Background

Ethnicity: David Schwimmer is of Ashkenazi Jewish origin with his parents tracing their ancestry back to Ukraine, Germany, Austria, Russia, and Belarus.

David Schwimmer was born on November 2, 1966, in Flushing, Queens, New York City, New York, the United States, to Arthur and Arlene Coleman-Schwimmer. He grew up with his older sister Ellie and was raised by parents who were both prominent attorneys. Due to his parents’ careers, the family ended up moving to Los Angeles and then to Beverly Hills.

Education

Los Angeles fascinated David to a great degree. He started acting in school plays. One of such plays was Cinderella, which saw him play the fairy godmother. Around the same time, he attended an acting workshop by legendary actor Ian McKellen, which was another riveting experience for David. He was in awe of the sheer intensity of the art of performing. He then participated in the South California Shakespeare Festival, where he won two top prizes.

In 1979 when Schwimmer was just 13 years old, he attended a Shakespeare workshop as he continued to hone his skills as an actor and learn the craft. That workshop was given by none other than English actor Ian McKellen.

He attended the Beverly Hills High School, which had many big names of Hollywood as their alumni. However, David found it difficult to blend in and searched for solace outside his classrooms. Encouraged by his teachers, he focused on acting. He was good at math and science, and he once wished to be a doctor.

In 1984, David Schwimmer graduated from Beverly Hills High and wanted to go straight into acting, but his parents insisted he go to college first so he would have something to fall back on. He enrolled at Northwestern University in Illinois. Soon, he received his Bachelor of Arts in theater and speech from Northwestern University.

While studying at the university, he was active in local theater and had a membership of the Improv group, No-Fun Mud Piranhas. The comedian and TV host Stephen Colbert was his fellow member of the group.

Career

After graduation, Schwimmer formed the Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago and tried to scrape by as an actor. In the late 1980s, Schwimmer auditioned for several roles without any significant success. After commuting between Chicago and Los Angeles for a time, Schwimmer decided to concentrate on achieving success in Hollywood. He landed several small parts on television shows such as The Wonder Years, Monty, and NYPD Blue.

Schwimmer also got parts in small films such as Crossing the Bridge (1992), Twenty Bucks (1992), and The Waiter (1993). During this period, he was cast opposite Henry Winkler in a new sitcom called Monty. While it seemed to be the actor’s big break, the show was canceled after only a few episodes, and Schwimmer vowed that it would be his last comedy series.

After deciding to try comedy again, Schwimmer scored his big break in 1994 playing the role of Ross Geller on the new TV series Friends. Schwimmer was the first actor cast on the ensemble show, and he instantly inhabited the nerdy, neurotic character. The series revolved around the everyday lives of six 20-something American youths, their romantic quests, and other antics. David played a hopeless romantic, working as a paleontologist at a local museum.

David had initially refused to play the role of Ross Geller, but he agreed when one of the executive producers, Kevin Bright, insisted that he join the show. Kevin stated that the role was written keeping David in mind. The show eventually went on to garner extremely positive reviews and earned a loyal fan-base. The phenomenal success of the series made David a household name. He also ended up directing 10 episodes scattered throughout the series.

He was nominated for an Emmy Award during the show’s first season, and more accolades for both Schwimmer and the cast followed. The series remained one of the highest-rated shows on television until it ended in 2004. For Schwimmer, the newfound fame led to increased opportunities on the big screen.

David then appeared in the 1996 film The Pallbearer, which had him portraying the role of a young man who falls in love with his best friend’s mother. The film received negative reviews, and it seemed that people had, by then, started expecting a lot from David. The success of Friends had put the entire cast under heavy pressure to perform remarkably well.

In 1998, he starred in the film Kissing a Fool, which also had him as an executive producer. He then starred in films such as Apt Pupil, Hotel, and Picking up the Pieces. Although his films were received well by critics, they mostly struggled at the box office. His sitcom Friends was still on the air, and his audiences found it difficult to accept David in any other avatar than that of the goofy Ross Geller.

