This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2009)

Rachael Harris
Rachael Harris, April 2007
Born	Rachael Elaine Harris (1968-01-12) January 12, 1968 (age 44) Worthington, Ohio, U.S.
Other names	Rachel Harris
Occupation	Actress/Comedienne
Years active	1992–present
Spouse	Adam Paul (2003–2008)

Rachael Elaine Harris (born January 12, 1968) is an American actress and comedian.

Early life[link]

Harris was born in Worthington, Ohio. She graduated from Worthington High School. She went on to graduate from Otterbein College, in 1989,^[1] majoring in theatre.

Career[link]

Harris performed with the Los Angeles, California, improvisational comedy troupe the Groundlings, and taught for a time with the Groundlings school.^[2] She debuted on television in a 1993 episode of SeaQuest DSV.

After an appearance on Star Trek: Voyager in 1997, Harris went on to a recurring role in The WB's Sister, Sister. Other television credits include a stint as a correspondent for The Daily Show's 2002–2003 season, as well as roles on The Sarah Silverman Program, Reno 911!, The West Wing, The Good Guys, Friends, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Monk, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and, in November 2008, Desperate Housewives.

Harris played the supporting role of Kevyn Shecket, Kirstie Alley's personal makeup artist, on the Showtime series Fat Actress in 2005. She played Cooper in the ABC sitcom Notes from the Underbelly.

Her film credits include roles in Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration, Kicking & Screaming, and Daddy Day Care. In the 2009 comedy The Hangover she plays Melissa, girlfriend to Ed Helms's character Stu. She previously co-starred with Helms on the Daily Show.^[3] In 2010, she played Greg's mother in the film Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Harris hosted Smoking Gun TV in 2004, and has made multiple appearances on such VH1 documentaries as I Love the '80s, I Love the '90s, and Best Week Ever.

Off-Broadway Harris has performed in Love, Loss, and What I Wore.^[4]

Harris' TV commercial work includes ads for Dinty Moore,^[2] Avis,^[2] Expedia,^[2] Quaker Oats, T-Mobile, Geico, and a Super Bowl commercial for the 2010 Census.^[5] She is the voice of turtle Karolyn Slowsky in the Comcast Slowskys television commercials.^[6]

Harris has signed on to ABC's Cougar Town, TVGuide.com has confirmed. She will play Shanna, a woman that the network describes as being the "nemesis" of Jules.^[7] Also on ABC, she made a guest appearance in the Modern Family episode "Caught in the Act" as a restaurateur.

Harris stars in the indie comedy/drama film Natural Selection which was well received at its 2011 South by Southwest debut, winning both jury and audience awards for best narrative feature, in addition to best screenplay, best editing, and best score/music.^[8] Harris received the breakthrough performance award for her role as Linda.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rachael Harris

• Rachael Harris at the Internet Movie Database
• Rachael Harris at AllRovi
• Rachael Harris at Yahoo! Movies
• Rachael Harris at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)

Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American comedy television series produced and broadcast by HBO, which premiered on October 15, 2000. As of 2011, it has completed 80 episodes over eight seasons. The series was created by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, who stars as a fictionalized version of himself. The series follows David in his life as a semi-retired television writer and producer in Los Angeles and later New York City. Also starring are Cheryl Hines as David's wife Cheryl, Jeff Garlin as David's manager Jeff, and Susie Essman as Jeff's wife Susie. Curb Your Enthusiasm often features guest stars, and many of these appearances are by celebrities playing versions of themselves fictionalized to varying degrees.

The plots and subplots of the episodes are established in an outline written by David and the dialogue is largely improvised by the actors themselves.^[1] Much like Seinfeld, the subject matter in Curb Your Enthusiasm often involves the minutiae of daily life, and plots often revolve around Larry David's many faux pas, and his problems with certain social conventions and expectations, as well as his annoyance with other people's behavior. The character has a hard time letting such annoyances go unexpressed, which leads him often into awkward situations.

