David Cross
- Born:
- April 4, 1964, Roswell, Georgia, U.S. (age 60)
- Awards And Honors:
- Emmy Award (1993)
David Cross (born April 4, 1964, Roswell, Georgia, U.S.) is an American writer, stand-up comedian, and actor who is best known for playing Tobias Fünke in the TV sitcom Arrested Development (2003–06, 2013, 2018–19) and for cocreating and costarring in the HBO cult comedy Mr. Show (1995–98).
Early life
Cross is one of three children born to Susie Cross and Barry Cross, the latter of whom is from Leeds, England. They lived in the Atlanta area, and when David Cross was 10 years old, his father left the family; the two subsequently became estranged. “I grew up very poor and that was partly because I had a shitty dad,” he told The Guardian in 2023. In 1983 Cross began attending Emerson College in Boston, but he dropped out to pursue a comedy career.
Mr. Show with Bob and David
Cross started doing stand-up comedy as a teenager in Atlanta, and he later performed in the Boston area. After moving to Los Angeles, he became a writer on The Ben Stiller Show (1992–95), for which he won an Emmy Award in 1993. Other comics who worked on the MTV show included Janeane Garofalo, Andy Dick, Judd Apatow, and Bob Odenkirk. Cross and Odenkirk subsequently teamed up to create and star in the sketch-comedy TV series Mr. Show with Bob and David (commonly called Mr. Show; 1995–98), which showcased their original and offbeat humor. The show became hugely influential and is considered a cult classic. One of the sketches later inspired the movie Run Ronnie Run, in which Cross starred as a man who is repeatedly arrested. The comedy premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2002 but was never released in theaters. In 2015 Odenkirk and Cross reunited for W/Bob & David, which aired on Netflix.
During this time Cross appeared in various other projects. He notably had minor roles in Christopher Guest’s “mockumentary” Waiting for Guffman (1996); The Cable Guy (1996), a comedy starring Jim Carrey and directed by Ben Stiller; and the action blockbusters Men in Black (1997) and its 2002 sequel. Cross’s credits from 2001 include Ghost World and Scary Movie 2. He also made guest appearances on various TV shows, including NewsRadio, Strangers with Candy, and Just Shoot Me!
Arrested Development and later acting credits
In 2003 Cross began appearing as one of his most-memorable characters: Tobias Fünke in Arrested Development. The show centers on a dysfunctional wealthy family that has fallen on hard times amid their patriarch’s illegal business practices. Cross’s character is a psychiatrist who has lost his medical license and decides to become an actor despite a lack of talent. Fünke often unintentionally makes comments laden with innuendos, and the show hints that he is a closeted gay man who is unwilling to face his sexuality. Cross’s costars included Jason Bateman, Jessica Walter, Jeffrey Tambor, Michael Cera, Alia Shawkat, and Tony Hale. The show earned rave reviews, but it failed to find a wide audience. Arrested Development was canceled in 2006, but it later got a second life on Netflix, airing for two additional seasons (2013 and 2018–19).
Cross’s other notable credits include several well-received movies, including the genre-bending Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), starring Kate Winslet and Carrey, and Todd Haynes’s Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There (2007), in which Cross played Allen Ginsberg. He also acted in various TV shows. In 2018–19 he had a recurring role on Goliath, and he was later cast in the dystopian miniseries Station Eleven (2021–22). In 2023 Cross portrayed a crooked businessman in the miniseries Justified: City Primeval. During this time Cross also created and starred in the TV show The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret (2009–16), which centers on an American who is hired to market an energy drink in England. In addition, Cross lent his voice to a number of projects, including such popular animated films as the King Fu Panda series, which debuted in 2008, and Megamind (2010).
Comedy specials
While pursuing an acting career, Cross continued to perform stand-up comedy, and a number of his concerts were made into TV specials and albums. He was noted for his caustic humor, which often reflected his liberal views. The New York Times wrote in 2016 that “in the anxious years after Sept. 11, Mr. Cross was stand-up’s premier polemicist, releasing two specials attacking Bush-era policies with scathing wit and uncommon force.” In addition in 2023 The Guardian observed that Cross was “one of the defining figures of cult gen X comedy.” However, Cross was not without his critics, as some found him smug and condescending.
Personal life
In 2012 Cross married actress Amber Tamblyn, and the couple later had a daughter. Cross and Tamblyn appeared in Nicole Holofcener’s You Hurt My Feelings (2023), playing a couple seeking counseling.
Cross is known for his candor, and in 2012 he made headlines when he admitted that he had snorted cocaine at the 2009 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, confirming a long-standing rumor. In an interview with Playboy, Cross said he was about 65 feet from Pres. Barack Obama at the time. “It was just about being able to say that I did it, that I did cocaine in the same room as the president,” Cross said.