The path-breaking sitcom Friends ended its 10-season run in 2004, and David moved on to other projects. He starred in the 2005 independent film Duane Hopwood, which received mixed reviews from both critics and audiences. However, his performance as an alcoholic was appreciated. He voiced the character of Melman the giraffe in the animated hit Madagascar (2005) and its sequels and made his Broadway debut in 2006 with The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. Schwimmer also stepped behind the camera to direct a pair of feature films, the 2007 comedy Run Fatboy Run, starring Simon Pegg, and the 2010 drama Trust, with Clive Owen and Catherine Keener.

Following years of guest appearances on shows like 30 Rock, Entourage, and Web Therapy (with old Friends castmate Lisa Kudrow), Schwimmer signed up to play lawyer Robert Kardashian for the FX miniseries American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson, which garnered strong reviews during its 10-episode run in early 2016 and earned Schwimmer an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series. That same year, the actor starred in AMC's crime drama Feed the Beast, but the show was canceled after one season due to low ratings.

He also directed Dry Ice (2012), a monologue delivered by an exotic dancer, at the Bush Theatre in London; Big Lake Big City (2013), a dark comedy about Chicago crime, at Lookingglass; Sex with Strangers (2014), a drama about a budding relationship between two very different writers, at Second Stage Theatre in New York; and Plantation! (2018), a satirical comedy about a widow who offers her estate as reparations to the descendants of one of the slaves owned by her ancestors, at Lookingglass.

Achievements

• 

  David Schwimmer gained worldwide recognition for playing Ross Geller in the sitcom Friends. He earned the sympathy and attention of audiences who bought into his on-again, off-again relationship with Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), which was perhaps the most talked-about aspect of the entire series.
  
  He received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1995. In 2016, he received his second Primetime Emmy Award nomination, this time for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.

Works

More photos

• movie

  • Twenty Bucks

    (This multi-character comedy follows the path of a single ...)

    1993
  • Hotel

    (Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) delivers a deliciously di...)

    2001
  • The Pallbearer

    (Hot star David Schwimmer (TV's Friends) makes a hilarious...)

    1996
  • Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

    (Your favorite castaways are back - still together and sti...)

    2008
  • The Iceman

    (Inspired by actual events, "The Iceman" follows contract ...)

    2012
  • Kissing A Fool

    (A screwball romantic comedy about a philandering sportswr...)

    1998
  • Breast Men

    (David Schwimmer and Chris Cooper star in an outrageous co...)

    1997
  • Since You've Been Gone

    (The story of a 10th anniversary High School reunion told ...)

    1998
  • Uprising

    (After years of Nazi oppression, a small Jewish resistance...)

    2001
  • Picking Up the Pieces

    (A small New Mexican village discovers a severed hand that...)

    2000
  • Flight of the Intruder

    (During the Vietnam War, a Navy pilot talks a veteran flye...)

    1991
  • Apt Pupil

    (A sixteen-year-old honor student discovers a Nazi war cri...)

    1998
  • Six Days, Seven Nights

    (A gruff, rough-hewn cargo pilot and a sharp-tongued New Y...)

    1998
  • Madagascar

    (A pack of not-so-wild animals experiences some serious cu...)

    2005
  • Big Nothing

    (In this wicked comic thriller, Charlie is an ex-teacher t...)

    2006
  • Crossing The Bridge

    (Three carefree friends put everything on the line with a ...)

    1992
  • Wolf

    (A mild-mannered book editor (Jack Nicholson) bitten by a ...)

    1994
  • Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

    (Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman are still fighting to get...)

    2012
  • Run Fatboy Run

    (Five years ago Dennis was at the altar about to marry Lib...)

    2007
  • John Carter

    (A heroic, inspirational adventure that will thrill beyond...)

    2012
  • Duane Hopwood

    (When the odds are against you, your best bet is a second ...)

