Age, Biography, and Wiki
Ben Stiller was born on November 30, 1965, to a family of comedians, with his parents being Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. His early exposure to comedy influenced his career path. Stiller's biography is marked by his transition from a young comedian to a successful actor and filmmaker. You can find more about his life and achievements on his Wikipedia page.
| Occupation | Film Producer |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 30 November 1965 |
| Age | 59 Years |
| Birth Place | New York City, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Sagittarius |
| Country | U.S |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Ben Stiller stands at a height of approximately 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm). His weight is around 70 kg (154 lbs), though this can vary depending on the source.
| Height | 5 feet 7 inches |
| Weight | 154 lbs |
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Dating & Relationship Status
Stiller married actress Christine Taylor in 2000. The couple briefly separated in 2017 but reconciled after spending time together during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Known for his blend of slapstick humor and sharp wit, Stiller rose to fame through comedies such as There’s Something About Mary (1998), Zoolander (2001), and Tropic Thunder (2008). Stiller is also known for his work in franchises such as the Meet the Parents films (2000–2010), the Madagascar franchise (2005–2012), and the Night at the Museum films (2006–2014). His films have grossed more than $2.6 billion in Canada and the United States, with an average of $79 million per film. His awards and honors include an Emmy Award, a Directors Guild of America Award, a Britannia Award and a Teen Choice Award.
His mother, actress and comedian Anne Meara, who was from an Irish Catholic background, converted to Reform Judaism after marrying his father. While they "were never a very religious family", they celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas, and Stiller had a bar mitzvah.
His parents frequently took him on the sets of their appearances, including The Mike Douglas Show when he was 6. He considered his childhood unusual, stating: "In some ways, it was a show-business upbringing—a lot of traveling, a lot of late nights—not what you'd call traditional." His older sister, Amy, has appeared in many of his productions, including Reality Bites, DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story, and Zoolander. Stiller displayed an early interest in filmmaking and made Super 8 movies with his sister and friends.
At age 9, Stiller made his acting debut as a guest on his mother's short-lived television series, Kate McShane. In the late 1970s, he performed with the New York City troupe NYC's First All Children's Theater, playing several roles, including the title role in Clever Jack and the Magic Beanstalk. After being inspired by the television show Second City Television while in high school, Stiller realized that he wanted to get involved with sketch comedy. During his high school years, he was also the drummer of the post-punk band Capital Punishment, which released the studio album Roadkill in 1982. The band's bassist, Peter Swann, went on to become a judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals, serving from 2008 until 2022. The band reunited in 2018 to release a new EP, titled This is Capital Punishment, for Record Store Day. The current status of the band is unknown.
Producers at MTV were so impressed with Back to Brooklyn that they offered Stiller a 13-episode show in the experimental "vid-com" format. Titled The Ben Stiller Show, this 1990 series mixed comedy sketches with music videos and parodied various television shows, music stars, and films. It starred Stiller, along with main writer Jeff Khan and Harry O'Reilly, with his parents and sister making occasional appearances.
Stiller joined his parents in the family film Heavyweights (1995), in which he played two roles. Following Heavyweights, he had a brief uncredited role in Adam Sandler's Happy Gilmore (1996) where he played Hal L., the sadistic orderly running the nursing home. Next, he had lead roles in If Lucy Fell and Flirting with Disaster, before tackling his next directorial effort with The Cable Guy, which starred Jim Carrey. Stiller once again was featured in his own film, as twins. The film received mixed reviews, but was noted for paying the highest salary for an actor up to that point, as Carrey received $20 million for his work in the film. The film also connected Stiller with future Frat Pack members Jack Black and Owen Wilson. Also in 1996, MTV invited Stiller to host the VH1 Fashion Awards. Along with SNL writer Drake Sather, Stiller developed a short film for the awards about a male model known as Derek Zoolander. It was so well received that he developed another short film about the character for the 1997 VH1 Fashion Awards and finally remade the skit into a film.
In 1998, Stiller put aside his directing ambitions to star in the Farrelly Brothers' There's Something About Mary, alongside Cameron Diaz, which became a surprise hit with a long-lasting cult following. That year, he starred in several dramas, including Zero Effect, Your Friends & Neighbors, and Permanent Midnight. He was invited to take part in hosting the Music Video awards, for which he developed a parody of the Backstreet Boys and performed a sketch with his father, commenting on his current career.
In 2000, Stiller starred in three more films, including one of his most recognizable roles, a male nurse named Gaylord "Greg" Focker in Meet the Parents, opposite Robert De Niro. The film was well received by critics, grossed over $330 million worldwide, and spawned two sequels. In 2024 it was announced that Stiller and De Niro were in talks to star in a fourth Meet the Parents film. Also in 2000, MTV again invited Stiller to make another short film, and he developed Mission: Improbable, a spoof of Tom Cruise's role in Mission: Impossible II and other films.
Over the next two years, Stiller continued with a starring role in the film Duplex, and cameos in Orange County and Nobody Knows Anything! He has guest-starred on several television shows, including an appearance in an episode of the television series The King of Queens, in a flashback as the father of the character Arthur (played by Jerry Stiller). He also made a guest appearance on World Wrestling Entertainment's WWE Raw.
In 2010, Stiller made a brief cameo in Joaquin Phoenix's mockumentary I'm Still Here and played the lead role in the comedy-drama Greenberg. He again portrayed Greg Focker in the critically panned but financially successful Little Fockers, the second sequel to Meet the Parents. He originally had planned to voice the titular protagonist of Megamind along with Robert Downey Jr., but later dropped out and was replaced by Will Ferrell while still remaining an executive producer and voicing a minor character in the film, a museum curator named Bernard.
