Early Life

Jeff Garlin was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1962.  His mother, Carole, was active in the local community theater while his father, Gene, spent his time running a plumbing supply business named Bilko. Jeff has one younger brother, Michael. The family was Jewish and thus Jeff went to Hebrew Schools. Jeff attended Melzer Elementary Schooli in Morton, Illinois. He enjoyed sports, but had to stop due to a heart ailment, Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. When Jeff was in sixth grade, his father sold the supply business and the family relocated to South Florida. He then graduated from Nova High School, Davie, Florida in 1980. He attended Broward Community College and then briefly transferred to University of Miami to study film, but eventually dropped out. It was there he began studying stand-up comedy.

Early Career

Garlin has said he wanted to be a comedian since he was eight years old when he saw Jimmy Durante perform in Chicago. When he was 22, he moved back to Chicago to pursue a stand-up career. He performed with the comedy troupe Second City and worked in the box office with Stephen Colbert. He was also briefly Wrigleyville roommates with Conan O'Brien, who was writing comedy at the time. Garlin was eventually hired by Denis Leary and Jon Stewart to develop their specials. He worked on their shows as a stage director and script editor.

Television

Garlin has made numerous appearances in television shows both acting and doing stand up. Some of these appearances include Dr. Katz, Arrested Development, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Daily Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and Entourage. He currently co-stars and executive produces the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm. In 2013, he also began participating in The Goldbergs on ABC. He also has a recurring role on Wizards of Waverly Place.

Film

Although he was in the film Spring Break in 1983 as an uncredited actor, Garlin earned his first official credit in 1992 in Dolly Parton's comedy Straight Talk. He then had a series of cameos in films including RoboCop 3, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), Run Ronnie Run!, Fat Albert, Full Frontal (2002), Daddy Day Care (2003). He performed with Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler in The Bounty Hunter (2010). He also voice acted in Toy Story 2 as Buttercup.

He wrote "I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With" which was shown at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival and was his directoral debut. It co-starred Sarah Silverman and Bonnie Hunt. Later in 2006, he directed This Filthy World. In 2008 he voice acted the character of Axiom Captian in Pixar's WALL-E.