Jeffrey Tambor

Jeffrey Tambor
Tambor at the FYC screening and panel of Amazon Studios', Transparent, June 2015
Born	Jeffrey Michael Tambor July 8, 1944 San Francisco, California, U.S.
Alma mater	San Francisco State University Wayne State University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1973–present
Spouse(s)	Kasia Ostlun (2001–present)
Children	5

Jeffrey Michael Tambor (born July 8, 1944) is an American actor and voice actor, widely known for his roles as Hank Kingsley on The Larry Sanders Show; George Bluth Sr. and Oscar Bluth on Arrested Development and Maura Pfefferman on Transparent for which he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy in 2015.

Early life

Tambor was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Eileen (née Salzberg), a housewife, and Michael Bernard "Mike" Tambor, a flooring contractor. He grew up in a Conservative Jewish family with roots in Hungary and Kyiv, Ukraine.^[1][2][3] Tambor is a graduate of San Francisco State University, where he studied acting and then went on to receive a master's degree from Wayne State University.

Career

Early career

Tambor first moved to repertory theater in Milwaukee, later making his Broadway debut in the comedy Sly Fox (1976), appearing with George C. Scott and directed by Arthur Penn. He appeared in Measure for Measure in the same year. In 1979 he starred in Norman Jewison's ...And Justice For All, as a lawyer friend of the protagonist, Arthur Kirkland (Al Pacino). In an early TV job, an ad for Avis rent-a-car, he was seen running (huffing and puffing) through an airport, mocking O. J. Simpson's "Go, O. J., go!" ads for Hertz. He has had a significant career in episodic TV, where he made numerous guest appearances on different shows, including Taxi, Kojak, M*A*S*H, The Golden Girls, and Three's Company. In 1979 Tambor got his first role as a main character in television in the short-lived show The Ropers. Throughout the 1980s Tambor had a recurring role on Hill Street Blues playing a defense attorney who eventually becomes a judge. In 1981 he appeared in an episode of Barney Miller, where he appeared as a man who was trying to bring exposure to the members of the Trilateral Commission in charge of the coming New World Order. The names David Rockefeller, James Earl Carter, Henry Kissinger, Walter Mondale, John Anderson, George H. W. Bush are mentioned in relation to the United States presidential election, 1980.^[4] In 1987 and 1988, Tambor appeared as a regular on the prime time ABC series Max Headroom as Murray, Edison's editor.

The Larry Sanders Show

Tambor is often remembered as Hank Kingsley, the narcissistic sidekick of fictional talk show host Larry Sanders on The Larry Sanders Show. Tambor received four Emmy nominations for his performance on the show—all of which he would lose, to Michael Richards for Seinfeld, David Hyde Pierce for Frasier, and his co-star, Rip Torn. He is also often remembered for Kingsley's then-famous catch phrase "Hey Now!"

Arrested Development

Beginning in 2003, Tambor starred in the television comedy Arrested Development as George Bluth, Sr. and in some episodes as his twin brother Oscar Bluth. The show was cancelled in 2006, after three seasons, but a fourth season was released on Netflix in 2013.

In 2004, Tambor received his fifth Emmy nomination for his work on the show. He lost to David Hyde Pierce for the final season of the sitcom Frasier. Tambor was nominated for a sixth time in 2005 but lost to Brad Garrett for the final season of Everybody Loves Raymond. The second episode of Arrested Development's third season lampooned this loss: Tambor's character's son describes his acting ability by saying, "It's a wonderful performance, Dad. You're a regular Brad Garrett."

Later work

Tambor served as the announcer (and occasional square) for the game show Hollywood Squares in 2002 and 2003. He was also the voice of King Neptune in 2004's The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. In the spring of 2005, he starred as George Aaronow in the Broadway revival of Glengarry Glen Ross.

After the cancellation of Arrested Development in April 2006, Tambor signed on to a series with John Lithgow called Twenty Good Years about two men who ponder the last 20 years of their life. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 2006, but was taken off the air after only a few episodes. Also in 2006, he portrayed George Washington on The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd. He also starred as "Uncle" Saul in the CBS comedy Welcome to The Captain until its cancellation in March 2008. He has made several cameo appearances in Entourage as a fictionalized version of himself who regularly annoys his agent, Ari Gold.