Stiller was awarded an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program" for his work on The Ben Stiller Show. He has been nominated twelve times for the Teen Choice Awards, and won once, for "Choice Hissy Fit" for his work in Zoolander. He has been nominated for the MTV Movie Awards thirteen times, and has won three times: for "Best Fight" in There's Something About Mary, "Best Comedic Performance" in Meet the Parents, and "Best Villain" in DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story. He received the MTV Movie Awards' MTV Generation Award, the ceremony's top honor, in 2009. On March 31, 2007, Stiller received the "Wannabe Award" (given to a celebrity whom children "want to be" like) at the Kids' Choice Awards.
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| Husband | Christine Taylor (m. 2000) |
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Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, Ben Stiller's net worth is estimated to be $200 million. His earnings primarily come from his successful acting, directing, and producing career, with his films generating over $6 billion at the global box office.
Career, Business, and Investments
Ben Stiller's career spans decades, with notable roles in films like "There's Something About Mary," "Zoolander," "Meet the Parents," and "Tropic Thunder." He has also ventured into dramatic roles in films like "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and "The Meyerowitz Stories." Stiller has invested in real estate, owning properties in Hawaii and New York.
Stiller is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. He began his career writing mockumentaries and was offered a variety sketch series, The Ben Stiller Show, which he produced and hosted for its 13-episode run. The series ran on MTV in 1990, and on Fox in 1992 and 1993, earning him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Program. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known as the Frat Pack.
Stiller dated several actresses during his early television and film career, including Jeanne Tripplehorn between 1990 and 1996, Calista Flockhart, and Amanda Peet.
Stiller frequently impersonates such performers as Bono, Tom Cruise, Bruce Springsteen, and David Blaine. In an interview with Parade, he commented that Robert Klein, George Carlin, and Jimmie Walker were inspirations for his comedy career. Stiller is also a self-professed Trekkie and appeared in the television special Star Trek: 30 Years and Beyond to express his love of the show, as well as a comedy roast for William Shatner. He frequently references the show in his work, and named his production company Red Hour Productions after a time of day in the original series episode, "The Return of the Archons".
Social Network
Stiller is active on social media platforms, where he often shares updates about his projects and personal life.
Transitioning to acting in films, Stiller made his directorial debut with Reality Bites (1994) and went on to direct and star in films such as The Cable Guy (1996), and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013). He also starred in a string of successful studio comedies, including Along Came Polly (2004), Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004), Starsky & Hutch (2004), and Tower Heist (2011). His performances in independent films include Flirting with Disaster (1996); The Royal Tenenbaums (2001); and the Noah Baumbach films Greenberg (2010), While We're Young (2014), and The Meyerowitz Stories (2017).
In 2004, Stiller appeared in six different films, all of which were comedies, and include some of his highest-grossing films: Starsky & Hutch, Envy (which he co-starred with Jack Black in), Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (in which he had an uncredited cameo), Along Came Polly, and Meet the Fockers. While the critical flop Envy only grossed $14.5 million, the most successful film of these was Meet the Fockers, which grossed over $516.6 million worldwide.
In May 2000, Stiller married actress Christine Taylor at an oceanfront ceremony in Kauai, Hawaii. The two had met in 1999, while filming a never-broadcast television pilot for Fox called Heat Vision and Jack. Taylor and Stiller appeared together in the films Zoolander, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Tropic Thunder, Zoolander 2 and in the television series Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Both adopted a vegetarian diet for health reasons. After 17 years of marriage, Taylor and Stiller separated in 2017. They later reconciled after living together during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The couple lives in Westchester County, New York and Manhattan and has two children, a daughter, Ella Olivia (b. 2002), and a son, Quinlin "Quinn" Dempsey (b. 2005). Stiller and Taylor's daughter, Ella, graduated from the Juilliard School in New York City, New York with a degree in acting on May 24, 2024.
There have been false reports about Stiller's mental health based on a joke he made during a 1999 GQ interview. In 2011 and 2018, Stiller clarified in interviews with The Hollywood Reporter and The Times, stating that he does not have bipolar disorder. He mentioned that his original comment was taken out of context and mistakenly presented as factual by the reporter.
Education
Ben Stiller attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he studied film. However, he did not graduate, instead pursuing a career in comedy and filmmaking early on.
Stiller attended The Cathedral School of St. John the Divine and graduated from the Calhoun School in New York in 1983. He started performing on the cabaret circuit as opening act to the cabaret siren Jadin Wong. Stiller then enrolled as a film student at the University of California, Los Angeles. After nine months, Stiller left school to move back to New York City. He made his way through acting classes, auditioning and trying to find an agent.
In 2006, Stiller had cameo roles in School for Scoundrels and Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny; he was executive producer of the latter. In December 2006, he had the lead role in Night at the Museum. Although not a critical favorite, it earned over $115 million in ten days.
Princeton University's Class of 2005 inducted Stiller as an honorary member of the class during its "Senior Week" in April 2005. On February 23, 2007, Stiller received the Hasty Pudding Man of the Year award from Harvard's Hasty Pudding Theatricals. According to the organization, the award is given to performers who give a lasting and impressive contribution to the world of entertainment. In 2011 he was awarded the BAFTA Britannia – Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy by BAFTA Los Angeles. In 2014, Stiller was nominated for Best Actor at the 40th Saturn Awards for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. On February 2, 2019, Stiller won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Limited Series for his miniseries, Escape at Dannemora.
