Birth nameBenjamin Edward Stiller Birth information30 November 1965, New York City, New York, USA BioBen Stiller was born on November 30, 1965, in New York, New York to legendary comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. It's not surprising that Ben Stiller has followed in his family's footsteps. Ben's parents made no real effort to keep their son away from the Hollywood lifestyle and he grew up among the stars, wondering just why his parents were so popular. At a young age, he and his sister Amy Stiller would perform plays at home, wearing Amy's tights to perform Shakespeare. Ben also picked up an interest in being on the other side of the camera and, at age 10, began shooting films on his Super 8 camera. The plots were always simple: someone would pick on the shy, awkward Stiller...and then he would always get his revenge. This desire for revenge on the popular, good-looking people may have motivated his teen-angst opus Reality Bites (1994) later in his career. He both directed and performed in the film, which costarred Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke.Before he even got his start in Hollywood, Ben put in several consistently solid years in the theater. After dropping out of UCLA, he performed in the Tony Award winner, "The House of Blue Leaves". While working on the play, Stiller shot a short spoof of The Color of Money (1986) starring him (in the Tom Cruise role) and his The House of Blue Leaves (1987) (TV) costar John Mahoney (in the Paul Newman role). The short film was so funny that Lorne Michaels purchased it and aired it on "Saturday Night Live" (1975). This led to Ben spending a year on the show in 1989.Ben made his big screen debut in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun (1987) in 1987. Demonstrating early on the multifaceted tone his career would take, he soon stepped behind the camera to direct Back to Brooklyn for MTV. The network was impressed and gave Stiller his own show, "The Ben Stiller Show" (1992). He recruited fellow offbeat comedians Janeane Garofalo and Andy Dick and created a bitingly satirical show. MTV ended up passing on it, but it was picked up by Fox. Unfortunately, the show was a ratings miss. Stiller was soon out of work, although he did have the satisfaction of picking up an Emmy for the show after its cancellation.For a while, Ben had to settle for guest appearance work. While he was doing this, he saved up his cash and in the end was able to scrape enough together to make Reality Bites (1994), now a cult classic which is looked upon favorably by the generation it depicted. Ben continued to work steadily for a time, particularly in independent productions where he was more at ease. However, he never quite managed to catch a big break. His first big budget directing job was Jim Carrey's The Cable Guy (1996). Although many critics were impressed, Jim Carrey's fans were not.In 1998, There's Something About Mary (1998) had propelled Ben into the mainstream spotlight. With his wince-inducing turn in the Farrelly brothers' gross-out film, Ben really "struck a nerve" with mainstream America. In recent years, Ben has starred in such hit movies as Keeping the Faith (2000) and Meet the Parents (2000). Ben excels at cerebral comedy, but he knows how to get down and lowbrow when he needs to, making him one of America's currently most popular performers.

Tobey Maguire wants you to know he can act. Anyone who caught a glimpse of his new flick, Brothers (the trailer is here), can see that Maguire is out to prove that he.s not just puny boy Peter Parker. And from the looks of things, he seems to be doing a good job. Now he.s looking to add to that new section of his resume by joining the cast of The Details. Variety reports that Tobey will be joining Elizabeth Banks in the black comedy set to start filming in August. The plot synopsis for the film is one of the weirdest I.ve ever heard, as it follows a struggling unfaithful couple whose lives are further complicated by a group of raccoons that invade their backyard. Yes, raccoons. This sounds less like a black comedy and more like the next Ben Stiller vehicle. Odds are this movie

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Buried in a story about the Tour de France at Yahoo Sport is the suggestion that Ben Stiller is attempting to sign Lance Armstrong up for "a proposed sequel to Dodgeball".Armstrong has a cameo in the original, in which he lays a guilt trip on Vince Vaughn that persuades him to get back on the court.Armstrong was late signing in for yesterday's racing, and cheerfully blamed Stiller. Yahoo's story claims that Dodgeball 2 will bear a strong cycling influence; that George Hincaple will replace Vince Vaughn; and that Jens Voigt will take Chuck Norris' role. This is presumably cycling humour. Ho ho, eh readers? 

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Ben Stiller met cyclist Lance Armstrong to discuss a potential Dodgeball sequel earlier this week, say reports. Armstrong cameoed in the 2004 comedy, but Stiller apparently wants the seven-times Tour de France winner to have a large role in a potential follow-up. According to Yahoo, the new film is likely to be "infused with cycling influences". It has also been suggested that Vince Vaughan and Chuck Norris, who appeared in the original, will be replaced by George
By Alex Fletcher

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