The series was developed from a 1999 one-hour special titled Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm, which David and HBO originally envisioned as a one-time project. This special was shot as a mockumentary, where the characters were aware of the presence of cameras and a crew. The series itself is not a mock documentary, but it is shot in a somewhat similar cinéma vérité-like visual style.^[1]

Curb Your Enthusiasm has been nominated for 34 Primetime Emmy Awards, and Robert B. Weide received an Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series, for the episode "Krazee Eyez Killa". The show won the 2002 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.^[2]

Concept[link]

The series stars Larry David as an extreme fictionalized version of himself. Similar to the real-life David, the character is well known in the entertainment industry as the co-creator and main co-writer of the highly successful sitcom Seinfeld. Throughout most of the series, the Larry David character is living a married life in Los Angeles with his wife Cheryl (played by Cheryl Hines), without children. David's main confidant on the show is his manager, Jeff Greene (played by Curb executive producer Jeff Garlin), who has a temperamental wife Susie (Susie Essman). A large portion of the show's many guest stars are various celebrities and public figures, such as actors, comedians, sportspeople and politicians, who play themselves. These include David's long-time friend Richard Lewis, as well as Ted Danson and his wife Mary Steenburgen, who all have recurring roles as fictionalized versions of themselves.

The show is set and filmed in various affluent Westside communities of (and occasionally downtown) Los Angeles, as well as the adjacent incorporated cities of Beverly Hills, Culver City and Santa Monica. David's hometown of New York City is also featured in some episodes, most prominently in the eighth season of the series.

Although David maintains an office, he leads a semi-retired life in the series, and is rarely shown working regularly, other than in season four, which centered on his being cast as the lead in the Mel Brooks play The Producers, and in season seven, writing a Seinfeld reunion show. Most of the series revolves around Larry's interactions with his friends and acquaintances, with Larry often at odds with the other characters (usually to Larry's detriment). Despite this, the characters do not seem to harbor ill feelings toward each other for any extended period and the cast has stayed stable throughout the show.

Title[link]

David has explained the meaning of the show's title in TV interviews: it reflects his perception that many people seem to live their lives projecting false enthusiasm, which he believes is used to imply that "they are better than you." This conflicts with his style, which is very droll and dry. The title also urges the audience not to expect too much from the show; at the time of the premiere, David wanted to lower expectations after the phenomenal success of Seinfeld.^[3]

Characters[link]

Creator Larry David stars as a fictional version of himself. He also serves as executive producer and writes the story for each episode.

Jeff Garlin also serves as an executive producer and has directed an episode of the series.

Main cast[link]

• Larry David (Larry David) – Candid, neurotic, but generally disposed to pursue what he perceives to be the right course, Larry often finds himself in awkward situations that arise as a result of his obstinate belief in his own ethical principles and codes of conduct, which he is nevertheless prepared to bend when it suits him. He usually has good intentions but often finds himself a victim of circumstance and social convention, as many of the people around him are also self-centered and stubborn; the character's unintentional tactlessness has resulted in the term "Larry David Moment" entering the American pop culture lexicon as a slang term for an inadvertently created socially awkward situation.^[4] He often centers on petty details, and stubbornly holds to his opinion to the extent of aggravating everyone around him just to prove an insignificant point. The real life Larry David has commented that although he secretly wishes to be more like his fictionalized version on the series, he could never be that way because he is a lot more cautious when it comes to social tension.^[5] Larry's trademark behaviors are his probing stare when he doesn't think somebody is telling the truth, fondly saying something is "prett-ay, prett-ay, prett-ay, pretty good" and, when caught up short in a moment of poor or contrary behavior, quizzically and mock-innocently inquiring, often of his wife, Cheryl, or of a close friend, "No good?" Among Larry's characteristics are his love of playing golf and his annoyance at having to engage in small talk ("stop and chat"), especially with people he deals with in commercial sitautions, such as waiters and tradesmen.

