On November 30, Ben Stiller turns 50.
He fell in love with performing when he was just a kid. "While my parents were doing Prisoner of Second Avenue in summer stock, my sister Amy and I would be acting out the play in the lobby," recalls the son of gifted actors and legendary comedy duo Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. "When I was 8, we'd be doing fake Shakespeare in our living room, with pillows strapped to our heads for hats and me wearing my sister's tights."
He also developed a joy for directing and created Super 8 movies with his friends and sister. "They all had the same plot," he remembers. "...Me being pushed to the ground then taking revenge, and they had titles like They Called It Murder and Murder in the Park."
Stiller has been acting and directing ever since. Early on his comedy sketch series, The Ben Stiller Show, which Stiller produced and starred in, won an Emmy. His directorial film debut, Reality Bites became a Generation X classic. Then there would be There's Something About Mary, Meet the Parents and its sequels, Night at the Museum (and its sequels), Madagascar (and its sequels), the Secret Life of Walter Mitty and many other films. This February Stiller is back as Derek Zoolander in Zoolander 2, which he directed and co-wrote. The film also stars Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Penélope Cruz, Kristen Wiig, Fred Armisen, Milla Jovovich, Christine Taylor, Justin Theroux and Kyle Mooney.