For several years, based on his availability, Tambor has also taught a popular class for actors. He was formerly a longtime teaching associate of famed acting coach Milton Katselas.

In 2009, Tambor appeared in the animated film Monsters vs. Aliens and in the comedy The Hangover.

A role Tambor began in 2009 is that of the recurring character Len Trexler in the sardonic comedy Archer, an animated television series on the FX network. He is a major love interest to Malory Archer played by Jessica Walter – the two formerly playing husband and wife in Arrested Development.

Tambor replaced Kelsey Grammer as Georges in the Broadway revival of the musical La Cage aux Folles on February 15, 2011, but withdrew from the production after the Feb. 24 performance. Also in 2011, Tambor starred in an indie comedy, Lucky.^[5] That same year, he had a minor role in the film Paul with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, reprised his Hangover role for its sequel, and was featured in Flypaper, with Patrick Dempsey and Ashley Judd.

In 2012, he co-starred as Walt, Pete's aspiring musician father on the sitcom Bent starring Amanda Peet and David Walton.

In May 2013 he returned to season 4 of Arrested Development.

Transparent

In February 2014, Amazon premiered its original series Transparent, which stars Tambor as a transgender, divorced, Jewish father-turned-mother of three.^[6] Tambor won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy for his portrayal and thanked the transgender community in the midst of his speech.^[7] He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance in season 1 of the show, his first win in 7 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, following nominations for The Larry Sanders Show and Arrested Development. This makes him the first actor to win an Emmy for portraying a transgender character.^[8]

For the show's second season, Tambor, once again, received rave reviews, and his performance earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy, as well as wins for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series, and the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.

Personal life

Tambor has five children. His oldest child, Molly Tambor, was born on July 5, 1975. He has four children with Kasia Ostlun, whom he married in October 2001.

Tambor's second child and first grandchild were born within a few days of each other in December 2004. His wife Kasia gave birth to son Gabriel Kasper on December 10, 2004, and his daughter Molly Tambor gave birth to son Mason Jay Moore on December 14, 2004. On December 10, 2006, his wife gave birth to their second child, daughter Eve Julia ("Evie").

In 2007, Tambor was reported to be a Scientologist.^[9] However, in February 2008, Tambor expressed concern about "Internet reports" about his alleged involvement with the religion and stated that he "took some Scientology classes at one time, studied Scientology for a while, but no more. I have nothing against it, but I am no longer a Scientologist."^[10]

