# David Schwimmer
**David Lawrence Schwimmer** (born 1966) is an American actor and director, best known as [Ross Geller](https://www.edgepedia.org/ross-geller) on the NBC comedy *Friends* (1994–2004), a role written for him[1](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/awards-chatter-podcast-david-schwimmer-919432/) that he played across 234 episodes[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001710/). Trained at [Northwestern University](https://www.edgepedia.org/northwestern-university), he co-founded Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre Company, has directed more than twenty plays and three feature films, and served for 25 years on the board of The Rape Foundation[3](https://lookingglasstheatre.org/team-members/david-schwimmer/). His three Emmy nominations span playing Ross in 1995, [Robert Kardashian](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-kardashian) in *The People v. O.J. Simpson* in 2016, and executive-producing *Friends: The Reunion* in 2021[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/david-schwimmer).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | David Lawrence Schwimmer, 1966, Queens, New York; raised in Los Angeles from age two[5](https://www.biography.com/actors/david-schwimmer) |
| Signature role | Ross Geller on *Friends* (1994–2004), 234 episodes[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001710/); the role was written for him by David Crane and Marta Kauffman[1](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/awards-chatter-podcast-david-schwimmer-919432/) |
| Emmy nominations | 1995 (supporting actor, comedy, *Friends*), 2016 (supporting actor, limited series, as Robert Kardashian), 2021 (executive producer, *Friends: The Reunion*)[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/david-schwimmer) |
| Theatre founding | Co-founded Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre Company with seven other Northwestern graduates in 1988[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001710/) |
| Feature directing | *Since You've Been Gone*, *Run Fat Boy Run* (2007), and *Trust* (2010), starring Clive Owen, Catherine Keener, and Viola Davis[3](https://lookingglasstheatre.org/team-members/david-schwimmer/) • [5](https://www.biography.com/actors/david-schwimmer) |
| Other TV roles | Herbert M. Sobel in *Band of Brothers* (Golden Satellite Award), Robert Kardashian in *The People v. O.J. Simpson*, Melman the giraffe's voice in the *Madagascar* films[6](https://www.latw.org/artist-public-profile/david-schwimmer) • [5](https://www.biography.com/actors/david-schwimmer) |
| Advocacy | 25 years on the Board of Directors of The Rape Foundation; active in combating antisemitism[3](https://lookingglasstheatre.org/team-members/david-schwimmer/) |
## Early life and training
Schwimmer was born in Queens, New York, in 1966, and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was two[5](https://www.biography.com/actors/david-schwimmer). His parents were lawyers, and he began acting at [Beverly Hills High School](https://www.edgepedia.org/beverly-hills-high-school)[7](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/sep/08/1). In a 2021 interview he described his upbringing: "They raised my sister and me with a hyper-awareness of justice, equality and gay rights. I have memories of protesting on picket lines"[8](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jun/19/this-much-i-know-david-schwimmer-i-was-a-roller-skating-waiter-for-seven-years).
He studied theater at Northwestern University, earning his bachelor's degree in 1988[7](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/sep/08/1) • [5](https://www.biography.com/actors/david-schwimmer). Before *Friends*, his screen work included the television film *A Deadly Silence* (1989), *The Wonder Years*, *L.A. Law* (1992), the short-lived sitcom *Monty* (1993–94), and *NYPD Blue*[9](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/friends-actor-goes-wild/) • [7](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/sep/08/1).
## Lookingglass Theatre and stage work
During his senior year at Northwestern, Schwimmer co-founded the Lookingglass Theatre Company with seven other graduates of the university; after graduating in 1988 he devoted several years to the Chicago ensemble before returning to Los Angeles to pursue screen acting[9](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/friends-actor-goes-wild/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001710/). The company remained central to his career: his directing credits there include his own adaptations of [Studs Terkel](https://www.edgepedia.org/studs-terkel)'s *RACE* and [Upton Sinclair](https://www.edgepedia.org/upton-sinclair)'s *The Jungle*[3](https://lookingglasstheatre.org/team-members/david-schwimmer/). (One profile dates the founding to 1989 rather than 1988[7](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/sep/08/1).)
