Jeffrey Tambor

JEFFREY TAMBOR has earned deep respect (and multiple Emmy Award nominations) for being one of the most versatile and accomplished character actors in film and television. Tambor's unforgettable roles in such popular programs as The Larry Sanders Show and Arrested Development reveal his unique comedic gifts, while his roles in films such as...And Justice for All and Meet Joe Black display the depth of his dramatic sensibilities.

Tambor attended San Francisco State University, where he received a BA in drama in 1965. He then went to Wayne State University and earned an MFA in 1969. In 1970, he was studying for his PhD when he left for a role in Richard II, with Richard Chamberlain, at the Seattle Repertory Theatre.

Tambor made his Broadway debut in the comedy Sly Fox (1976), appearing opposite George C. Scott and directed by Arthur Penn. That same year, he appeared in the New York Shakespeare Festival production of Measure for Measure.

Tambor has remained active in theater, directing Lanford Wilson's Burn This, at the Skylight Theatre in Los Angeles; acting and directing at many regional theater companies including the Academy Festival Theatre in Chicago and the Loeb Drama Center at Harvard; and appearing in plays by playwrights as diverse as Shakespeare, Molière and Chekhov, as well as more contemporary writers.

From 1992 to 1998, Tambor had one of television's most memorable roles as Hank Kingsley, the self-centered sidekick to talk show host Larry Sanders, on HBO's critically acclaimed The Larry Sanders Show. He went on to star for three seasons (from 2003 to 2006) in the hilarious Emmy Award-winning FOX sitcom Arrested Development, as twin brothers George Bluth, Sr., and Oscar Bluth.

As a seasoned performer, Tambor's credits also include appearances on such classic shows as Taxi, Barney Miller, Starsky and Hutch, Kojak, L.A. Law, M*A*S*H, Hill Street Blues and Three’s Company. The last led to a series-regular spot on its spin-off The Ropers.

Tambor has appeared in the two Hellboy films, as well as The Hangover, The Invention of Lying, There’s Something About Mary, City Slickers, Miss Congeniality, The Dream Chasers, Mr. Mom, Brenda Starr, Radioland Murders, Doctor Dolittle and Pollock. Tambor also played the mayor of Whoville in the 2000 feature adaptation of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

Tambor provided voices for the animated films Tangled and Monsters vs Aliens, as well as the The Clockwork Girl. Additionally, he was the voice of King Neptune in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. In 2005, he returned to Broadway as George Aaronow in David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross, which won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance.

Tambor continues his recurring role on the HBO hit series Entourage, and starred in the features Mr. Popper’s Penguins, with Jim Carrey; Flypaper, opposite Patrick Dempsey and Ashley Judd; For the Love of Money; and Win Win, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Tambor also starred on Broadway in La Cage Aux Folles, opposite Harvey Fierstein.

Tambor lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Kasia, and their four children. He has been accorded numerous honors for his professional work, including six Emmy nominations and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and was nominated for a Television Critics Association Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Comedy Series.

©2011 Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, A Working Title Production, Big Talk Pictures