Cross, David 1964-

PERSONAL:

Born April 4, 1964, in Atlanta, GA; son of Susi (a computer retailer). Education: Attended Emerson College, Boston, MA.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—c/o Author Mail, Sub Pop World Headquarters, 2013 4th Ave., Seattle, WA 98121.

CAREER:

Actor, producer, and screenwriter. Actor in television series, including Mr. Show (also known as Mr. Show with Bob and David), Home Box Office (HBO), 1995-99; (as voice of Fear) Hercules (also known as Disney's Hercules), American Broadcasting Companies, and syndicated, 1998; Tenacious D, HBO, 1999; (as voices) Sammy, National Broadcasting Company (NBC), 2000; (as voices) King of the Hill, 2003; (as narrator) Oliver Beene, 2003; Pilot Season, 2004; (as voices) Crank Yankers, Comedy Central, 2004; Cheap Seats without Ron Parker, 2005; Arrested Development, 2006; and The Colbert Report, 2005-06. Actor in television specials, including Kicking Aspen: Extreme Comedy, Comedy Central, 1996; HBO Comedy Half-Hour: David Cross, HBO, 1996; Comics Come Home 3, Comedy Central, 1997; Comic Relief VIII, HBO, 1998; David Cross: The Pride Is Back, HBO, 1999; and (as correspondent) Politically Incorrect After Party Presented by Pepsi, ABC, 1999. Guest star on The Ben Stiller Show, The Drew Carey Show, News Radio, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Just Shoot Me, and Strangers with Candy.

Actor in made-for-television movies, including (as second reporter at dock) Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight, Turner Network Television (TNT), 1994; (as Charlie) Bucket of Blood (also known as Dark Secrets, the Death Artist, and Roger Corman Presents Bucket of Blood), Showtime, 1995; and (as himself) Night of the Living Doo (also known as Scooby Doo's Night of the Living Doo), 2001. Appeared at The 195th Annual Cable Ace Award, 1997; The 1999 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, 1999; and 2000 MTV Movie Awards. Appeared on The TV Wheel, 1995.

Actor in films, including (as Ralph Dellaposa) Destiny Turns on the Radio, Savoy Pictures, 1995; (as male radio caller and bookstore man) The Truth about Cats and Dogs, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1996; (as sales manager) The Cable Guy, Columbia TriStar, 1996; (as UFO expert) Waiting for Guffman, Sony Pictures Classics, 1996; (as morgue attendant) Men in Black, Columbia, 1997; Who's the Caboose?, 1997; (as Irwin Wayfair) Small Soldiers, DreamWorks Distribution, 1998; (as Tommy Dantsbury) The Thin Pink Line, 1998; (as Chapman) Can't Stop Dancing, 1999; Chain of Fools, Warner Bros., 2000; (a pushy guy) Ghost World, 2001; (as dog/animal groupie _2) Dr. Dolittle 2, 2001; (as Dennis) Pootie Tan, 2001; (as Dwight Hartman) Scary Movie 2, 2001; (as Ronnie Dobbs) Run Ronnie Run!, New Line Cinema, 2002; (as Dan Wasserman) Martin & Orloff, 2002; (as Newton, the video store manager) Men in Black II, 2002; Melvin Goes to Dinner, 2003; (as Rob) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2003; (as Principal Gold) She's the Man, 2006; and (as voice of Junior Bloomsberry) Curious George, 2006; (as Man in Space) Crashing, 2006; (as Ian) School for Scoundrels, 2006; and (as voice of Stork) Cat Tale, 2007.

Also as voices of Marine on the video game Halo 2, 2004, and of Zero on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, 2004. Has appeared in music videos.

AWARDS, HONORS:

DVDX Award for best original song in a DVD premier movie, 2002, for Run Ronnie Run!; Emmy Award (with others), Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, outstanding individual achievement in writing in a variety or music program, 1992, for The Ben Stiller Show; G-Phoria Awards Glow Award for best voice performance, 2005, for Halo 2 video game.

WRITINGS:

(With others) The Ben Stiller Show (television series), Comedy Central, 1992.

(With Bob Odenkirk; and producer) Mr. Show (television series; also known Mr. Show with Bob and David), Home Box Office (HBO), 1995–99.

(With others) Politically Incorrect After Party Presented by Pepsi (television special), American Broadcasting Company (ABC), 1999.

(And producer) Tenacious D (television series) Home Box Office (HBO), 1999.

(And producer) David Cross: The Pride Is Back, (television special) Home Box Office (HBO), 1999.

Run Ronnie Run! (screenplay) New Line Cinema, 2002.

Shut Up You Fucking Baby! (comedy CD), Sub Pop, 2002.

Also author of the comedy CDs Rock against Bush Vol. 1, 2004, and It's Not Funny, 2004; also contributor to DVD Let America Laugh, DVD.

