David Cross

At 60 years old, David Cross has this physical status:

David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, and writer best known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series Mr. Show (1995–1999), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the sitcom Arrested Development (2003–2019).

In the first three live action/CGI films starring Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007–2011), Cross created, executive produced, and appeared in The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret (2010–2016).

Cross has performed voice work on the sitcom Oliver Beene (2003–2004), and has appeared in lead voice-over roles in the Kung Fu Panda film franchise (2008–2016), Megamind (2010), and Next Gen (2018). In 1993, he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series for his contribution to The Ben Stiller Exhibition.

Mr. Show received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations, as well as his cast for three coveted Actor – Television Series, and for Outstanding Achievement by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

He had been nominated for several Grammy Awards for his stand-up specials.

Early life

Cross was born in Roswell, Georgia, to a Jewish family. Barry and Susi, the former immigrants from Leeds, England, are his parents. Cross's family immigrated to Florida six months after his birth. The family returned to Roswell, where Cross lived for nearly ten years after transferring to New York and Connecticut. Juli Cross and Wendy Cross are his oldest of three children and have two younger sisters.

There was no money in the family. Cross recalled being evicted from their house and that he spent some time in motels and at friends' houses in his youth. When David was ten years old, he began to speak until he was 19, but the two children did not speak until Cross sold his home in 2011.

He attended Northside High School of the Performing Arts (now North Atlanta High School). Cross was named treasurer of his senior class and was named "Most Humorous" by his peers. He was a student at the University of Oxford in 1982.

Personal life

Cross proposed to Amber Tamblyn in August 2011 after four years of dating. They married in 2012 and had no children when they married. Tamblyn and Cross had a daughter on February 21, 2017.

Cross, who was born in Judaism, has been described as an atheist. His political convictions include being "definitely more socialist Democrat than centrist politician," he says. In a 2016 interview, Cross lauded Senator Bernie Sanders and said he admired Sanders "way before he ran for President." Cross appeared on a video produced by the Gravel Institute, a progressive think tank, in 2021.

Cross was the first investor on the crowdfunding platform on September 26, 2013, according to Kickstarter co-founder Yancey Strickler. Cross was one of the "friends and relatives" who first funded Kickstarter in 2006.

Cross is a fan of and acquaintances of the music group Beastie Boys. He is sampled on the first page of the group's single "Check It Out" from their album to the 5 Boroughs. Mike D., one of the group's participants, did not know that this was Cross's voice in the sample, and Cross claims he had to do the voice in front of Diamond to demonstrate that it was really him. When hosting the Beastie Boys SiriusXM channel, Cross admitted this. Cross was also featured in the company's music video for "Make Some Noise" in 2011, which was also named for Video of The Year at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. Cross has a post-credit scene in Spike Jonze's documentary Beastie Boys Story in which he interrupts the company's theater performance to mock the company's commercial failure of their second album, Paul's Boutique.

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Career

Cross began doing stand-up comedy at the age of 17. Cross migrated to New York City the day after he graduated from Northside High School in Atlanta. He drifted, working on Long Island for a short time without a plan, and was employed for a lawn care firm. He later enrolled at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. Cross would have dropped out after a semester, but he met John Ennis while he was at This is Pathetic, a college sketch group. The two actors, who were on a journey to Los Angeles in the summer of 1985, enjoyed their acting careers, although this did not significantly advance their acting careers. Cross began to perform stand-up in Boston more often. Boston had burgeoning comedy scene from the 1980s to the early 1990s, but Cross did not have the right kind of shows being performed most of the time. It was "a tumultuous, pandering, racial, homophobic scene," Mr. recalled.

At the comedy club chain Catch a Rising Star, a new comedy scene emerged in 1990. Cross appeared regularly every week along with Janeane Garofalo, Louis C.K., and other comics. Cross formed the sketch comedy group "Cross Comedy" with 12 other actors, and they put on a new show every week. They were known for playing tricks on the audience, such as releasing fake comics or planting fake hecklers. Cross became more devoted to his comedies.

