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David Cross
Cross at the Arrested Development 2011 reunion
Born	(1964-04-04) April 4, 1964 (age 60) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Nationality	American
Years active	1992–present
Genres	Political satire, Black comedy, Sketch comedy
Spouse	Amber Tamblyn ​(m. 2012)​
Notable works and roles	Host – Mr. Show Tobias Fünke in Arrested Development Ian Hawke in Alvin and the Chipmunks Crane in Kung Fu Panda

David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, voice artist, and comedian, known primarily for his standup work, the HBO sketch comedy series Mr. Show, and his role as Tobias Fünke in the sitcom Arrested Development. Cross created, wrote, executive produced, and starred in The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, developed and had a prominent role in Freak Show, has a recurring role in Modern Family, portrayed Ian Hawke in the Alvin and the Chipmunks film franchise, and voiced Crane in the Kung Fu Panda film franchise.

Early life

Cross was born in Atlanta, Georgia on April 4, 1964, the son of Barry and Susi, whom emigrated from Leeds, England. Six months after his birth, Cross' family moved to Florida. After additional moves to New York and Connecticut, the family settled back in Roswell, Georgia, where Cross remained for nearly a decade. His family was poor and Barry left the family when Cross was 10 years old and the two have not spoken since he was 19, though they both primarily resided in New York City until Cross sold his home there in 2011. Cross and his family were evicted from their home while living in Georgia. He spent some time living in motels and at friends' homes while growing up. He has two sisters and once bailed his youngest sibling out of jail.

Career

Beginnings in comedy

At age 17, Cross began performing stand-up comedy. The day after he graduated from high school, Cross went to New York. Lacking a plan, he drifted around, working briefly for a lawn care company on Long Island, and later enrolled at Emerson College in Boston. He would drop out after only a semester, but during his time there, Cross joined This is Pathetic, a college sketch group, where he met John Ennis. In the summer of 1985, the two aspiring actors took a road trip to Los Angeles, although this did not significantly further their acting careers. In Boston, Cross began to perform stand-up more regularly. From the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, Boston had a booming comedy scene, although Cross did not fit the types of acts being booked most of the time. He recalls that it was "a loud-, dumb-, pandering-, racist-, homophobic-type scene".

In 1990, a new comedy scene began to emerge at the famous comedy club chain called Catch a Rising Star (where many of the comedians of the 1970s and 1980s got their start). Alongside Janeane Garofalo, Louis C.K., and other comics, Cross appeared regularly several nights a week. Cross formed the sketch comedy group "Cross Comedy" with 12 other performers, and they put on a new show every week. They were known for playing tricks on the audience, such as introducing fake comics or planting fake hecklers. Cross became increasingly focused on his comedy work. Cross performed at the alternative comedy club Un-Cabaret in Los Angeles.

Cross continues to perform stand-up, in which he blends political commentary and satire. In 1999, he was given his own 1-hour comedy special on HBO entitled The Pride Is Back. He has released three recordings: Shut Up You Fucking Baby!, It's Not Funny, and Bigger and Blackerer. Cross' stand up material was featured in Comedy Central's animated series Shorties Watchin' Shorties. In 2004, Shut Up You Fucking Baby! was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. In 2003, he released his first tour film Let America Laugh and was named #85 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest stand-ups of all time. He appears on Un-Cabaret compilation albums, including Freak Weather Feels Different and The Good, the Bad and the Drugly.

Work on The Ben Stiller Show, Mr. Show and other programs

Cross began his professional television career as a writer on The Ben Stiller Show. The series hired him toward the end of its run, and he occasionally made brief appearances in the sketches. He had a speaking role in "The Legend of T.J. O'Pootertoot", a sketch written almost entirely by Cross. It was during this period that he first met Bob Odenkirk, with whom he would later co-create the HBO sketch comedy series Mr. Show in 1995. Cross won an Emmy for his work on The Ben Stiller Show in 1993.

He later co-starred as Tobias Fünke in Arrested Development, which was originally intended to be only a minor role. He has also played smaller roles on programs such as Just Shoot Me!, The Drew Carey Show, NewsRadio, Strangers with Candy, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Since October 2005, Cross has appeared on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report as Stephen Colbert's nemesis, a fictional liberal radio talk show host from Madison, Wisconsin named "Russ Lieber". Cross also developed an animated series for Comedy Central called Freak Show, which co-starred H. Jon Benjamin and was cancelled due to low ratings. He has appeared several times on Wonder Showzen.

