Paul Reiser
Paul Reiser | |
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 Paul Reiser in Philadelphia in August 2005 |
Paul Reiser (March 30, 1957) is an American actor, author and stand-up comedian, best known for his role in Mad About You.
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.[1] 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. [1] Reiser eventually found his calling when he performed in New York City comedy clubs during university summer breaks.
Reiser married Paula Ravets in 1988; they have two sons together, Ezra (born 1995) and Leon (born 2000).
Career
Reiser’s TV credits include My Two Dads and the British TV drama My Beautiful Son.
Reiser played a treacherous company executive in James Cameron’s 1986 movie Aliens, but rose to fame as the creator and star of Mad About You, a long-running sitcom co-starring Helen Hunt. The show was so successful that in the final 1999 season, he and Hunt were paid US$1 million per episode[citation needed].
Reiser has written two books: Couplehood, about the ups and downs of being in a committed relationship, and Babyhood, about the toils and joys of having a baby. Couplehood was unique in the fact it started on page 145. Reiser explains this is to give the reader a false sense of accomplishment.
Paul is the pride of Stuyvesant Town, the housing complex on the Lower East Side where he grew up by playground #3.
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, along with John Posey and Bob Saget. Saget ended up getting the role.
- The name of Reiser's production company on "Mad About You" - Nuance Productions - comes from one of his lines in the film "Diner", explaining his discomfort with the word nuance.
- In the Family Guy Episode "Chitty Chitty Death Bang", Meg Griffin is invited to a party of the so-called Heaven Helper's Youth Cult. At the party, her friend Jennifer starts mixing a punch using cyanide, rat poison and arsenic. When she finishes putting in the toxic substances she throws Paul Reiser's book "Couplehood" into the bowl as well.
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
- ^ Lyman, Rick (1997-09-05). "Be It Ever So Urban, It's Green". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
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