'''Jeff Garlin''' (born June 5, 1962) is a comedic actor from Chicago, Illinois. His most notable role is that of Jeff Greene, Larry David's manager on the HBO show ''Curb Your Enthusiasm''.

Early years

Garlin was born and raised in Chicago and then South Florida. He attended and graduated from Nova High School in Davie, Florida in 1980. He then studied filmmaking and began performing stand-up comedy as a student at the University of Miami in the 1980s. He left the university without completing a degree in order to pursue his comedy career (and has never earned a bachelor's degree). He has toured the country as a stand-up, is an alumnus of Chicago's Second City Theatre, and has written and starred in three critically-acclaimed solo shows, ''Someone to Eat Cheese With'', ''Uncomplicated'', and ''Concentrated''.

Comedic style

Garlin has a style of comedy that has much in common with the comedians of the 60s and early 70s (among them, Woody Allen, Shelley Berman, Richard Pryor, and Mort Sahl). Garlin's comedic style is that of story-telling that explores his personal foibles and exposing his innermost secrets for all to hear. He was Conan O'Brien's roommate during the summer of 1988 in Chicago. They lived in an apartment less than a block from Wrigley Field.

''Curb Your Enthusiasm''

On television, Garlin co-stars and executive produces the critically acclaimed HBO series ''Curb Your Enthusiam''. The show stars Larry David, the creator of ''Seinfeld'', and won the 2001 AFI Comedy Series of the Year Award. Garlin spent three seasons on NBC's ''Mad About You'' in the role of Marvin. In addition to his acting career, Garlin has also directed both Jon Stewart (Unleavened) and Denis Leary (Lock-n-Load) in their respective HBO specials, not to mention several episodes of ''Curb Your Enthusiasm''. Garlin has also had his own HBO half-hour comedy special.

Film and television

Garlin has a variety of television and film appearances to his credit, as an actor and a stand-up, including ''Arrested Development'', ''Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'', ''Bounce'', ''Everybody Loves Raymond'', ''The Late Show with David Letterman'', ''The Daily Show'', and ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''. Garlin also appeared with Eddie Murphy in the box office hit ''Daddy Day Care'' and recently appeared in Steven Soderbergh's ''Full Frontal'', starring Julia Roberts and David Duchovny. His feature directorial debut, ''I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With'' (which he also wrote) premiered to favorable reviews at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. The film co-stars Sarah Silverman and Bonnie Hunt with many memorable supporting turns including appearances by Paul Mazursky, Dan Castallaneta and Amy Sedaris.

References

* ''New York Times Magazine'' article, June 25, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/25/magazine/25garlin.html.

For more information about Jeff Garlin, please visit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_garlin

Biography courtesy of the brilliant Wikipedia!