Ben Stiller

American actor, writer and director, best known by 1998 for his performance in the smash comedy film, "There’s Something About Mary." Showing another side of his talents, Stiller co-wrote, with Janeane Garofalo, a light-hearted book on relationships entitled "Feel This Book: An Essential Guide to Self-Empowerment, Spiritual Supremacy and Sexual Satisfaction."

The son of comedic actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, it was perhaps inevitable that Ben would follow in their footsteps and become an entertainer. By the time he was ten years old, he was using his Super-8 camera to film, over and over, short features depicting schoolyard bullies tormenting other children, a case of art imitating life - his own. He and his sister Amy performed plays at home, including Shakespeare. Stiller eventually enrolled at the University of California in Los Angeles, but dropped out after nine months and appeared in "The House of Blue Leaves."

His film debut came with a part in "Empire of the Sun" in 1987 and led to a larger role in "Fresh Horses," 1988. While he worked on his film career, Stiller continued to make his own comedy shorts, and one of these, a Tom Cruise parody called "The Hustler of Money," led to "Saturday Night Live" in 1989. He spent a year working as a writer and player for the show before moving on to "The Ben Stiller Show," also short-lived. He did, however, earn an Emmy for comedy writing in 1993.

In 1994, he made his directorial debut with "Reality Bites," which became a cult favorite. His next effort, 1996’s "The Cable Guy," failed miserably, but Stiller bounced back and gained a reputation as a versatile actor, equally able to play nice guys and total jerks. In 2000, he starred in "Keeping the Faith" and "Meet the Parents."

After being romantically linked with a number of women, Stiller became engaged to Christine Taylor, an actress, in November 1999. On 13 May 2000, they exchanged vows in a ceremony in Kauai, Hawaii.