• Jeff Greene (Jeff Garlin) – One of Larry's closest friends, Jeff is his sympathetic manager whose marital problems and adulterous misadventures entangle Larry in embarrassing situations. Jeff often helps Larry with his problems, but that usually leads to Jeff getting entangled in the mess. Jeff and his wife, Susie (Susie Essman), have a daughter named Sammi (Ashly Holloway). While they ultimately love each other, his wife constantly criticizes him on his decisions and weight, while his daughter at times is neutral about her love for her father. Jeff Garlin stated that he truly does not empathize with his character at all and described him as a "pretty evil guy" who has "no morals, no scruples".^[6]

• Cheryl David (Cheryl Hines) – Cheryl is Larry's long-suffering wife and later ex-wife, who often expresses annoyance with his behavior, even in situations beyond his control. She often serves as a voice of reason for him, and helps define the social guidelines that he may have overlooked. While her adventures never led her far off from Larry, she has various activities outside day-to-day married life, including an acting stint, and, more sustainably, as an advocate of environmental issues, including being a member of and fundraiser for the NRDC. Her affection for Larry has been tested, even resulting in her leaving him for a time; upon learning that he had put together the Seinfeld reunion just to have a chance to get back with her, she sees it as a sign of their "belong[ing] together", but soon decides to file for divorce when Larry concentrates on a coffee stain incident rather than the fact that they are back together, refusing yet again to listen to her. They divorce in the season eight premiere episode (which is Cheryl Hines' final appearance on the series to date).

• Susie Greene (Susie Essman) – Jeff's wife, who has a very explosive temper and a filthy mouth. Consequently her reactions to Larry range from near violence via benign grievances to occasionally fonder repartee. She routinely berates Larry and Jeff with profanity-laced tirades after uncovering one of their hare-brained shenanigans. Susie and Jeff have an "on-again, off-again" relationship. She often uses Larry as a scapegoat for her marital problems. She is known to refer to Larry as "Larry Fucking David" and "Four-Eyed Fuck" and when he crosses her, she is known to respond "Fuck you, Larry David!", while her common expletive to her husband is "You fat piece of shit!" She often serves to enforce traditional moral standards such as the sanctity of marital vows and fealty to hearth and home, at times versus her husband, at others versus Larry and usually versus both. Susie Essman is upgraded from guest star billing to main cast billing beginning with season eight.

Recurring roles[link]

Among the show's many recurring roles, Richard Lewis and Ted Danson play versions of themselves as old friends of Larry's with whom he frequently butts heads. Shelley Berman plays Larry's father, Nat David. Bob Einstein frequently appears as Marty Funkhouser, another of Larry's oldest friends. Beginning with season six, J. B. Smoove appears as Leon Black, and in seasons six and seven, Vivica A. Fox appears as Loretta Black, members of a family of hurricane evacuees who stay in Larry's house.

Notable guest appearances[link]

Celebrities, including actors, comedians, authors, musicians and athletes, often make guest appearances on the show, with a large portion of them playing themselves, or fictional versions thereof. Some of the guest stars who have appeared as themselves include Mel Brooks, Michael York, Martin Scorsese, Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer, Shaquille O'Neal, Rosie O'Donnell, Ricky Gervais, Michael J. Fox, and the main cast of Seinfeld. Notable people who filled in fictional roles include Bob Odenkirk, Bea Arthur, Dustin Hoffman, Sacha Baron Cohen, Stephen Colbert, and Steve Coogan.

Plots and episodes[link]

Curb Your Enthusiasm episodes are typically named after an event, object, or person which figures prominently in the plot, similarly to how Seinfeld episodes were named. Many episodes concern breaches of intricate aspects of social conventions, such as the various details of tipping at restaurants,^[a][b][c] the obligation to "stop and chat" upon meeting an acquaintance,^[d] the allowed amount of caviar one may put on a cracker at a house party,^[e] whether a house guest needs the permission of the homeowner before taking a soft drink from the refrigerator.^[f] Others involve more significant issues, such as if and when a white person may say the racially sensitive word "nigger".^[g] And some involve the etiquette of extremely complex and unique circumstances, such as the occasion when Larry discovered at a wake that the deceased was to be buried with his favorite golf club—borrowed from Larry.^[h] Another involved Larry picking up a prostitute for the sole purpose of using the carpool lane on the freeway.^[i] In many episodes, Curb—like its predecessor Seinfeld—tied together apparently unrelated events woven throughout a given episode into an unforced climax that resolves the story lines simultaneously, either to Larry's advantage or detriment.