His stage work has run parallel to his screen career. He made his London stage debut in 2005 in [Neil LaBute](https://www.edgepedia.org/neil-labute)'s *Some Girl(s)*[7](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/sep/08/1) and his Broadway debut in 2006 in *The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial*[5](https://www.biography.com/actors/david-schwimmer).
## Friends and 1990s fame
**How the role found him.** David Crane and [Marta Kauffman](https://www.edgepedia.org/marta-kauffman) had auditioned Schwimmer for a pilot that never reached the air; for their next project, *Insomnia Cafe*, they wrote the role of Ross Geller for him. That pilot became *Friends*[1](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/awards-chatter-podcast-david-schwimmer-919432/). He was the first actor cast on the ensemble show[5](https://www.biography.com/actors/david-schwimmer).
The series premiered on NBC in 1994 and was an immediate success; at its height it attracted 52 million viewers, making Schwimmer, then 27, an overnight celebrity[1](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/awards-chatter-podcast-david-schwimmer-919432/). He played Ross for 234 episodes across ten seasons, from 1994 to 2004[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001710/). During the show's first season he received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/david-schwimmer). IMDb associates his compensation with a figure of $2,500,000, consistent with the reported late-series per-episode salary[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001710/).
## Film and television after Friends
His starring film career began during *Friends*. *The Pallbearer* (1996) was his first starring role, followed by *Breast Men* (television, 1997), *Kissing a Fool* (1998), and *Six Days Seven Nights* (1998); these movies did not achieve box-office success[5](https://www.biography.com/actors/david-schwimmer). His most notable supporting turn of the period was Herbert M. Sobel in HBO's miniseries *Band of Brothers*, a role that won him a Golden Satellite Award[6](https://www.latw.org/artist-public-profile/david-schwimmer). In Jon Avnet's HBO film *Uprising* (2001) he played a Jewish fighter in the Warsaw ghetto[9](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/friends-actor-goes-wild/).
After the series ended he voiced Melman the giraffe in the animated hit *Madagascar* (2005) and its sequels[5](https://www.biography.com/actors/david-schwimmer). On television he played Newell L. Miller on Showtime's *Web Therapy* and Josh "4B" Goldstein on *NYPD Blue*[6](https://www.latw.org/artist-public-profile/david-schwimmer). His AMC series *Feed the Beast* was canceled after one season in 2016 because of low ratings[5](https://www.biography.com/actors/david-schwimmer).
**Robert Kardashian.** In FX's *The People v. O.J. Simpson* (2016) he played Robert Kardashian, whom the series framed as its conscience[6](https://www.latw.org/artist-public-profile/david-schwimmer) • [1](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/awards-chatter-podcast-david-schwimmer-919432/). The nomination, for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie, was his second, arriving 21 years after the first; the series received 22 Emmy nominations overall[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/david-schwimmer) • [1](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/awards-chatter-podcast-david-schwimmer-919432/).
His later screen work includes *Curb Your Enthusiasm* and, most recently, *Goosebumps* for Disney+[3](https://lookingglasstheatre.org/team-members/david-schwimmer/).
## Directing career
Directing has been a second career line throughout. After shadowing the directors [James Burrows](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-burrows) and Kevin Bright and receiving the blessing of his castmates, he directed 10 episodes of *Friends*[1](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/awards-chatter-podcast-david-schwimmer-919432/). He has also directed episodes of *Joey* and *The Tracy Morgan Show*[9](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/friends-actor-goes-wild/).
