Ben Stiller is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller made his acting debut at the age of 15 when he obtained a small part in the soap opera, Guiding Light. He was later cast in the four times Tony Award winning Broadway revival of The House of Blue Leaves. His comic timing and humor earned him the spot of a writer for four episodes of Saturday Night Live and in the meantime, he also played a small role in the film Empire of the Sun (1987). Ben also put together the successful short film Elvis Stories (1989). The success of the film led him to develop another film titled Going Back to Brooklyn. Impressed by the success of Going Back to Brooklyn, the makers offered Ben his own show titled The Ben Stiller Show. The series also had guest appearances by his parents and sister. It garnered critical acclaim and won an Emmy Award.
After starring in a string of successful films like Stella (1990), Highway to Hell (1992) and The Nutt House (1992), Ben devoted his time to writing and directing the film Reality Bites (1994). The film was the highest grossing film of the year and received good reviews from the critics. After his directorial venture, Ben was cast in the Farrelly Brothers` cult hit There`s Something About Mary (1998). That same year, he starred in three other successful films Zero Effect (1998), Your Friends and Neighbors (1998) and Permanent Midnight (1998). One of his most memorable roles was in the film Meet the Parents (2000) opposite Robert De Niro. The film was a box office success and was appreciated by critics. Ben returned to direction with the film Zoolander (2001) featuring multiple cameos from a variety of celebrities like Donald Trump, Paris Hilton, Heidi Klum and David Bowie among others.
He then appeared in six different films, which were all comedies and box office successes like Starsky and Hutch (2004), Envy (2004), DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story (2004), Along Came Polly (2004) and Meet the Fockers (2004). Ben made his first attempt at a computer-animated film with Madagascar (2005) which was a hit. It was followed by the sequels Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) and Madagascar 3: Europe`s Most Wanted (2012). He later starred in the box office success Night at the Museum (2006). Ben later co-directed, co-wrote and co-produced the cult hit Tropic Thunder (2008). He starred with Amy Adams in the sequel Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009). Ben produced, directed and starred in the much anticipated film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013). Ben was last seen in the film Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2015). More recent film credits include Zoolander 2 (2016) and Hubie Halloween (2020).