On The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on June 3, 2009, Tambor announced his wife was pregnant with twin boys due in October 2009. The boys, Hugo Bernard and Eli Nicholas, were born on October 4, 2009.^[11]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1973	The Summertime Killer	Sully Tambor
1979	...And Justice for All	Jay Porter
1981	Saturday the 14th	Waldemar
1982	The Dream Chasers	Jeffrey Bauman
1983	Mr. Mom	Jinx Latham
1983	The Man Who Wasn't There	Boris Potemkin
1984	No Small Affair	Ken
1985	Desert Hearts	Jerry	Uncredited
1987	Three O'Clock High	Mr. Rice
1989	Brenda Starr	Vladimir
1990	Lisa	Mr. Marks
1990	Pastime	Peter LaPorte
1991	City Slickers	Lou
1991	Life Stinks	Vance Crasswell
1992	Article 99	Dr. Leo Krutz
1992	Crossing the Bridge	Uncle Alby
1993	Living and Working in Space: The Countdown Has Begun	Dr. Stockton
1993	A House in the Hills	Willie
1994	Radioland Murders	Walt Whalen Jr.
1995	Heavyweights	Maury Garner
1996	Big Bully	Art Lundstrom
1998	Dr. Dolittle	Dr. Fish
1998	There's Something About Mary	Sully
1998	Meet Joe Black	Quince
1999	Muppets from Space	K. Edgar Singer
1999	Teaching Mrs. Tingle	Coach "Spanky" Wenchell
1999	My Teacher's Wife	Jack Boomer
1999	Girl, Interrupted	Dr. Melvin Potts
2000	Pollock	Clement Greenberg
2000	How the Grinch Stole Christmas	Mayor Augustus Maywho
2001	Never Again	Christopher
2001	Get Well Soon	Mitchell
2003	Malibu's Most Wanted	Dr. Feldman
2003	Scorched	Employer
2003	My Boss's Daughter	Ken
2004	EuroTrip	Mr Thomas	Uncredited
2004	Hellboy	Tom Manning
2004	Funky Monkey	Crane
2004	SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, TheThe SpongeBob SquarePants Movie	King Neptune (voice)
2007	Super Sleuth Christmas Movie	Santa Claus (voice)
2007	Slipstream	Geek/Jeffrey/Dr. Geekman
2008	Superhero Movie	Dr. Whitby
2008	Hellboy II: The Golden Army	Tom Manning
2009	Invention of Lying, TheThe Invention of Lying	Anthony James
2009	Hangover, TheThe Hangover	Sid Garner
2009	Monsters vs. Aliens	Carl Murphy (voice)
2010	Tangled	Big-nosed thug (voice)
2010	Meeting Spencer	Harris Chapell
2010	Operation: Endgame	Devil
2010	Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo	Mr. Calvin Curdles (voice)
2011	Paul	Adam Shadowchild
2011	Hangover Part II, TheThe Hangover Part II	Sid Garner
2011	Lucky	Detective Waylon
2011	Win Win	Stephen Vigman
2011	Flypaper	Gordon Blythe
2011	Mr Popper's Penguins	Mr. Gremmins
2012	For the Love of Money	Mr. Solomon
2012	Branded	Bob Gibbons
2013	The Hangover Part III	Sid Garner
2014	The Clockwork Girl	Wilhelm the Tinkerer (voice)
2014	A Merry Friggin' Christmas	Snow Globe Snowman (voice)
2015	The D Train	Bill Shurmur
2016	The Accountant	Lorenzo	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	Kojak	Medical examiner	Episode: "Lady in the Squadroom"
1978	Starsky and Hutch	Randy	Episode: "Cover Girl"
1979	Taxi	Congressman Walter Griswald	Episode: "Elaine and the Lame Duck"
1979–1980	Ropers, TheThe Ropers	Jeffrey P. Brookes III	28 episodes
1980	Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story	Dankworth	Television film
1981–1983	The Love Boat	Mr. Rogers / Lawrence Jurgens	2 episodes
1981	Barney Miller	William Klein	Episode: "Field Associate"[12]
1981	A Gun in the House	Lance Kessler	Television film
1981	The Star Maker	Harry Lanson	Television film
1981–1982	Three's Company	Winston Cromwell III / Dr. Tom Miller / Dr. Phillip Greene	3 episodes
1981–1987	Hill Street Blues	Judge Alan Wachtel	22 episodes
1982	Take Your Best Shot	Alden Pepper	Television film
1982	Nine to Five	Franklin Hart	5 episodes
1982	M*A*S*H	Major Reddish	Episode: "Foreign Affairs"
1983	Gloria	Dr. Webber	Episode: "Gloria on the Couch"
1983	Oh Madeline	Wesley	Episode: "Madeline Acts Forward at the Retreat"
1983	Cocaine: One Man's Seduction	Mort Broome	Television film
1983	Sadat	Sharaff	Television film
1983	The Awakening of Candra	Professor Michael Silver	Television film
1984	The Three Wishes of Billy Grier	Dr. Lindsay	Television film
1985	Robert Kennedy & His Times	Pierre Salinger	Episode 1.1
1985–1986	The Twilight Zone	Klye Montgomery / Milton	Episodes: "Dead Woman's Shoes", "The World Next Door"
1986	Mr. Sunshine	Paul Stark	11 episodes
1986–1987	Jonny Quest	Hard Rock (voice)	5 episodes
1987	Max Headroom	Murray	14 episodes
1988	Murder, She Wrote	Russell Armstrong	Episode: "Harbinger of Death"
1988	L.A. Law	Gordon Salt	3 episodes
1989	The Golden Girls	Dr. Stevens	Episode: "Sick and Tired: Part 1"
1989	Doogie Howser, M.D.	Hospital board member	Episode: "Every Dog Has His Doogie"
1990	Who's the Boss?	Fred / Ed Hartwall	Episode: "Tony Kills"
1990	Equal Justice	Harry Beeker	Episode: "The Art of the Possible"
1990	Tales from the Crypt	Charlie Marno	Episode: "Dead Right"
1990	Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures	Additional voices	Episode: "One Sweet and Sour Chinese Adventure to Go"
1990	American Dreamer	Joe Baines	17 episodes
1990	A Quiet Little Neighborhood, a Perfect Little Murder	Don Hecker	Television film
1991	Empty Nest	Dr. Binder	Episode: "The Dreyfuss Affair"
1992	The Burden of Proof	Sennett	Television film
1992	Batman: The Animated Series	Crocker / SWAT leader (voices)	Episode: "Appointment in Crime Alley"