Cross appeared in Frank's 1994 radio shows, "A Hearing" and "The Last Run" (in 1997, which later became "The OJ Chronicles), where Cross appears as OJ's valet. Cross appeared in the Joe Frank program "Jam" (1999), and appeared on radio shows for KCRW's Unfictional: "A Conversation" (2013) and "Downfall" (2015).

Cross's stand-up comedy blends political analysis with satire. On HBO, he appeared in 1999 on HBO as The Pride Is Back. He released Let America Laugh, his first tour film, in 2003, and was ranked #85 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of all time. He has released five comedy albums, including 2002's Shut Up You Fucking Baby, 2010's It's Not Funny, 2010's Bigger and Blackerer, Making America Great Again/...America... Great... Come On. In 2003, he was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album twice for Shut Up You Fucking Baby. And, yes, America... Great... in 2016 for...America... Great....

Cross's first three albums were released on CD by indie-rock band Sub Pop and on vinyl by comedy label Stand Up! Shut Up and It's Not Funny. On CD, he self-released 2016's "America... Great... with Stand Up! A vinyl version is also available. Come On was first introduced by Comedy Dynamics. Cross continues to produce his albums in overlapping audio and video formats, with some of which have content that is otherwise unhearded. This is the case with Bigger and Blackerer, Oh, Come On, and, perhaps more specifically, the 2016 companion set Making America Great Again (a Netflix film) and...America... Great! (CD/vinyl audio), which have different names. Oh, Come On's video and audio recordings were shot at two separate shows on the same tour.

In Comedy Central's 2004 animated film Shorties Watchin' Shorties, Cross's stand-up stuff was included. Freak Weather Feels Different and The Good, the Bad, and the Drugly are two of his Un-Cabaret compilation albums, including Freak Weather Feels Different and The Good, the Bad, and the Drugly.

Cross began his writing on The Ben Stiller Show as a journalist. He was hired at the end of the series, but he made brief appearances in the sketches occasionally. He appeared in "The Legend of T.J. O'Pootertoot," a sketch that was mainly written by Cross. It was during this period that he first met Bob Odenkirk, with whom he would later co-create the HBO sketch comedy show Mr. Show in 1995. In 1993, Cross received an Emmy Award for his participation on the Ben Stiller Exhibition. In 1997, he appeared in Newton, a member of the NYC Morgue in Men in Black, and the role was revived as a director of a video rental store in Men in Black II.

Tobias Fünke, a minor character, appeared in Arrested Development later, but it was originally meant to be only a minor role. He has appeared on shows such as Just Shoot Me!, The Drew Carey Show, NewsRadio, Strangers with Candy, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job, and the Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Cross appeared on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report as Stephen Colbert's nemesis Russ Lieber, a fictional liberal radio talk show host from Madison, Wisconsin, from October 2005. Cross created Freak Show, which co-starred H. Jon Benjamin and was ultimately cancelled due to low sales. He has appeared on Wonder Showcase several times.

Cross collaborated with Mr. Show director and producer Troy Miller and Odenkirk to produce Run Ronnie Run, based on one of their Mr. Show characters. The film mocked the reality television craze, starring cameos from many actors; but Odenkirk came into contention with the studio New Line Cinema, and they took it direct-to-video. Cross appeared on Joe Frank's radio show in 1994 and again in 1999, "A Hearing," and "The O.J. "Jam" and "Chris," are among Chronicles" and "Jam." He returned in 2013, appearing in an episode of Frank's radio show "A Conversation."

In 2004, Cross provided voices for a Marine in Halo 2 and a shopping clerk named Zero in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. In Aqua Teen Hunger Force, he was also the voice of the "Happy-Time Harry" doll and Bert Banana (although the actor was named Sir Willups Brightslymoore). Cross has appeared in Tim and Eric Awesome Show, a great job! He produced the music video for The Black Keys' song "10 A.M. Automatic," a spoof public-access television. Paste Magazine ranked it 24th on their list of the Top Music Videos of the Decade (2000–2009).