Season overview[link]

While each episode has a distinct individual plot, story arcs between episodes are also fairly common, and most seasons have a major overarching arc. These season-long story arcs are stretched across most of the season's ten episodes, and culminate in a season finale.

• In season one (2000), the style and the characters of the show are introduced across a series of mostly isolated episodes, as it is the only season without a major story arc.

• In season two (2001), Cheryl is tired of Larry not working, so he begins to develop a new television show, first with guest stars Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (George and Elaine on Seinfeld, respectively) as themselves. However, Larry's constant social faux pas ruin all of their chances with every major television network.

• In season three (2002), Larry invests in a restaurant enterprise which finally opens despite many mishaps, most of which are Larry's fault.

• In season four (2004), Mel Brooks casts Larry as the lead in his hit musical The Producers. Cheryl also gives Larry the opportunity to have sex with another woman before their tenth anniversary as an anniversary-gift.

• In season five (2005), Larry's friend Richard Lewis gets very ill and requires a kidney transplant. Larry is a match, but he spends the season looking for other sources of a kidney for Lewis. Also in season five, Larry suspects he may be adopted and embarks on a search to find his biological parents.

• Season six (2007) is built around Cheryl persuading Larry to take in a family that is left homeless after a major Gulf Coast hurricane. Later in the season, Cheryl leaves Larry, mimicking Laurie David's real-life divorce from Larry. He spends the rest of the season either fighting for her to come back or looking for a replacement.

• Most of season seven (2009) is centered on creating a Seinfeld reunion show with the original cast, while Larry is either dating or trying to get back together with Cheryl.

• Season eight (2011) continues to follow Larry's single life after he and Cheryl get divorced. At the midpoint of the season, the main characters all travel to New York City, where the rest of the season is set.

HBO has said that it is "cautiously optimistic" that Larry David will begin work on a ninth season. The network's president of programming Michael Lombardo commented, "For the first time ever after this season Larry didn't say 'I never want to do this again'.^[7]

Critical response[link]

Since its 2000 debut, the show has enjoyed wide critical acclaim and a steadily growing, dedicated audience that has helped it emerge from its early "cult" status. On Metacritic, the fifth season scored 91 out of 100 based on five reviews,^[8] the seventh season scored 81 out of 100 based on 18 reviews^[9] and the eighth season scored 85 out of 100 based on six reviews.^[10]

Online publication Slate Magazine named the characters of Cheryl David and Susie Greene as two of the best on television and as reasons they were looking forward to the return of the show in the fall of 2007.^[11] Curb Your Enthusiasm has also received praise from Galus Australis magazine for being even more unashamedly Jewish than the Seinfeld series.^[12]

Curb Your Enthusiasm asserts the Jewish identity of its characters in ways that no other show has. By incorporating episodes that deal directly with Jewish identity and tradition, the show offers a commentary on what it means to be a Jew in modern American society.

On the show's depiction of Jewish characters, academic Vincent Brook stated, "Curb's commitment to Jewish identification greatly enhances its storytelling capacity, as it lends greater realism and dimension to the characters and opens the show up to episodes with meaningful Jewish themes."^[13]

The character of Larry on the show is in many ways reminiscent of the schlemiel character often present in traditional Yiddish folklore. The schlemiel is usually a comic character whose actions lead to his inevitable downfall, but also stands as a form of resistance to social and cultural values and norms. David Gillota wrote: "As a true schlemiel, Larry's failure serves as a direct challenge to the status quo and encourages viewers to question the myriad unwritten rules that we follow in our everyday lives." Gillota also observed: "Whereas the schlemiel of Eastern Europe encountered problems that mostly affected Eastern European Jews (such as anti-Semitism and economic survival), Larry encounters problems that affect contemporary middle- to upper-class American Jews, namely, Jewish assimilation, secularism, intermarriage, and, as all of these suggest, the Jews' precarious ethnic identity in an increasingly multicultural environment."^[14]

Awards and nominations[link]

The series has received a total of 34 Primetime Emmy Award nominations with one win, for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series for Robert B. Weide for the episode "Krazee-Eyez Killa". The series has received six nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series. Larry David has received four nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Cheryl Hines has received two nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. The series has also received many nominations for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series.^[15]