1992–1998	Larry Sanders Show, TheThe Larry Sanders Show	Hank Kingsley	89 episodes Nominated—CableACE Award for Actor in a Comedy Series (1994–1997) Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (1993, 1996–1998)
1992	1775	Colonial Govornor	Television pilot
1993	Dinosaurs	Hank Hiber (voice)	Episode: "Charlene and Her Amazing Humans"
1993	At Home with the Webbers	Gerald Webber	Television film
1993	Jonny's Golden Quest	Dr. Zin (voice)	Television special
1994	Another Midnight Run	Bernie Abbot	Television film
1995	Jonny Quest Versus the Cyber Insects	Dr. Zin (voice)	Television special
1995	Pinky and the Brain	Beetle Fiero (voice)	Episode: "Of Mouse and Man"
1996	The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest	Black Jack Lee (voice)	Episode: "The Darkest Fathoms"
1996	The Man Who Captured Eichmann	Isser Harel	Television film
1997	Weapons of Mass Distraction	Alan Blanchard	Television film
1997	Duckman	Psychiatrist (voice)	Episode: "Hamlet 2: This Time It's Personal"
1997	Johnny Bravo	Felinius / TV voices #1 (voices)	Episode: "Hip Hop Flop/Talk to Me, Baby/Blanky Hanky Panky"
1997	Aaahh!!! Real Monsters	Jerry (voice)	Episode: "Laugh, Krumm, Laugh/Rookie Monsters"
1998	Hercules	King Salmoneus (voice)	Episode: "Hercules and the King of Thessaly"
1998	The Lionhearts	Hank (voice)	2 episodes Nominated—Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program (1999)
1999	Tracey Takes On...	Mobster	Episode: "America"
1999	Everything's Relative	Jake Gorelick	4 episodes
2001	The Practice	Sid Herman	2 episodes
2002	3 South	Dean Earhart (voice)	2 episodes
2002	The Proud Family	Randolph Verascola (voice)	Episode: "Romeo Must Wed"
2002	That Was Then	Gary 'Double G' Glass	3 episodes
2002–2003	Ozzy & Drix	Mole (voice)	3 episodes
2003	Eloise at the Plaza	Mr. Salomone	Television film
2003	Eloise at Christmastime	Mr. Salomone	Television film
2003–2006 2013	Arrested Development	George Bluth, Sr. / Oscar Bluth	66 episodes Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series – Drama and Musical/Comedy (2004) Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (2004–2005) Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2005–2006, 2014) Nominated—TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy (2004)
2005	The Muppets' Wizard of Oz	Wizard of Oz	Television film
2006	Twenty Good Years	Jeffrey	13 episodes
2007	Law & Order	Judge Barry Dilwynn	Episode: "The Family Hour"
2007–present	WordGirl	Mr. Big / Mr. Birg / Various voices	32 episodes
2008	Welcome to The Captain	Saul Fish (voice)	5 episodes
2008	Good Behavior	Hy	Pilot
2008	The New Adventures of Old Christine	Neil	Episode: "Snakes on a Date"
2008–2009	Entourage	Himself	3 episodes
2008	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Jerzy Skaggs	Episode: " Art Imitates Life"
2009	Medium	Todd Emory / Allison Dubois	Episode: "The Main in the Mirror"
2009	Batman: The Brave and the Bold	Crazy Quilt (voice)	Episode: "The Color of Revenge!"
2009	Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space	Carl Murphy (voice)	Television special
2009	Rex Is Not Your Lawyer	Dr. Barry Cohen	Pilot
2010–2011	Archer	Torvald Utne / Len Trexler (voices)	4 episodes
2010	Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated	Gill Littlefoot (voice)	Episode: "The Grasp of the Gnome"
2011	Running Wilde	Mr. Wilde	Episode: "Basket Cases"
2011	Love Bites	Dr. O	Episode: "How To..."
2011	China, IL	Professor Cakes (voice)	11 episodes
2011	The Trivial Pursuits of Arthur Banks	The Therapist	3 episodes
2011	Five	Danny Dinlear	Television film
2012	Bent	Walt	6 episodes
2012	The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange	Mr. Orange / Blueberry (voices)	2 episodes
2012	Next Caller	Jefferson Mingus	4 episodes
2012	Bob's Burgers	Captain Flarty (voice)	Episode: "Mutiny on the Windbreaker"
2013–2014	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Ben Cohen	4 episodes
2013	Psych	Lloyd French	2 episodes
2013	Phil Spector	Bruce Cutler	Television film
2013	Onion News Empire	David Bryant	Pilot
2013	Sofia the First	Nigel (voice)	Episode: "Baileywick's Day Off"
2013	Bubble Guppies	The Night Wizard (voice)	Episode: "The Puppy and the Ring"
2013–2014	The Good Wife	Judge George Kluger	4 episodes
2013–2014	Raising Hope	Arnold	2 episodes
2014–present	Transparent	Maura Pfefferman	20 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (2015) Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series (2016) Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2015) Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2015, 2016) Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series (2015, 2016) Dorian Award for Best TV Performance of the Year — Actor (2015, 2016) Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2016) Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2016) Nominated—TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy (2015)
2014	The Millers	Ed Dolan	2 episodes
2014	Jennifer Falls	Don Hirsh	Episode: "Pilot"
2015	Star vs. the Forces of Evil	Glossaryck (voice)	2 episodes
2015	W/ Bob and David	Audiobook Narrator (voice)	Episode: "Episode Four"