Cross teamed up with Mr. Show director and producer Troy Miller and Odenkirk to produce a feature film Run Ronnie Run, based on one of their Mr. Show characters. The film satirized the reality television craze, and featured cameos from many stars; however, Odenkirk got into conflict with the studio New Line Cinema, and they then released it direct-to-video. In 1994 and again in 1999, Cross was a guest voice actor on Joe Frank's radio show, featured in the episodes "The Last Run", "A Hearing", "The O.J. Chronicles", and "Jam". In 2013, he returned, making an appearance in an episode of Frank's radio show, entitled "A Conversation."

In 2004, Cross provided voices for a Marine in Halo 2 and a store clerk named Zero in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. He was also the voice of the "Happy-Time Harry" doll and Bert Banana in Aqua Teen Hunger Force (although the part was credited as Sir Willups Brightslymoore). Cross has made guest appearances in Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!. He directed the music video for the Black Keys' song "10am Automatic," a spoof of public-access television.

Cross appeared in the Strokes' music video for "Juicebox" as a bad local "morning zoo" radio DJ. He also appeared in the New Pornographers' video for "Use It," in Superchunk's video for "Watery Hands" (along with Janeane Garofalo), and in Yo La Tengo's video for "Sugarcube" (along with Bob Odenkirk and John Ennis). Cross contributes to Vice magazine, writing a column titled "My America."

In 2005, he contributed to the UNICEF benefit song "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?" and appeared in one of PETA's "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" campaigns.

In the Beastie Boys' 2006 concert film Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!, Cross portrayed Nathaniel Hörnblowér in the fictional segment "A Day in the Life of Nathaniel Hörnblowér." In I'm Not There, Cross portrayedt Allen Ginsberg. Both Bill Lawrence and Zach Braff of Scrubs were eager to have Cross cameo on the series as Tobias Fünke, but due to the series' cancellation, the plan never came to fruition.

Cross provided commentary on the Vicarious music video DVD for Tool. He has previously performed comedy as an opening act for the band and its members appeared on Mr. Show several times. He portrayed Ian Hawke in Alvin and the Chipmunks, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel, and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked and voiced Crane in the Kung Fu Panda film franchise.

He starred in a pilot for HBO titled David's Situation, which filmed in May 2008 and included many Mr. Show alumni at the taping. On August 6, 2008, Bob Odenkirk announced on bobanddavid.com that David's Situation would not be produced.

Cross' comedy series The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret (which he co-wrote with Shaun Pye) has run on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom and IFC in the United States.

In 2009, Cross released his first book I Drink for a Reason. The book features memoirs, satirical fictional memoirs, and material from Cross that originally appeared in other publications.

In September 2009, Cross performed at his own comedy stage at the ATP New York 2009 music festival, for which he picked Eugene Mirman, H. Jon Benjamin, Jon Glaser, and Derrick Brown & The Navy Gravy to join him. In the same year, Cross and Benjamin created and wrote for Paid Programming,on Adult Swim. Paid Programming was not picked up for a full series and Benjamin referred to it as an "abject failure".

On March 29, 2010, his first comedy special in 6 years Bigger and Blackerer was streamed on Epix HD. A CD with "slightly different content" was released on May 25, 2010.

Cross starred alongside Julia Stiles and America Ferrera in It's a Disaster, which premiered at the 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival. Oscilloscope Laboratories has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to the film and plans to release it in select theaters, which started on April 13, 2013.

His directorial debut film Hits premiered at 2014 Sundance Film Festival.

Controversies

In October 2005, Cross was sued by Nashville club owner Thomas Weber, who accused Cross of taping him without permission for Shut Up You Fucking Baby and Let America Laugh in violation of Weber's privacy rights. In April 2006, the case against Cross himself was dismissed and the case proceeded with Warner Music, Subpop Records, WEA Corporation, and the Alternative Distribution Alliance.

In a 2012 interview with Playboy magazine, Cross revealed that he had snorted a small amount of cocaine at the 2009 White House Correspondents' Dinner. Cross said, "It wasn’t like I got high...It was just about being able to say that I did it, that I did cocaine in the same room as the president."