SIDELIGHTS:

Comedian David Cross has been entertaining fans with his offbeat style of humor since he was eighteen, when he was paid thirty dollars for his first gig, doing stand-up in a transvestite bar. He first achieved widespread public recognition with his sketch comedy program Mr. Show with Bob and David, in which Cross and costar Bob Odenkrik made jokes out of such politically incorrect topics as abortion and disabled children. Among the show's more famous sketches were a conflict, modeled on the East Coast-West Coast rap wars, between competing camps of ventriloquists, and a program to clone Hitler and make the little Hitlers servants for Jewish households. The show enjoyed a cult following. In a review for Newsweek, Rick Marin noted that the sketches are "edgier and better than anything on Saturday Night Live." Nevertheless, despite the fact that Mr. Show was "physically hilarious" and yielded a "staggering" number of "memorizably brilliant sketches," as Sean Nelson wrote on the Stranger.com Web site, it was hampered by its late-night time slot. The show was cancelled after the 1999 season.

Cross and Odenkirk later made a film based on one of the recurring characters from Mr. Show, one Ronnie Dobbs, played by Cross, who becomes famous after he appears on a Cops-style show numerous times. Terry Twillstein (played by Odenkirk), a man who sells useless gadgets on late-night infomercials, sees Dobbs and thinks that his notoriety might enable him to become a television star. Indeed, after Twillstein convinces Dobbs to come to Hollywood, he does become the star of his own show, Ronnie Dobbs Gets Arrested, which features Dobbs being arrested in locations around the world. The film, Run Ronnie Run!, premiered at the 2002 Sundance Festival but, due to internal politics at the studio which produced it, was never released for general audiences. Writing in the Hollywood Reporter, Michael Rechtshaffen noted: "The end result [is] better than what usually tries to pass for comedy these days." Variety contributor Scott Foundas wrote that "a few set pieces … really hit the mark."

In 2002, Cross released the CD Shut Up You Fucking Baby!, which showcases Cross's distinctive comedy style. Although reviewers often note that Cross's eclectic sense of humor is hard to pin down, it was described by Jessica Hundley in a review of Cross's comedy CD in the Los Angeles Times as "misanthrope amusement threaded through with hilarious streaks of righteous indignation."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television, Volume 33, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 2001.

PERIODICALS

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 26, 1998, Lyle V. Harris, "Mr. Show Creators Have Sworn Off Sitcoms: Hosts Bob, David Find Late-Night Fans on HBO," p. B5; September 18, 1999, Lyle V. Harris, "David Cross Specializes in Politically Incorrect," p. B12.0

Capital Times (Madison, WI), May 24, 2002, Roby Thomas and Kevin Lynch, "Comedy and Garage Rock," p. 1B.

Entertainment Weekly, June 26, 1998, "David Cross & Bob Odenkirk; Gag Guerillas," p. 72; September 19, 2003, Mandi Bierly, review of Run Ronnie Run!, p. 71.

Fresno Bee (Fresno, CA), October 26, 1998, Rick Bentley, "Throwing Curves at Those Seeking Straight Answers," p. E4.

Hollywood Reporter, January 15, 2002, Michael Rechtshaffen, review of Run Ronnie Run!, pp. 121-122; October 11, 2002, Josh Spector, "Ronnie Arrested at NL; Show Duo Give Up on It," p. 8.

Los Angeles Times, November 7, 2002, Jessica Hundley, review of Shut Up You Fucking Baby!, p. E12.

New York Times, August 31, 1997, Andy Meisler, "It's Brilliant: Too Bad, It Must Be Past Its Peak; Viewers Are Finally Discovery the SLY HBO Comedy Mr. Show, p. H27.

Newsweek, September 29, 1997, Rick Marin, review of Mr. Show, p. 67.

People, December 1, 1997, Michael A. Lipton, "Cable Guys," profile of author, p. 185.

Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), "Maybe It Should Be Mister-y Show?," p. T17.

Seattle Times, July 12, 1999, Melanie McFarland, "David Cross to Tape Comedy Special in Seattle," p. E5.

Variety, January 14, 2002, Scott Foundas, review of Run Ronnie Run!, p. 54.

Winston-Salem Journal (Winston-Salem, NC), July 12, 2002, "Surreal: Mr. Show Revels in Edgy Humor," p. E8.

Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI), June 27, 2002, "Mr. Show on the Road," p. 2; September 5, 2002, "Another Show for Mr. Show," p. 2.

ONLINE

Bob and David Home Page,http://www.bobanddavid.com (June 9, 2006).

Internet Movie Database,http://www.imdb.com/ (June 9, 2006), author credit information.

Onion A.V. Club,http://www.theavclub.com/ (June 9, 2006), "The Show Must Go On."

Stranger.com,http://www.thestranger.com/ (June 9, 2006), Sean Nelson, "Mr. Cross: Half the Brains behind Mr. Show and Run Ronnie Run Tours with a Rock Band."