    2005
  • Nothing But The Truth

    (Inspired by true events. A Washington, D.C. reporter writ...)

    2008

• TV series

  • Friends

    (This is a show about love and sex and careers and a time ...)

    1994
  • Band Of Brothers

    (All ten episodes of the award-winning mini-series based o...)

    2001
  • Feed The Beast

    (Feed the Beast is an American crime drama television seri...)

    2016
  • American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson

    (The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story is a lim...)

    2016

Religion

David Schwimmer is a follower of Judaism.

Views

In 2001, David Schwimmer joined the Rape Treatment Center in Santa Monica as a director on its board, which specializes in helping victims of date rape and child rape, and has been a long time advocate of banning drugs used in date rapes. He has also served as an active supporter of the campaign to get the law passed for banning the drugs such as Rohypnol and GHB.

Quotations: "To be perfectly honest, I feel I have a duty to use my celebrity status in a positive way. Most rape victims are women, so the bulk of the discussion is loaded towards women. I thought I could find a way to approach the subject of rape in such a way that men are going to respond to it. My most devastating moment was when a 13-year-old girl told me her story. At that moment, I realized just how important this center really is. Nothing else had ever made me connect with reality like that."

"As an actor, the training I received was that I walk through the world as an observer of life and of people. My job is to actually be looking out all the time and watching people. But the effect of celebrity on me was that I suddenly found myself with a baseball cap, with my head down, hiding everywhere I went."

Personality

In June 2006, Schwimmer was awarded $400,000 in damages as a result of a lawsuit filed against Aaron Tonken, who had accused Schwimmer of demanding Rolex watches for appearing at his own charity event.

In 2015, a robbery took place in an apartment opposite Schwimmer’s home. According to reports, the homeowner was with a female prostitute when an intruder broke into the home and stabbed the woman in the face. Schwimmer was shocked by the news and was keen to help investigators in any way possible.

He invited officers to his home to review the security footage captured on his CCTV system. Police charged the suspect with robbery, criminal possession of a weapon, and assault, all thanks to Schwimmer.

Interests

• Theater

• Philosophers & Thinkers

  Martin Luther King Jr., Leonardo da Vinci

• Politicians

  Mahatma Gandhi

• Writers

  The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky

• Music & Bands

  Michael Jackson, Cole Porter, Sade

Connections

David Schwimmer was said to be dating Zoë Buckman, a British artist, in 2007. Their relationship stood the test of time, and the couple announced their engagement in 2010. They got married in June 2010 and had a daughter, Cleo Buckman Schwimmer, in 2011. However, their relationship turned sour later. In 2017, David and Zoë announced that they had started living separately. They divorced later that year.

Father:

Arthur Schwimmer

Arthur is also a California appellate attorney and has been married to Arlene since 1964.

Mother:

Arlene Coleman-Schwimmer

Arlene is a high-profile divorce attorney and an actress known for her role in Since You’ve Been Gone (1998).

ex-wife:

Zoë Buckman

David first met Zoe Buckman at the Cuckoo Club in London. Zoe used to work as a cocktail waitress at the club, while David was directing Run Fatboy Run in the capital. He fell for her at the first sight and convinced her to move to the United States with him. In March 2010, they had got engaged. They got married in a small intimate wedding ceremony in June 2010. In May 2011, she gave birth to a daughter, Cleo Buckman Schwimmer.

Daughter:

Cleo Buckman Schwimmer

Sister:

Ellie Schwimmer

Like her parents, Ellie is also an attorney.

Friend:

Jennifer Aniston

Friend:

Courteney Cox

Friend:

Lisa Kudrow

Friend:

Matthew Perry

Friend:

John Krasinski

David became good friends with John Krasinski during the filming of Duane Hopwood (2005). Schwimmer attended Krasinski's July 2010 marriage to Emily Blunt.

Friend:

Emily Blunt

Friend:

Stephen Colbert

References

• David Schwimmer on Twitter
• David Schwimmer on Instagram