Criticisms

Larry the Cable Guy

In April 2005, Cross criticized stand-up comedian Larry the Cable Guy in a Rolling Stone interview, saying, "It's a lot of anti-gay, racist humor—which people like in America—all couched in 'I'm telling it like it is.' He's in the right place at the right time for that gee-shucks, proud-to-be-a-redneck, I'm-just-a-straight-shooter-multimillionaire-in-cutoff-flannel-selling-ring-tones act. That's where we are as a nation now. We're in a state of vague American values and anti-intellectual pride." In response, Larry devoted a chapter in his book GIT-R-DONE to Cross and the "P.C. left", claiming that Cross had "screwed with my fans, it was time for me to say something". Larry claimed that Rolling Stone was baiting comedians to attack him, and they turned to Cross only after Lewis Black refused (due to the fact that Larry and Lewis are good friends). Cross responded with An Open Letter to Larry the Cable Guy posted on his website. He continued to mock Larry in his stand-up, satirizing Blue Collar TV during a guest appearance on Wonder Showzen. In December 2005, he ended his performance on Comedy Central's Last Laugh '05 by mockingly yelling Larry's catchphrase, "GIT-R-DONE!", to the audience as he left the stage. He pokes fun at Larry's comedy in Freak Show with a character called "Danny the Plumber Guy".

James Lipton

Cross has criticized Inside the Actors Studio host James Lipton on a Mr. Show sketch and in his stand-up performance The Pride Is Back, calling him "pretentious." Lipton, who thought that Cross's impression of him was not good-natured, would later appear alongside Cross in Arrested Development, in the recurring role of Prison Warden Stefan Gentles. During filming, Cross was impressed with Lipton's acting and comedic ability, and the two became good friends. On one commentary track for season four of Mr. Show, Cross discussed the encounter, complimenting Lipton for his professionalism and performance, saying that he liked Lipton personally but still "didn't care for" Inside The Actors Studio.

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Responding to critics of his decision to appear in the critically panned, but commercially successful, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Cross noted that the film paid for a summer home, and more than "all my other projects combined: book, TV show, the two pilots, Year One, yeah." Although he has admitted to taking the role primarily for the money, he has said that he does not regret doing so or consider it to be "selling out" as he has nothing against entertainment designed for children to enjoy that does not send a bad message. Cross reprised his Chipmunks role in the film's two sequels. In 2011, Cross said that making Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, the third film, was, in contrast, "the most unpleasant experience I've ever had in my professional life." He stated that this was due to clashes with one particular producer involved in the movie that he would not name, though he specified that it was not anyone in the cast, nor the director, and later posted a note to his Facebook page clarifying that it was not executive producers Janice Karman or Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. either, whom he stated "were never anything but warm, giving, and gracious" and regretted that some speculated they were the producers to whom he referred.

Personal life

Although he was raised Jewish, Cross is now an atheist and does not practice Judaism.

In August 2011, after 2 years of dating, Cross became engaged to Amber Tamblyn. The couple wed on October 6, 2012.

On September 26, 2013, Kickstarter co-founder Yancey Strickler revealed that Cross was the first investor in the crowdfunding platform. Strickler included Cross among the "friends and family" who first financed Kickstarter in 2006.

