Jeffrey<!--Please add reliable, third-party sources before changing his name.--> Garlin (born June 5, 1962) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He played Jeff Greene on the HBO sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Murray Goldberg, patriarch of the eponymous family in the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs. Garlin also played Marvin on Mad About You and Mort Meyers on Arrested Development for Fox and Netflix.
Garlin has also appeared as Captain B. McCrea in WALL-E, Buttercup in Toy Story 3, Toy Story 4, Toy Story 5, Perry Babcock in ParaNorman, and Mr. Britt in Safety Not Guaranteed, among other films.
Early life and education
Garlin was born on June 5, 1962, in Chicago, Illinois, to Gene and Carole (née Crafton) Garlin. He grew up in Morton Grove, Illinois, where his father owned a plumbing supply business called Bilko and his mother was active in community theater. Garlin has a younger brother, Michael. He is Jewish and attended Hebrew school.
Garlin said that he wanted to be a comedian since he was eight after seeing Jimmy Durante perform in Chicago. Garlin graduated from Nova High School in Davie, Florida, in 1980. He attended Broward Community College, followed by a stint studying film at the University of Miami, where he first began to perform stand-up comedy. He left Miami without a degree.
Career
Standup
In 1984, aged 22, Garlin moved back to Chicago to pursue a stand-up comedy career. He performed with the comedy troupe The Second City. Garlin worked in the box office with Stephen Colbert.
While living in Wrigleyville, Chicago during the 1980s, Garlin was briefly roommates with Conan O'Brien, who was then a comedy writer.
From 1997 to 1999, Garlin spent three seasons on NBC's Mad About You in the role of Marvin. He co-starred in and executive produced the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm. Garlin had a recurring role on the series Wizards of Waverly Place as Uncle Kelbo, appearing in three episodes over the first three seasons.
After making an uncredited début as Gut Gut in Spring Break (1983), Garlin earned his first film credit in Dolly Parton's 1992 comedy Straight Talk. Garlin had a small role in RoboCop 3 as "Donut Jerk" after a member of the casting crew saw him eat a doughnut while leaving Krispy Kreme with an additional two dozen doughnuts. Garlin also had a cameo appearance in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me in 1999.
Other cameo appearances include Run Ronnie Run!, After the Sunset, Fat Albert, and Sleepover. Garlin appeared in Steven Soderbergh's Full Frontal (2002) and in Daddy Day Care (2003). In 2005, he had a small role in Fun with Dick and Jane.
In 2008, Garlin appeared in The Rocker as Stan, and played Ed Lawson in Strange Wilderness. He lent his voice to the Disney/Pixar films Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4, as Buttercup. Garlin appeared as Sid, alongside Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler, in the 2010 comedy action film The Bounty Hunter. He played Ed Burch in Laggies, released in 2014.
Garlin's feature directorial debut, I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (which he also wrote), premiered to favorable reviews at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. It opened in September 2007. The film co-starred Sarah Silverman and Bonnie Hunt.
In 2006, Garlin directed This Filthy World, a one-man show performed by director John Waters. He was a voice actor in WALL-E (2008), as B. McCrea, the captain of the Axiom spaceship. Garlin executive produced the documentary Finding Vivian Maier (2013). He played Murray Goldberg, the father of the title family. In December 2021, as shooting of the show's ninth season neared completion, Garlin left the series following misconduct allegations and investigations by the show's human resources department, initially reported in November 2019. For the rest of the season, Garlin's character continued to appear on the show via outtakes, a stand-in, and CGI. The character was later killed off in the show's tenth and final season.
In July 2013, Garlin directed his second film, Dealin' with Idiots, inspired by his experiences with his sons in Little League. The entire film was improvised.
In October 2019, Garlin revealed that he would have a role in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the final installment of the Star Wars saga, which was released on December 20, 2019. Garlin played Junn Gobint.
Misconduct allegations
On December 3, 2021, Vanity Fair published an article detailing that Garlin had been under investigation for three years for "allegedly engag[ing] in a pattern of verbal and physical conduct on [the set of The Goldbergs] that made people uncomfortable". The report found that he had used "inappropriate language" and engaged in "unwanted physical contact" on set such as hugging or touching others without their consent. On December 15, it was announced that Garlin would not return to the show. His departure was said to be a mutual decision.
Podcast
On the comedy podcast network Earwolf, Garlin hosted By the Way, In Conversation with Jeff Garlin, which consisted of unscripted talks rather than formal interviews. The debut episode featured Garlin's Curb Your Enthusiasm co-star Larry David. The twice monthly installments were recorded in front of a live audience at Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles.