It has received five Golden Globe Award nominations and won for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy in 2002, while being nominated in 2005. Larry David has been nominated for three Golden Globes for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series – Musical or Comedy.^[16] It has been nominated for five Producers Guild of America Awards and has won twice.^[17] It has been nominated for four Screen Actors Guild Awards, two for Larry David and two for the ensemble cast.^[18][19] It has been nominated for four Writers Guild of America Awards and has won once.^[20] It has been nominated for nine Directors Guild of America Awards and has won once for Bryan Gordon for the episode "The Special Section".^[21]

Juan Catalan incident[link]

In 2003, Juan Catalan, a resident of Los Angeles, was cleared of premeditated murder charges against a material witness (a crime eligible for capital punishment) after outtake footage shot for the "Carpool Lane" episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm showed him and his daughter attending the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves baseball game some 20 miles from the crime-scene at the time of the murder, resulting in a $320,000 settlement against the City of Los Angeles.^[22] Larry David joked afterwards "I like to tell people that I've now done one good thing in my life, albeit inadvertently".

Syndication[link]

On June 2, 2010, the series premiered on the TV Guide Network, making its network television debut (without the TV-MA scenes). The network also recorded a series of related discussions with high-profile guest stars, media pundits, and prominent social figures called "Curb: The Discussion" debating the moral implications depicted in each episode.^[23] The show was also syndicated on local stations and WGN America,^[24] but has been removed from syndication and WGN America due to low ratings.^[25]

Media[link]

DVD releases[link]

Curb Your Enthusiasm seasons come in a two-disc DVD set with ten episodes, with the exception of the release of season one encoded for region two, that contains three discs.

Book[link]

A Curb Your Enthusiasm book was released October 19, 2006, published by Gotham Books. The book contains stories from Larry David's past, original interviews and commentary, episode outlines, episode guide, and over 100 full-color photographs. The contents of the book span the first five seasons of the show.^[26]

Music[link]

The show is punctuated between scenes with music orchestrated by Wendell Yuponce (first season), and from a music library company called Killer Tracks (seasons two to five).^[27] Frequently heard are instrumental arrangements of the whimsical "Three Little Maids From School Are We" from The Mikado, and the rhythmic Gypsy dance "Les tringles des sistres tintaient" from Carmen. The opening and closing theme song (not mentioned in the credits) is "Frolic" by Italian composer Luciano Michelini. Larry David heard the music used in a bank commercial years before the show was created and thought it had a lighthearted, joyful quality.^[28] An unofficial soundtrack was released by Mellowdrama Records in 2006.^[29]

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Curb Your Enthusiasm

• Official website
• Curb Your Enthusiasm at the Internet Movie Database
• Curb Your Enthusiasm at TV.com

Angela Kinsey
Angela Kinsey, October 2007
Born	(1971-06-25) June 25, 1971 (age 41) Lafayette, Louisiana, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1997–present
Spouse	Warren Lieberstein (2000–2009)

Angela Kinsey (born June 25, 1971) is an American actress. She currently appears as the uptight accountant Angela Martin on the hit NBC television series The Office.

Personal life[link]

Kinsey was born in Lafayette, Louisiana. When she was two, her family moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, where her father worked as a drilling engineer. They lived there for twelve years, and she attended the Jakarta International School. During this time she learned Indonesian, which she still knows. Her family then returned to the United States and settled in Archer City, Texas.^[1][2][3]

Kinsey studied English at Baylor University, where she became a member of the Chi Omega sorority, "took as many theatre classes as possible", and participated in the "Baylor in London" program. In a 2007 interview with the Baylor student newspaper, she discussed the influence of her years at the university:^[4]

Kinsey served as an intern on the NBC late night talk show Late Night with Conan O'Brien, which she described as an "awesome" experience.^{[citation needed]} She worked for the show's drummer Max Weinberg. The experience inspired Kinsey to take a coast-to-coast road trip with a friend from New York City to California.^[5]