Discography

Comedy albums

Tour documentary

Compilation appearances

Bibliography

Filmography

Television

Music videos

Video games

References

1. Cross in Guildford, Simon (Undated. Interview conducted June 21, 2007). "Does Anybody Remember Laughter?". SimonGuildford.com. Archived from the original on 2014-04-08. I was definitely influenced by Bill Hicks. Well, maybe less 'influenced' than 'inspired by'. When I first met him, I was doing stuff that I do now, so maybe I wasn't directly influenced by him. But he was certainly inspiring. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
2. "Profile in Comedy: David Cross - Comedy Writing".
3. LeVasseur, Andrea. "David Cross". All Movie Guide via The New York Times. Retrieved January 2, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
4. "'While I'm doing Alvin And The Chipmunks, I'm thinking of awful risque things': Interview with David Cross". Chortle.com.uk. October 29, 2010.
5. "WTF with Marc Maron Podcast – Episode 269 – David Cross". Retrieved April 19, 2012.
6. Adam Carolla Podcast Interview
7. "David Cross 10/7/2010". Adam Carolla Show. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011.
8. ^ Odenkirk, Naomi. (2002). Mr. Show What Happened?! Beverly Hills, CA: The Management Group. ISBN 9713597-8-4
9. "David Cross Biography – Yahoo! Movies". Movies.yahoo.com. 1964-04-04. Retrieved 2010-09-14.
10. Deutsch, Ron (1999-10-08). "Something Completely Different". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
11. "Joe Frank: A Conversation". KCRW: UnFictional. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
12. Bruna Nessif, "Blast from the Past: Funnyman David Cross Wears His Own Fur in Never Nude PETA Ad," EOnline, 22 May 2013.
13. Mischalova (Sep 6, 2006). "Zach Braff on Scrubs, Fletch and Being Goofy". The Hollywood Gossip.com. Retrieved Oct 3, 2010. The one person I want right now is David Cross. I wanted David Cross to come on as Tobias Funke ... I love that character, and the fact that character is over for good, I want him to at least have one more little life.
14. "Scrubs: Zach May Come Back & An Arrested Development Guest?". TV Series Finale.com. Sep 9, 2006. Retrieved Oct 3, 2010. What is for sure is Zach's desire to work with actor David Cross.Zach and Bill both love Cross' character from Development and prompted Zach to say "I want David Cross to come on as Tobias. I'm trying to broker that deal. I think that it would be so funny because I love . I want him to have at least one more life."
15. "I Drink for a Reason". Retrieved December 22, 2012.
16. Heisler, Steve (4 February 2011). "Random Roles H. Jon Benjamin". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
17. "David Cross- new CD/DVD announced". idiomag. Retrieved 2010-03-30.
18. "Oscilloscope.net – It's a Disaster". Retrieved 22 March 2013.
19. "Sundance 2014: World Cinema Dramatic Competition". Retrieved January 18, 2014.
20. "Hits - Director David Cross". Retrieved January 18, 2014.
21. Dylan (Aug 21, 2006). "Lawsuit Against David Cross, Warner Music Dismissed". Mediabistro.com. Retrieved Nov 10, 2010.
22. Riden, Chad (Oct 12, 2005). "Thomas Weber (Exit-In dude) sues David Cross". nashvillestandup.com. Retrieved Nov 10, 2010.
23. Carlson, Erin (February 22, 2012). "David Cross Admits to Snorting Cocaine at the White House Correspondents Dinner". The Hollywood Reporter.
24. Ullman, Ethan (24 March 2010). "Interview with comedian Lewis Black". Albany Student Press. Retrieved 24 July 2013. And we totally don't agree on politics, but he's a friend of mine.
25. An Open Letter to Larry the Cable Guy
26. The Pride Is Back, track: "James Lipton"
27. Will Harris. "A Couple of Questions with James Lipton" Premium Hollywood; May 24, 2007
28. Netburn, Deborah. "Comedian defends his kid-flick role" Los Angeles Times, 3 January 2008.
29. Sicha, Choire. "It's full speed ahead for David Cross" Los Angeles Times, 14 June 2009.
30. "Amplified: David Cross Defends 'Chipmunks'". YouTube. 2010-05-31. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
31. Toro, Gabe (December 14, 2011). "David Cross Calls 'Chip-Wrecked' 'The Most Unpleasant Experience' Of His Career". Indiewire.com. Retrieved January 20, 2012. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
32. https://www.facebook.com/notes/david-cross/please-know-this/10150585183812394
33. 'Chipwrecked' producer responds to David Cross' statements and Facebook apology
34. "Interview: David Cross". The A.V. Club. September 15, 1999.
35. "Stand-up Comic David Cross". NPR. 2003-02-06. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
36. Silverman, Stephen M.; Jordan, Julie (August 17, 2011). "David Cross & Amber Tamblyn Are Engaged". People.
37. Fowler, Brandi (October 7, 2012). "Amber Tamblyn and David Cross Get Married!". E! Online. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
38. Glenn Fleishman (September 26, 2013). "And the Crowdfund Goes Wild". The New Disruptors (Podcast). Retrieved September 27, 2013.

External links

• David Cross at IMDb
• I Drink For A Reason Book website

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