Jeremy Piven

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Jeremy Piven
Born July 26 1965 (1965-07-26) (age 43)[1]
New York city, New York, U.S.[1]

Jeremy Samuel Piven (born July 26, 1965)[1] is a two-time Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated American actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as Ari Gold on the HBO series Entourage.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Jeremy Piven was born in New York, New York, and grew up in Evanston, Illinois, in north suburban Chicago. He graduated from Evanston Township High School,[2] and attended Harand Theater Camp in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, as a teenager. He played the part of "Bernardo" in West Side Story, there. In Illinois, he trained at Piven Theatre Workshop,[3] founded by his parents Byrne Piven and Joyce (née Hiller), both of whom were actors and drama teachers.[4][1] He has a sister, Shira,[5] and attended Camp Chi, a Jewish Community Center camp in Lake Delton, Wisconsin, in the 1970s. He also attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.[6] While at Drake he became a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He spent a semester at the National Theater Institute in Waterford, CT. He has appeared in a number of films with John Cusack, who is also from Evanston and is a fellow alumnus of the Piven Theatre Workshop (as are Cusack's sisters Joan and Ann). Piven and Cusack once shared an apartment and have been friends since high school.[7]

[edit] Career

Piven's first significant role was as a regular castmember for several seasons on HBO's The Larry Sanders Show, where he played the headwriter Jerry. Piven has appeared in several successful films, including The Family Man, Black Hawk Down, Heat, PCU, Old School and Runaway Jury. He also had a brief appearance as a gay salesman in Rush Hour 2.

Since 2004, Piven has played Hollywood agent Ari Gold in the HBO series Entourage. He received Emmy nominations for best supporting actor three straight years from 2005 to 2007, and won the award in 2006 and 2007. Piven was also the star and producer of the short-lived ABC dramedy series Cupid, and was a supporting cast member on the last three seasons of the sitcom Ellen. He played the part of Ellen's cousin, "Spence."

Piven performed "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch at Wrigley Field on Father’s Day, 2006. Piven gave the cue to Chicago Cubs fans by saying, "Let's hug it out, you little bitches," a line he made famous as his character Ari Gold on the hit HBO show Entourage. The Chicago Tribune reported that he was to have said, "Hug it out, Cubs fans."[8] He apologized on WGN-TV, and later claimed it was an accident during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Piven also appeared in local television advertisements for Cincinnati Bell Telephone, a subsidiary of Cincinnati Bell, Inc. He ended each commercial with the tagline, "Welcome to Cincinnati Bell." These advertisements ended on February 28, 2007, as the rights ended on that date. Piven's voice can be heard in national television advertisements for the restaurant Buffalo Wild Wings, in which he delivers the phrase, "Buffalo Wild Wings: You have to be here." He also appeared in Paul Westerberg's "Dyslexic Heart" video for the movie Singles, and played a balding Michael Barth playing George Costanza on the Seinfeld episode "The Pilot."

Piven was in a series of 1998 TV commercials for the Chicago Blackhawks and hosted Saturday Night Live on January 20 2007 with musical guest AFI. Most recently, Piven appeared as Deputy Chief of Mission Damon Schmidt in The Kingdom.

[edit] Personal life

Piven is Jewish,[9] and also shares beliefs of many Eastern Religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.[10] Piven starred in the Travel Channel special Jeremy Piven's Journey of a Lifetime detailing his journey across India.

Piven plays the drums in his spare time. He recently sat in to play live with Kelley Jimenez.

Former Saturday Night Live writer and comedy director Adam McKay is Jeremy's brother-in-law. Piven is uncle to Pearl from The Landlord.[11]

In 2007, Piven appeared in the video for "Drivin' Me Wild", the third single taken from rapper Common's seventh album Finding Forever. The two were co-stars in 'Smokin' Aces', and appeared together when Piven hosted SNL in January 2007.[12]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Awards

Awards
Primetime Emmy Awards
Preceded by
Brad Garrett
for Everybody Loves Raymond
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
for Entourage

2006, 2007
Succeeded by
TBD


[edit] References

[edit] External links

fr:Jeremy Piven it:Jeremy Piven he:ג'רמי פיבן nl:Jeremy Piven ja:ジェレミー・ピヴェン no:Jeremy Piven pt:Jeremy Piven sh:Jeremy Piven fi:Jeremy Piven

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