She married Warren Lieberstein on June 18, 2000. He is the brother of Paul Lieberstein, who plays Toby Flenderson on The Office. She gave birth to their first child, Isabel Ruby Lieberstein, on May 3, 2008.^[6] On February 18, 2009, Us Weekly reported that Kinsey and her husband had separated. Her representative stated that the two continue to be friends.^[7] In June 2010, it was announced that Kinsey had filed for divorce,^[8] citing "irreconcilable differences."^[9]

Blogging as her The Office character, Angela Martin, she has stated on MySpace that her hero is co-star Kate Flannery.^[10]

Kinsey said her grandmother, Lena May, does not watch The Office because she feels the protagonist Michael Scott, played by Steve Carell, is too "vulgar". Kinsey said, "She'll say to me, 'Baby, we're so proud of you, I'm proud of you, but I do not care for the show and I do not watch it.'"^[5]

Kinsey is Presbyterian and attends Bel-Air Presbyterian Church.^[11]

Kinsey’s character on The Office feeds feral cats in the office parking lot. In real life, Kinsey supports Alley Cat Allies,^[12] a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to transforming communities to protect and improve the lives of cats.

Career[link]

After graduating from Baylor University in 1993,^[4] she got an internship with Late Night with Conan O'Brien, working for Max Weinberg. She then moved to Los Angeles and took improvisation classes with The Groundlings and at iO WEST (formerly known as "Improv Olympic West").^[2]

Following a two-woman show at iO, she was an operator at 1-800-Dentist and made small one-episode appearances in various sitcoms. She voiced the character "Angela" on two episodes of King of the Hill.^[1] In early 2005, she auditioned for the role of receptionist Pam Beesly for the American version of The Office. After producers told her she was "a little too feisty for Pam", she was called back to audition for the role of Angela Martin, which she won.^[2] She also appeared on Monk as a murderer named Arlene Boras in Mr. Monk and the Naked Man (2007) and Mr. Monk's 100th Case (2008).

In June 2007, Kinsey shared in the Daytime Emmy Award "Outstanding Broadband Program - Comedy", for her work on The Office: Accountants, which is a series of webisodes.^[13]

Kinsey is one of several cast members of The Office to have a role in License to Wed, a film directed by Ken Kwapis, who often directs episodes of The Office.

Kinsey updates her MySpace blog with behind-the-scenes anecdotes of upcoming episodes of the series.^[10] She has also taken to organizing The Office cast outings: "I remember watching Friends and thinking, 'They really enjoy each other.' We, in fact, hang out".^[14]

Since summer 2011 she is the new spokesperson for Clairol hair products, appearing in television ads for Clairol Nice 'n Easy.

Filmography[link]

• Career Suicide – 2004
• The Office (US TV Series) – 2005–present
• Monk (TV Series) – 2006 (two episodes)
• License To Wed – 2007
• Tripping Forward – 2009
• Furry Vengeance – 2010
• Yo Gabba Gabba – 2010
• "Nice 'n Easy Hair Products" - 2011
• "Struck By Lightning" - 2012

References[link]

External links[link]

• Angela Kinsey at the Internet Movie Database
• PopGurls Interview: Angela Kinsey

Seth MacFarlane
Seth MacFarlane
Born	Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (1973-10-26) October 26, 1973 (age 38) Kent, Connecticut, U.S.
Nationality	American
Citizenship	United States
Alma mater	Rhode Island School of Design (Bachelor of Fine Arts)
Occupation	Actor, voice actor, animator, writer, comedian, singer, producer, director
Years active	1995–present
Known for	Family Guy American Dad! The Cleveland Show The Winner Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy Comedy Central Roasts Ted
Political party	Democrat
Parents	Ronald Wilton MacFarlane, Ann Perry (née Sager) (deceased)
Family	Rachael MacFarlane (sister)

Seth Woobury MacFarlane (born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, voice actor, animator, screenwriter, comedian, producer, director and singer. He created the animated sitcom Family Guy and co-created American Dad! and The Cleveland Show, for which he also voices many of the shows' various characters.^[1]

A native of Kent, Connecticut,^[2] MacFarlane is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, where he studied animation, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He was an animator and writer for Hanna-Barbera for several television shows, including Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, Dexter's Laboratory and I Am Weasel, before creating his own series for 20th Century Fox entitled Family Guy in 1999. MacFarlane went on to co-create American Dad! in 2005, and The Cleveland Show in 2009 for Fox. He also went on to serve as executive producer on the Fox sitcom The Winner.