Cross appeared in "Juicebox" by The Strokes' music video as a bad local "morning zoo" radio DJ. In "Watery Hands" (along with Janeane Garofalo), and in Yo La Tengo's video for "Sugarcube" (along with Bob Odenkirk and John Ennis), he appeared in The New Pornographers' video for "Use It" (along with Janeane Garofalo). Cross is a columnist who writes a column titled My America. He contributes to Vice magazine and My America. He appeared on UNICEF's benefit song "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en" in 2005. She appeared in one of PETA's "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" ads.

Nathaniel Hörnblowér is depicted in the Beastie Boys' 2006 concert film "I Fuckin' Shot That!" Allen Ginsberg appears in I'm Not There. Both Bill Lawrence and Zach Braff of the television series Scrubs were keen to see Cross make a cameo appearance on the series as Tobias Fünke, but the scheme never came to fruition due to the series's cancellation.

Cross provided commentary on Tool's Vicarious music video DVD. He has appeared on Mr. Show several times before opening act for the band and its audience. In Alvin and the Chipmunks, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Chipmunks, Ian Hawke, and the Chipmunks: The Chipmunks.

Cross appeared in David' Situation, a HBO pilot. It was shot in May 2008 and featured many Mr. Show alumni at the taping. On August 6, 2008, Bob Odenkirk revealed on bobanddavid.com that David's Situation would not be produced.

Todd Margaret's black comedy series The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, a film in which he stars and co-writes with Shaun Pye, has been on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom and IFC in the United States since October 2010, total 18 episodes. Bigger and Blackerer, his first comedy special in six years, was broadcast on Epix HD on March 29, 2010. On May 25, 2010, a CD with "slightly different content" was released.

Cross's first book, I Drink for a Reason, was published in 2009. The book includes memoirs, satirical fictional memoirs, and Cross essays that appeared in other publications. Cross performed on his own comedy stage at the ATP New York 2009 music festival, selecting Eugene Mirman, Jon Glaser, and Derrick Brown & The Navy Gravy to accompany him. Cross and Benjamin co-created and wrote for Paid Programming on Adult Swim in the same year. Paid Programming was not intended for a complete series, and Benjamin called it a "absent failure."

It's a Disaster stars Julia Stiles and America Ferrera in It's a Film Festival's premiere at the 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival. The film's rights to it were purchased in the United States, and it was released in select theaters beginning April 13, 2013.

The 2014 Sundance Film Festival was the premiere of Cross's directorial debut film. Cross instead of distributing the film rights to distributors, the group instead sold the movie over BitTorrent as part of their "bundles" program, which BitTorrent introduced to help "legitimize" the website. It was the first major film to be released in such a way, according to The Verge. Cross also launched a Kickstarter campaign for the movie's general release, which would then be distributed using a pay what you want approach.

In April 2015, episodes of a new sketch comedy series starring Cross and Odenkirk called W/ Bob & David were ordered. On Netflix, it debuted in November 2015. Cross and Odenkirk write, act, and produce the film.

On the January 10, 2016, broadcast of the National Public Radio-syndicated quiz show Ask Me Another, Cross performed well enough to warrant the show's producers' request, winning the contest and becoming the overall champion of the episode, winning a prize box that also included two denim cutoff shorts that he himself had autographed.

Bliss, an eight-episode black comedy film that was released by the BritBox streaming service in 2018, was released by his eight-episode black comedy series. It stars Stephen Mangan as Andrew, a sarcastic travel blogger who is trying to keep long-term relationships with Kim (Heather Graham) and Denise (Jo Hartley), who are unaware of one another. In the science fiction comedy film Sorry to Bother You, Cross provided the lead character's "white voice" for the first year.

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