In theater he has directed more than twenty plays, including his Lookingglass adaptations of *RACE* and *The Jungle*, Stephen Belber's *Fault Lines*, and Laura Eason's *Sex with Strangers* for Second Stage Theatre[3](https://lookingglasstheatre.org/team-members/david-schwimmer/). His feature films as director are the Lookingglass ensemble comedy *Since You've Been Gone*, *Run Fat Boy Run* (2007), and the independent drama *[Trust](https://www.edgepedia.org/trust-2010-film)* (2010), with [Clive Owen](https://www.edgepedia.org/clive-owen), Catherine Keener, and [Viola Davis](https://www.edgepedia.org/viola-davis)[3](https://lookingglasstheatre.org/team-members/david-schwimmer/).
## Career choices: theater over Hollywood leads
The clearest single decision in Schwimmer's divergence from the usual post-sitcom path came in the mid-1990s: he turned down the lead role in *Men in Black* (1997), eventually played by [Will Smith](https://www.edgepedia.org/will-smith), in order to direct *Since You've Been Gone* for the Lookingglass ensemble[1](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/awards-chatter-podcast-david-schwimmer-919432/) • [10](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/david-schwimmer/bio/3000029337/). His 1990s starring films, from *The Pallbearer* onward, did not succeed at the box office[5](https://www.biography.com/actors/david-schwimmer). Against that record stands his continuing investment in Lookingglass, which he has sustained as co-founder, adapter, and director for the length of his career[3](https://lookingglasstheatre.org/team-members/david-schwimmer/).
## Advocacy and personal life
Schwimmer has framed his advocacy around reaching men. "I thought I could find a way to approach the subject of rape in such a way that men are going to respond to it," he said, adding, "To be perfectly honest, I feel I have a duty to use my celebrity status in a positive way." He described his most devastating moment in that work as when "a 13-year-old girl told me her story"[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001710/). He served for 25 years on the Board of Directors of The Rape Foundation, which helps victims of rape and campaigns for legislation to ban date-rape related drugs, and he is also active in combating antisemitism[3](https://lookingglasstheatre.org/team-members/david-schwimmer/) • [10](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/david-schwimmer/bio/3000029337/).
In June 2010 he married the British photographer Zoe Buckman; their daughter Cleo was born in 2011, and in 2017 the couple announced they were taking time apart[5](https://www.biography.com/actors/david-schwimmer). In a 2021 interview he called being a dad "the highlight of my life"[8](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jun/19/this-much-i-know-david-schwimmer-i-was-a-roller-skating-waiter-for-seven-years).
## Recognition and recent years
Schwimmer's three Emmy nominations are Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for *Friends* (1995), Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for *The People v. O.J. Simpson* (2016), and, in 2021, Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) as an executive producer of [HBO Max](https://www.edgepedia.org/hbo-max)'s *Friends: The Reunion*[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/david-schwimmer). His most recent listed screen credit is *Goosebumps* for Disney+[3](https://lookingglasstheatre.org/team-members/david-schwimmer/).
## References
1. ['Awards Chatter' Podcast — David Schwimmer ('The People v. O.J. Simpson'), The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/awards-chatter-podcast-david-schwimmer-919432/)
2. [David Schwimmer, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001710/)
3. [David Schwimmer, Lookingglass Theatre Company](https://lookingglasstheatre.org/team-members/david-schwimmer/)
4. [David Schwimmer, Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/david-schwimmer)
5. [David Schwimmer, Biography.com](https://www.biography.com/actors/david-schwimmer)
6. [David Schwimmer, Los Angeles Theatre Works artist profile](https://www.latw.org/artist-public-profile/david-schwimmer)
7. [Q&A: David Schwimmer, The Guardian (2007)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/sep/08/1)
8. [David Schwimmer: 'I was a roller-skating waiter', The Guardian (2021)](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jun/19/this-much-i-know-david-schwimmer-i-was-a-roller-skating-waiter-for-seven-years)
9. ['Friends' Actor Goes Wild, CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/friends-actor-goes-wild/)
10. [David Schwimmer Biography, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/david-schwimmer/bio/3000029337/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Sc to Sl*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 20, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license