Other works
In March 2018, Garlin was one of the actors who voiced the audiobook A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo.
In August 2020, Garlin was a guest DJ on SiriusXM's Tom Petty Radio.
Influences
Katie Puckrik in The Guardian wrote, "British comedy is a touchstone for Garlin". Garlin has said: "Monty Python changed my life. I watched the original Office. I love The Mighty Boosh and The Goon Show. I'm a fanatic about Ealing comedies. And Fawlty Towers is probably my favorite thing that I've ever seen come out of England."
Personal life
thumb|Garlin in [[Wrigleyville before Game Four of the 2016 World Series]]
Garlin married Marla Beth Cahan on July 24, 1994. They have two sons. In March 2020, Garlin said that he and Cahan were at the end of their divorce proceedings.
Garlin is a fan of the Chicago Cubs. Every year on his birthday, Garlin attends a game with his friend Kevin Cronin, the lead singer of REO Speedwagon. Garlin is also a fan of the Chicago Bears and is a season-ticket holder.
Garlin wrote in his book that he voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 election.
Garlin practices transcendental meditation, which he does twice a day. Garlin says it has helped him with symptoms of ADHD.
For a few years, Garlin lived with talk-show host Conan O'Brien. O'Brien has said that sometimes Garlin woke him up in the middle of the night and made him perform skits.
Garlin's dog on the television show The Goldbergs lives with him in real life.
On September 20, 2022, Garlin announced that he has been struggling with bipolar disorder, writing: "Bipolar is a motherfucker. Sometimes it's just too much to deal with. I'm doing the best I can. This the first time that I've opened up about this."
Health
In his late 20s, Garlin had surgery in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to correct the heart condition Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome, a defect in an accessory electrical conduction pathway in the heart that results in tachycardia. Garlin has written about his problems with food and discussed his weight problems publicly.
|-
|2007
| Law & Order: Criminal Intent
|Barry Freeburg
|Episode: "Contract"
|-
| rowspan="2" |2008
|Shorty McShorts' Shorts
|Duke
|Voice, episode: "Flip-Flopped"
|-
| The Life & Times of Tim
|Various characters
|Voice, 2 episodes
|-
|2008–2010
|Wizards of Waverly Place
|Uncle Kelbo
|3 episodes
|-
|2010
|Entourage
|Roger Jay
|Episode: "Dramedy"
|-
|2011
|Community
|Himself
|Episode: "Documentary Filmmaking: Redux"
|-
|2013
|Maron
|Jeff Garlin
|Episode: "Mac's Dad"
|-
|2013–2022
|The Goldbergs
|Murray Goldberg
|Main role
|-
| rowspan="2" |2014
|2 Broke Girls
|David
|Episode: "And the Not Broke Parents"
|-
|Family Guy
|Himself
|Voice, episode: "The 2000-Year-Old Virgin"
|-
|2017
|SpongeBob SquarePants
|Cuddle E. Hugs
|Voice, episode: "Cuddle E. Hugs"
|-
|2019
|Celebrity Family Feud
|Himself
|Episode: "Black-ish vs. The Goldbergs"
|-
|2020
|Forky Asks a Question
|Buttercup
|Voice, short film: "What Is Cheese?"
|}
Awards and nominations
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Award
! Category
! Title
! Result
! Ref.
|-
|2001 || rowspan=9|Primetime Emmy Awards || rowspan=9|Outstanding Comedy Series || rowspan=19|Curb Your Enthusiasm || || rowspan=20|
|-
|2002 ||
|-
|2003 ||
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|2005 ||
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|2007 ||
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|2009 ||
|-
|2011 ||
|-
|2017 ||
|-
|2020 ||
|-
|2006 || rowspan=3|Screen Actors Guild Awards || rowspan=3|Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series ||
|-
|2009 ||
|-
|2017 ||
|-
|2002 || rowspan=7|Producers Guild Awards || rowspan=7|Best Episodic Comedy ||
|-
|2004 ||
|-
|2006 ||
|-
|2008 ||
|-
|2010 ||
|-
|2012 ||
|-
|2017 ||
|-
|2007 || Berlin International Film Festival || Best Documentary || This Filthy World ||
|-
|2012 || Gotham Awards || Best Ensemble Cast || Safety Not Guaranteed ||
|
|-
|}
Works and publications
- Garlin, Jeff, and John Ficarra. The MAD Bathroom Companion: The Gushing Fourth Edition. New York: MAD Books, 2004.
- Garlin, Jeff. My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World. New York: Gallery Books, 2010;
- Republished as: Garlin, Jeff. Curbing It. New York: Gallery Books, 2010;