Born November 2, 1966 in Queens, New York, David Lawrence Schwimmer is an American actor and director of television and film.  When he was two, his family moved in to Los Angeles.  He began his acting career performing school plays at Beverly Hills High School.  In 1988, he graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Speech.  After graduation, Schwimmer co-founded the Lookingglass Theatre Company.  For much of the late-1980s, he lived in Los Angeles as a struggling, unemployed actor.

David Schwimmer landed several small parts on TV shows such as The Wonder Years and NYPD Blue before being successfully cast in Friends in 1994, which became a top-rated show and the anchor of NBC comedic lineup.  Schwimmer stayed on the show for its entire 10-year run, appearing in films along the way and on the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers as Herbert Sobel.  He has also directed films and acted on the stage.  His first leading film role was in The Pallbearer (1996), which was followed by roles in Kissing a Fool (1998), Six Days Seven Nights (1998), Apt Pupil, and Picking Up the Pieces (2000).

He was born to Jewish Parents, Attorneys Arthur and Arlene Colman Schwimmer.  He has an older sister named Ellie (born 1965).  He lived in Valley Stream, Long Island until he was two years old.  His family subsequently moved to Los Angeles, where Shwimmer has his first experiences of acting at the age of 10 when he was cast as the fairy godmother in a Jewish version of Cinderella.  In 1979, Schwimmer went to a Shakespeare workshop given by English actor Ian McKellen in Los Angeles.  He recalls that he was riveted by the experience.  Schwimmer then entered a contest in the Southern California Shakespeare Festival three years in a row, winning two first prizes.

Following his mother’s successful career as a divorce lawyer, in which represented actresses Elizabeth Taylor and Roseann Barr in their divorce settlements, the family moved to Beverly Hills, where Schwimmer attended Beverly Hills High School.  Schwimmer admitted to being an outsider during his time at the school.  Also a troublemaker and bully, he did not fit in with the other kids.  He was best at the subjects of science and math and thought he would become a doctor.  Schwimmer enrolled in a drama class, where he appeared in stage productions.  Encouraged by his school drama teacher to further his acting, he flew to Chicago for an acting workshop.  He noted that the experience was both enlightening and exhilarating.

Following the series finale of Friends in 2004, Schwimmer was cast as the titular character in the 2005 drama Duane Hopwood.  Other film roles include the computer-animated film Madagascar (2005), the dark comedy Big Nothing (2006), the thriller Nothing but the Truth (2008), and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008).  Schwimmer made his London stage debut in the leading role in Some Girl(s) in 2005.  In 2006, he made his Broadway debut in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.  Schwimmer made his feature film directorial debut with the 2007 comedy Run Fatboy Run.  The following year he made his Off-Broadway directorial debut in the 2008 production Fault Lines.

In the early 2000s, Schwimmer dated Australian pop singer Natalie Imbruglia and Israeli actress Mili Avital.  In 2007, Schwimmer and English part-time photographer Zoe Buckman began a relationship.  In March 2010, Schwimmer announced their engagement and married Buckman in a small private ceremony that June.  On May 8, 2011, the couple had a daughter, Cleo Buckman Schwimmer.

David Schwimmer Photo Gallery