ACTOR
Ben Stiller
- Known for
- The Watch (2012), Little Fockers (2010), The Heartbreak Kid (2007), Zoolander 2 (2016)
33 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
Ben Stiller is an actor best known for The Watch, Little Fockers and The Heartbreak Kid.
All facts (33)
- #001
Ben Stiller directed an Oscar-nominated performance: Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder (2008).
- #002
Before Johnny Depp was cast, Ben Stiller was considered for the role of "Willy Wonka" in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).
- #003
Stiller's famous parents, Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller, along with his sister Amy Stiller, frequently appeared in small roles in his films.
- #004
In 2016, it was revealed in "Medium" magazine that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2014. After treatment, he was announced to be cancer-free.
- #005
He holds a notable Razzie Award record, having been nominated for most of the awards in a single year. In 2004, he was nominated for Worst Actor for five of the six films he appeared in that year: Along Came Polly (2004), Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004), Envy (2004) and Starsky & Hutch (2004). The only film he was not nominated for that year was Meet the Fockers (2004).
- #006
He and his father occasionally get together and like to go to Alaska in the summer to fish.
- #007
He helped Jenifer Estess raise millions of dollars in the fight against A.L.S. (Lou Gehrig's disease).
- #008
On May 9, 2001, he appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (1998) and left with $32,000 for the ALS Project. He called his mother, actress Anne Meara, for help but lost the $250,000 question.
- #009
He is a big fan of his Tropic Thunder (2008) co-star Tom Cruise and has impersonated Tom for many years. He even played Tom Crooze, Tom Cruise's fictional crazy stunt double, in the segment Mission: Improbable at the 2000 MTV Movie Awards (2000). (This segment is included on the Mission: Impossible II (2000) DVD.) Tom and Ben have been friends since 1996.
- #010
His father comes from an Ashkenazi Jewish family (from Austria and Poland). His mother, who is of Irish origin, converted to Judaism.
- #011
In a Playboy magazine interview, he admitted that he went to auditions for three or four years before getting a role.
- #012
In Shrink Wrap (2002), he played the father of his real-life father.
- #013
In Heavyweights (1995) and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004), he played two very similar characters. In both films, he plays a disgusting, slightly crazy, formerly overweight fitness instructor determined to whip others into shape and perhaps ruin other people's lives.
- #014
Ben and his wife Christine Taylor both appeared as guest stars on the TV show Friends (1994), though not in the same episode.
- #015
In 2007, he ranked 20th on EW's list of Hollywood's 50 Smartest People.
- #016
He auditioned for a role in Platoon (1986) and even met with Oliver Stone.
- #017
His future wife, Christine Taylor, appeared as Jerry Seinfeld's girlfriend in an episode of Seinfeld (1989). His father, Jerry Stiller, had a recurring role in the series as George Costanza's father.
- #018
He has a close-knit Hollywood "clique" of friends who frequently appear in his films: Owen Wilson, Jack Black, Kyle Gass and Janeane Garofalo.
- #019
Ben Stiller became a father for the first time at age 36 when his wife Christine Taylor gave birth to their daughter Ella Olivia Stiller on April 10, 2002. He became a father for the second time at age 39 when his wife Christine Taylor gave birth to their son Quinlin Dempsey Stiller on July 10, 2005.
- #020
Ben Stiller visited a camp for internally displaced people in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, alongside Gerard Butler, Demi Moore, Susan Sarandon and director Paul Haggis; the camp was run by Sean Penn and his Jenkins-Penn Humanitarian Organization.
- #021
In 2007, Forbes magazine estimated his earnings for that year at 38 million dollars.
- #022
On May 10, 2010, he was named to Time magazine's list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World (in the "Heroes" category), with a tribute written by his friend Robert De Niro.
- #023
He frequently appears alongside Janeane Garofalo.
- #024
He played an arrogant director in Get Shorty (1995), but the scene was cut.
- #025
He attended the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.
- #026
He briefly appears in the film clip for the Tenacious D song "Tribute," which also features Jack Black and Kyle Gass; he is one of the people walking past the studio stand in the shopping mall.
- #027
In 1996, he co-hosted the MTV Movie Awards with Janeane Garofalo.
- #028
Along with Kirk R. Thatcher, he is one of the few actors to have jokingly given William Shatner the middle finger on screen.
- #029
He is a longtime friend of the actor Anthony Barrile. They met at age 12 as members of the First All Children's Theatre Company in New York City, where they were among the "Meri-Mini Players."
- #030
He ranked 78th on Premiere's annual Power 100 List in 2003. He had ranked 68th in 2002 and 80th in 2001.
- #031
On Sunday, December 21, 2008, he broke his hand in a snowboarding accident and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
- #032
As of 2018, he had never appeared in a film nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.
- #033
He was born at 17:35 (EST).
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