As an actor, he has made guest appearances on shows such as Gilmore Girls, The War at Home and FlashForward. MacFarlane's interest in science fiction and fantasy has led to cameo and guest appearances on Star Trek: Enterprise and voicing the character of Johann Kraus in Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy II: The Golden Army. In 2008, he created his own YouTube series entitled Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy. As a singer, MacFarlane has performed at several venues, including Carnegie Hall and the Royal Albert Hall.

MacFarlane has won several awards for his work on Family Guy, including two Primetime Emmy Awards and an Annie Award. In 2009, he won the Webby Award for Film & Video Person of the Year. For several years, it has been the subject of criticism from television watchdog groups, such as the Parents Television Council, who regularly condemn it for its alleged indecency. Even fellow cartoonists such as The Ren & Stimpy Show's John Kricfalusi and South Park duo Trey Parker and Matt Stone have criticized MacFarlane's creation on numerous occasions. He occasionally speaks at universities and colleges throughout the United States, and is a supporter of gay rights.

On the February 10, 2011 episode of the TBS variety nighttime talk-show series Conan, MacFarlane announced he is directing his first feature-length comedy film, Ted. The film stars Mark Wahlberg as an adult who, as a child, wished his teddy bear would come to life. MacFarlane will be the voice and motion capture for the bear. It is currently in production and is scheduled for release July 13, 2012.^[3][4] In September, 2011, MacFarlane released a debut album of American standards, Music Is Better Than Words. In 2011 MacFarlane began a revival of Hanna-Barbera's The Flintstones for the Fox network. The first episode was due to air in the US in 2013,^[5][6] but production has been indefinitely delayed due to MacFarlane's schedule.^[7]

Early life and education[link]

MacFarlane's parents, Ann Perry (née Sager) and Ronald Milton MacFarlane, were born in Newburyport, Massachusetts.^[8] He is of Scottish, Irish, English and Welsh ancestry, partly by way of Canada, and his ancestors include William Brewster, who travelled to America on the Mayflower.^[9][10] MacFarlane's parents met in 1970, when they both lived and worked in Boston, Massachusetts, and married later that year.^[8] In 1972, the couple moved to Kent, Connecticut, where Ann Perry began working in the Admissions Office at South Kent School and later in the College Guidance and Admissions Offices at the Kent School, a selective college preparatory school where Ronald was also a teacher.^[8][11] During his childhood, MacFarlane developed an interest in illustration and began drawing cartoon characters Fred Flintstone and Woody Woodpecker, as early as two years old.^[12] By the age of five, MacFarlane knew that he would want to pursue a career in animation, and began by creating flip books, after his parents found a book on the subject.^[13] Four years later, at nine, MacFarlane began publishing a weekly comic strip entitled "Walter Crouton" for The Kent Good Times Dispatch, the local newspaper in Kent, Connecticut, which paid him five dollars per week.^[14][15] In one anecdote from the time, MacFarlane said in a 2011 interview he was "always like just weirdly fascinated by the Communion ceremony [so] I did a strip that had a guy kneeling at the altar taking Communion and saying 'Can I have fries with that?' And to my 11-year-old brain that was comedy ...." The paper printed it and he got "an angry letter from our local priest .... It created sort of a little mini-controversy in our little town." ^[16]

MacFarlane received his high school diploma in 1991 from the Kent School.^[8][11] While there, he continued experimenting with animation, and was given an 8 mm camera by his parents.^[17] MacFarlane went on to study film, video and animation at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.^[14] As a student, he had originally intended to work for Disney, but changed his mind upon graduating.^[18] At RISD, MacFarlane created a series of independent films, eventually meeting future Family Guy cast member Mike Henry, whose brother Patrick was MacFarlane's classmate. His senior year at RISD, MacFarlane created a thesis film entitled The Life of Larry, which would eventually become the inspiration for Family Guy.^[14] MacFarlane's professor submitted his film to the animation studio Hanna-Barbera, where he was later hired.^[19]