Name	Jeremy Piven
Height	5' 9"
Naionality	American
Date of Birth	26 July 1965
Place of Birth	New York, USA
Famous for

"Unless an entire row of people got up in the middle of a performance and left the theater in disgust, I felt as though I hadn't done my job." Jeremy Piven.

At the tender age of 8, Jeremy Piven, who was a member of the Second City National Touring Company, made his acting debut performing in a play derived from several Anton Chekov stories on the family stage. As he grew up, Piven began seriously working toward a career in acting, studying theater at Drake University in Iowa and New York University, as well as enrolling in Shakespearean acting courses at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center and The National Theater of Great Britain. He subsequently became a major fixture in the local theater scene and took on different roles in a host of plays.

In 1986, Piven made his cinematic debut with a small role opposite Charlie Sheen and Winona Ryder in writer-director David Seltzer's tragicomedy Lucas. He followed it up with appearances in One Crazy Summer (1986) and Elvis Stories (1989). He also teamed up with pal John Cusack for the first time, in Cameron Crowe's directorial debut, the romantic drama Say Anything (1989), and had a regular of one of the stock players on NBC’s brief-lived variety series "Carol & Company" (1990-1991; starring Carol Burnett). He also could be seen in such early 1990s films as Stephen Frears' The Grifters (1990; as a sailor who gets duped by Cusack’s character), White Palace (1990), The Player (1992), Body Chemistry II: The Voice of a Stranger (1992), Bob Roberts (1992; as one of the devoted fanatics), Singles (1992), There Goes the Neighborhood (1992) and Twenty Bucks (1993). He also appeared in the pilot of the NBC’s hit sitcom "Seinfeld" and appeared on Fox’s movie thriller 12:01 (both in 1993).

Piven eventually made his first break as neurotic comedy writer Jerry Capen (1992-1993) on HBO's late-night parody "The Larry Sanders Show." Afterward, he found himself playing larger roles in films like Stephen Hopkins' actioner Judgment Night (1993; starring Emilio Estévez, Cuba Gooding Jr., Denis Leary and Stephen Dorff), film adaptation of the popular NBC 1960s television sitcom Car 54, Where Are You? (1994; starring David Johansen and John C. McGinley) and David Price's horror comedy Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde (1995; starring Sean Young and Tim Daly).

Back to the small screen, Piven co-starred as an out-of-work dad on NBC’s short-lived sitcom "Pride and Joy" (1995) and was added to Ellen DeGeneres' eponymous "Ellen" (ABC), as her grating, obnoxious cousin Spence Kovak (1995-1998; replacing Arye Gross). He also won his first feature starring role, as a rowdy college student causing trouble on campus in Hart Bochner's low-budget comedy PCU (1994), and played another lead in writer-director Benjamin Fry's Oxford-set romance E=mc2 (1995).

In 1997, Piven starred as a Beverly Hills tour bus driver poses as a famous screenwriter in Andrew Gallerani's romantic comedy Just Write (opposite Sherilyn Fenn), reunited with Cusack in George Armitage's comedy Grosse Pointe Blank and appeared in Gary Fleder's thriller Kiss the Girls (based on the novel by James Patterson of the same title; starring Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd). The next year, he starred as a man who accidentally kills a stripper during a bachelor party in Peter Berg's dark comedy Very Bad Things (alongside Jon Favreau, Cameron Diaz and Christian Slater). He also returned to TV series, on the short lived, lighthearted ABC dramedy "Cupid" (1998-1999; he also produced) as a man who believed himself to be the Greek god of love, and "Partners" (1999). Additionally, he played a dramatic role on HBO biopic Don King: Only In America (1998).

The new millennium saw Piven played a supporting role in Brett Ratner film starring Nicolas Cage and Téa Leoni, The Family Man (2000) and reunited with Cusack as best friends in romantic comedy Serendipity (2001; also starring Kate Beckinsale). He also appeared in Brett Ratner's martial arts/buddy cop film starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, Rush Hour 2 and in Ridley Scott's adaptation of Mark Bowden’s book, the war drama Black Hawk Down (both in 2001; starring Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana and Tom Sizemore).

In 2003, Piven was cast as the unscrupulous dean of the university Gordon “Cheese” Pritchard in Todd Phillips' comedy Old School (also starring Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn) and reteamed on screen with longtime friend John Cusack, as a astute but inexperienced jury consultant in Gary Fleder's drama/thriller Runaway Jury (also with Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman and Rachel Weisz), based on a John Grisham novel.

On how to make an impression in small roles, Piven once said: "From the get-go, I'd keep talking and never stop. Literally, I would take single lines and just keep going. In Runaway Jury (2003), there are so many great actors but I got lucky because I'm standing next to Dustin Hoffman! That's the secret; Get next to him and they can't cut you out!"

After having a bit part as a bland, vacuous newscaster in Scary Movie 3 (2003) and as a Secret Service agent caught up in a romantic subplot in Chasing Liberty (2004), Piven scored his most prominent role to date, as the ruthless and colorful Hollywood agent Ari Gold on HBO's sitcom "Entourage" (2004-????). His hilarious, dead-on performance in the Doug Ellin's show earned him Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television and an Emmy nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2005. He later won the Emmy in 2006.

“I kind of feel like it is all kind of amazing that it has happened, to be honest with you. It's really kind of cool. You don't ever want to get ahead of yourself and none of it is lost on me.” Jeremy Piven (on being nominated for the second year in a row at the Emmy Awards).

During his stint in the popular show, Piven was cast opposite Al Pacino in D.J. Caruso’s sports gambling drama Two for the Money (2005; also with Matthew McConaughey and Rene Russo) and as powered Hollywood agent throwing his 12-year-old son the ultimate Bar Mitzvah in Scott Marshall's comedy Keeping Up with the Steins (2006; with Garry Marshall Jami Gertz and Daryl Hannah). He also lent his voice to Lightning McQueen's agent Harv in John Lasseter's animated feature film Cars (2006; with Owen Wilson and Paul Newman).

As for his upcoming film projects, Piven will star as a Las Vegas performer-turned-snitch named Buddy Israel in writer-director Joe Carnahan's action comedy Smokin' Aces (alongside Ryan Reynolds and Alicia Keys, in her first film appearance) and will share the screen with Jamie Foxx, Jason Bateman, and Jennifer Garner in Peter Berg's thriller drama The Kingdom. He is also in negotiations to star in a yet Untitled Man vs. Nature Project.