million per episode. [cite news |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9802E7D81338F937A15750C0A96E958260 |title=THE MEDIA BUSINESS; NBC Signs Deal to Keep 'Mad About You' for Another Season |first=Bill |last=Carter |date=1998-03-24 |publisher=New York Times |accessdate=2008-03-24] In 2001, Reiser took on a dramatic role as a man desperate to find his birth mother after learning he he has a serious illness in the British television movie "My Beautiful Son".

Reiser has also written two books: "Couplehood", about the ups and downs of being in a committed relationship, and "Babyhood", about his experiences as a first-time father. "Couplehood" was unique in the fact it started on page 145. Reiser explained this as his way of giving the reader a false sense of accomplishment. Both books appeared on The New York Times bestseller list.

Trivia

* Number 77 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.
* In May 1996, Reiser appeared on "The Late Show with David Letterman" in the middle of writing his second book. Since he didn't have a title yet (it would later be called "Babyhood"), he showed a prop book with the same cover as his first book "Couplehood". The title was simply called "Book", a name Whoopi Goldberg used for her 1997 publication.
* Was considered for the role of Danny Tanner on the ABC sitcom "Full House",Fact|date=September 2008 along with John Posey and Bob Saget. Saget ended up getting the role.
* The name of Reiser's production company - Nuance Productions - comes from one of his lines in the film "Diner", explaining his discomfort with the word nuance.

Filmography

* "Diner" (1982)
* "Beverly Hills Cop" (1984)
* "Odd Jobs" (1986)
* "Aliens" (1986)
* "Beverly Hills Cop II" (1987)
* "Cross My Heart" (1987)
* "Crazy People" (1990)
* "The Marrying Man" (1991)
* "3½ Blocks from Home" (1992)
* "Family Prayers" (1993)
* "Mr. Write" (1994)
* "Bye Bye Love" (1995)
* "Get Bruce" (1999)
* "The Story of Us" (1999)
* "Pros & Cons" (1999)
* "One Night at McCool’s" (2001)
* "Women vs. Men" (2002)
* "Purpose" (2002)
* "The Thing About My Folks" (2005)
* "The Aristocrats" (2005)

References

External links

*
* [http://www.geocities.com/hinman_production_company Hinman Production Company]