References

1. Schleier, Curt (May 21, 2004). A ‘bagelly Jew’, Jewish News Weekly of Northern California.
2. Willens, Michele (July 10, 1994). "Also Starring Mr. Hey Now JEFFREY TAMBOR FINDS HIS NICHE SITTING IN WITH GARRY SHANDLING". Los Angeles Times.
3. Pfefferman, Naomi (March 28, 2013) The real Jeffrey Tambor. Jewish Journal
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv6w_ys5sJo
5. Gina DiNunno (September 4, 2009). "Colin Hanks and Jeffrey Tambor Get Lucky". TVGuide.com. Retrieved September 8, 2009.
6. "Amazon Has Finally Made Its House of Cards". Slate. February 11, 2014. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
7. Kristen Acuna (January 11, 2015). "Jeffrey Tambor Thanks Trangender Community For 'Transparent' Golden Globe". Business Insider. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
8. "‘Transparent’ Creator Jill Soloway Just Made a Big Stand for Transgender Rights". TakePart. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
9. Oppenheimer, Mark (July 15, 2007). "Something happened". New York Times. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
10. Beck, Marilyn and Jenel, Stacy (February 4, 2008). The Hollywood Exclusive, LA.com.
11. Bryant, Adam (October 14, 2009). "Jeffrey Tambor, Wife Welcome Twin Boys". TVGuide.com.
12. "Jeffrey Tambor in Barney Miller".

External links

• Jeffrey Tambor at the Internet Movie Database
• Jeffrey Tambor interview video at the Archive of American Television