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Jeremy Piven

Jeremy PivenAKA Jeremy Samuel Piven

Born: 26-Jul-1965
Birthplace: Manhattan, NY

Gender: Male
Religion: Jewish
Race or Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Actor

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Ari Gold on Entourage

Jeremy Piven and John Cusack have been friends since appearing together in a Chekkov play when they were eight years old. Piven is often in the background in Cusack's films, and in 1989 they co-founded New Crime Productions, the filmmaking company behind several of Cusack's films, including Grosse Pointe Blank and Cosmic Banditos.

Piven's first film was Lucas with Corey Haim and Charlie Sheen, and he worked his way into more important character work over the next several years, as a helicopter pilot in Black Hawk Down with Josh Hartnett, a flamboyantly gay Versace salesman in Rush Hour 2 with Jackie Chan, and the villainous dean in Old School with Will Ferrell. In a rare big-screen starring role, he played the college misfit in PCU with Jon Favreau. On stage, his biggest success came starring in Neil LaBute's Fat Pig with Keri Russell.

In his first TV series, he was a bit player on the short-lived Carol & Company with Carol Burnett. In recurring roles, he played a neurotic comedy writer on The Larry Sanders Show with Garry Shandling, and the actor who played George on the pilot for the series within the series on Seinfeld. He was an unemployed house-husband in Pride & Joy with Craig Bierko, and when that sitcom was cancelled after only a few weeks he quickly came back as Ellen DeGeneres' quick-witted cousin Spence on Ellen. He starred in the sappy-sounding but rather sweet TV series Cupid, but the show was cancelled before audiences learned whether Piven was playing the god of love or just a delusional man who thought he was Cupid. In 2006, Piven won an Emmy for playing Adrian Grenier's smarmy high-powered agent on the Hollywood backstage series Entourage.

Both of Piven's parents had long careers as stage actors, and they founded the Piven Theater, a well-respected playhouse and acting school where Aidan Quinn, Rosanna Arquette, and John and Joan Cusack studied. Piven's father starred in a 1970s series of commercials for Uncle Ben's rice, and was briefly seen in Being John Malkovich as the entrepreneur who decided that his skyscraper would have a low-ceilinged 7½th floor.

Father: Byrne Piven (actor/drama teacher, b. 24-Sep-1929, d. 18-Feb-2002 lung cancer)
Mother: Joyce Hiller Piven (actress/drama teacher)
Sister: Shira Piven (playwright/stage director)

    High School: Evanston Township High School, Evanston, IL
    University: Drake University, Des Moines, IA
    University: BA, New York University

    Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity
    Actors' Gang
    Second City
    Underage Drinking
    Risk Factors: Yoga, Malaria

    TELEVISION
    Entourage Ari Gold (2004-)
    Justice League The Elongated Man (2004-05)
    Cupid Cupid (1998-1999)
    The Larry Sanders Show Jerry Capen (1992-98)
    Ellen Spence Kovak (1995-98)

    FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
    Entourage (27-May-2015)
    Welcome to Me (5-Sep-2014)
    Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (19-Aug-2014)
    Manny (8-Mar-2014) · Himself
    So Undercover (6-Dec-2012)
    The Pirates! Band of Misfits (28-Mar-2012) · Black Bellamy [VOICE]
    Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D (18-Aug-2011) · Danger D'Amo
    Angels Crest (22-Apr-2011) · Jack
    I Melt with You (26-Jan-2011) · Ron
    With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story (24-Jul-2010) · Himself
    The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (14-Aug-2009) · Don Ready
    RocknRolla (4-Sep-2008)
    Katt Williams: American Hustle (26-Oct-2007) · Himself
    The Kingdom (22-Aug-2007)
    Smokin' Aces (12-Jan-2007)
    Keeping Up with the Steins (12-May-2006)
    Cars (14-Mar-2006)
    Two for the Money (7-Oct-2005)
    Chasing Liberty (7-Jan-2004) · Alan Weiss
    Scary Movie 3 (20-Oct-2003) · Ross Giggins
    Runaway Jury (9-Oct-2003) · Lawrence Green
    Old School (13-Feb-2003) · Pritchard
    Highway (26-Mar-2002)
    Black Hawk Down (18-Dec-2001) · Wolcott
    Serendipity (13-Sep-2001)
    Rush Hour 2 (26-Jul-2001)
    The Family Man (12-Dec-2000)
    The Crew (21-Aug-2000) · Det. Steve Menteer
    Red Letters (9-Jun-2000)
    Music From Another Room (12-Nov-1998)
    Very Bad Things (11-Sep-1998) · Michael Berkow
    Phoenix (7-Aug-1998) · Fred Shuster
    Don King: Only in America (15-Nov-1997)
    Kiss the Girls (10-Sep-1997) · Henry Castillo
    Grosse Pointe Blank (11-Apr-1997) · Paul Spericki
    Just Write (Mar-1997) · Harold McMurphy
    Larger Than Life (26-Jul-1996) · Walter
    Heat (15-Dec-1995) · Dr. Bob
    Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde (25-Aug-1995)
    Miami Rhapsody (27-Jan-1995)
    PCU (29-Apr-1994)
    Car 54, Where Are You? (28-Jan-1994)
    Floundering (Jan-1994)
    Twogether (1994)
    Twenty Bucks (22-Oct-1993)
    Judgment Night (15-Oct-1993)
    12:01 (5-Jul-1993)
    There Goes the Neighborhood (30-Oct-1992)
    Singles (18-Sep-1992)
    Bob Roberts (4-Sep-1992)
    Body Chemistry 2: Voice of a Stranger (5-Aug-1992)
    The Player (3-Apr-1992)
    White Palace (19-Oct-1990)
    The Grifters (14-Sep-1990) · Sailor -- Freshman
    Say Anything... (14-Apr-1989) · Mark
    One Crazy Summer (8-Aug-1986) · Ty
    Lucas (28-Mar-1986)


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