Benjamin Edward Stiller (born November 30, 1965 ) is an Emmy-winning American comedian, actor, film producer and director. He is the son of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, both of whom are veteran comedians and actors themselves. Ben Stiller's most recent role was in the film Night at the Museum and his next upcoming film is The Heartbreak Kid. Stiller's movies have grossed a total of $1.38 billion throughout his career. He is a member of the comedic acting brotherhood known as the Frat Pack. With multiple cameos in music videos, television shows, and films, he may be best known for his roles in films such as: There's Something About Mary, Zoolander, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Mystery Men, Along Came Polly, Starsky & Hutch, Meet the Parents, and its sequel Meet the Fockers. Stiller is 5 ft 8 in tall and left-handed. Stiller dated several actresses during his early television and film career including Jeanne Tripplehorn, Janeane Garofalo, Calista Flockhart, and Amanda Peet. In May 2000, Stiller married Christine Taylor, whom he met while filming a never-broadcast television pilot for the FOX network called Heat Vision and Jack, starring Jack Black. The couple appeared onscreen together in Zoolander and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. He and Taylor currently reside in Hollywood Hills and have a daughter, Ella Olivia, born April 10, 2002, and a son, Quinlin Dempsey, born July 10, 2005. Stiller is a supporter of the Democratic Party and donated money to John Kerry's 2004 U.S. Presidential campaign. In February 2007, Stiller attended a fundraiser for Barack Obama's 2008 U.S. Presidential campaign and later donated for Obama and Hillary Clinton's campaigns. Stiller is also a supporter of several charities including Declare Yourself, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation. In a 1999 interview with GQ and later in a 2001 interview with Hollywood.com, Stiller stated that he had bipolar disorder, an illness he said that ran in his family. In two interviews in November and December 2006, Stiller claimed that this earlier interview's comment about the disorder was false. In one interview he said: "I said jokingly in GQ that I was, like, crazy, and it came out as: Ben Stiller, bipolar manic-depressive!"
Stiller frequently does impersonations of many of his favorite performers, including Bono, Tom Cruise, Bruce Springsteen, and David Blaine. On the December 18, 2006 broadcast of The Late Show with David Letterman, Stiller revealed that he is a big fan of the original Star Trek television series and enjoys the M&M's brand chocolate candies. He admitted in an interview with Parade that Robert Klein, George Carlin, and Jimmie Walker were inspirations for his comedy career.
