Jeffrey Tambor

Early life

Tambor was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Eileen (née Salzberg), a homemaker, and Michael Bernard Tambor, a flooring contractor. He grew up in a Conservative Jewish family with roots in Hungary and Ukraine. Tambor is a graduate of Abraham Lincoln High School and San Francisco State University, where he studied Acting and then went on to receive a master's degree from Wayne State University.

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*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 as a man who was trying to bring exposure to the members of the Trilateral Commission in charge of the coming New World Order. In 1987 and 1988, Tambor appeared as a regular on the prime time ABC series Max Headroom as Murray, Edison's editor. In 1990, he appeared in the music video for the Phil Collins song 'I Wish It Would Rain Down'.

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 on 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. In 2009, Tambor began playing 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 February 24 performance. Also in 2011, Tambor starred in an indie comedy, Lucky. 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, Tambor 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 Arrested Development for season 4.

Transparent

In February 2014, Amazon premiered its original series Transparent, which stars Tambor as Maura Pfefferman (born Morton Pfefferman), a transgender, divorced, Jewish parent of three. 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. 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.

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 adopted son Gabriel Kasper was born on December 10, 2004, and his daughter Molly Tambor gave birth to son Mason Jay Moore on December 14, 2004. On December 10, 2006, he and his wife adopted their second child, daughter Eve Julia ("Evie"). 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.

In 2007, Tambor was reported to be a Scientologist. However, in February 2008, Tambor expressed concern about "Internet reports" about his alleged involvement with Scientology 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."