Daniel Stern (actor)
Daniel Jacob Stern (born August 28, 1957) is an American actor, artist, director, and screenwriter. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Marvin "Marv" Merchants in Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), Phil Berquist in City Slickers (1991) and City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold (1994), the voice of adult Kevin Arnold on the television series The Wonder Years and the voice of Dilbert on the animated series of the same name. Other notable films of his include Breaking Away (1979), Stardust Memories (1980), Diner (1982), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), The Milagro Beanfield War (1988) and Coupe de Ville (1990). He made his feature-film directorial debut with Rookie of the Year (1993).
Daniel Stern | |
---|---|
Stern in July 2014 | |
Born | Daniel Jacob Stern August 28, 1957 |
Other names | Peter Mills (screenwriter name) |
Occupation | Actor, artist, director, screenwriter |
Years active | 1978–present |
Spouse(s) | Laure Mattos ( m. 1980) |
Children | 3; including Henry Stern |
Family | David M. Stern (brother) |
Early life
Stern was raised in Bethesda, Maryland, to a social worker father and a mother who managed a day care center.[1] His family is Jewish. His brother is television writer David M. Stern. During his years at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, Stern starred in several theater productions, including playing C.C. Baxter in Promises, Promises and Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. Stern applied for a job as a lighting engineer for a Shakespeare Festival in Washington, D.C., but was hired as a walk-on in their production of The Taming of the Shrew, starring Glenn Close.[2] He dropped out of high school in his senior year and soon moved to New York. After taking acting lessons at HB Studio with Austin Pendleton and Herbert Berghof, Stern began his acting career in Off Broadway and Broadway productions, including True West with Gary Sinise and How I Got That Story at Second Stage Theatre with Bob Gunton. He acted in numerous productions at The Public Theater, Ensemble Studio Theater, Cherry Lane Theater, and Manhattan Theater Club.
Career
In 1979, Stern made his film debut as Cyril in Breaking Away. The following year he played a student who raised objections during Jill Clayburgh's proof[3] of the snake lemma in the film It's My Turn. His breakthrough role as Laurence "Shrevie" Schreiber came in Barry Levinson's Diner. He had another early film role in the 1984 horror film C.H.U.D., as the soup kitchen C.H.U.D. hunter. He appeared in two films with Woody Allen, Stardust Memories and Hannah and Her Sisters.
Stern has played characters in a number of comedic roles, such as Phil Berquist in City Slickers and City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold, and Marvin "Marv" Murchins the burglar in the first two Home Alone films, Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, with Joe Pesci. However, he declined to play the character once again in the fourth installment of the franchise, believing the script to be an insult to the original motion picture. He also starred as Max in Bushwhacked. He provided the voice of the narrator on the TV series The Wonder Years, which starred Fred Savage as Kevin Arnold. As narrator, Stern played the adult Kevin Arnold, remembering his youth.[4] Stern and Savage were also featured together in Little Monsters, in which Stern played the father of Savage's character. In the late 1990s, Stern took on a more serious role in the black comedy Very Bad Things with Christian Slater, Cameron Diaz and Jon Favreau. Stern provided the voice for the main character of the Dilbert animated TV series, based on the comic strip by Scott Adams.
Stern directed several episodes of The Wonder Years and the 1993 feature film Rookie of the Year, and in recent years directed two episodes of the TV series, Manhattan.
Stern created, wrote and starred in the CBS television show Danny.
He wrote the off-Broadway hit "Barbra's Wedding", which was produced by The Dodgers and Manhattan Theater Club. It starred John Pankow and Julie White and ran for six months. Mr. Stern also appeared in the play at Garry Marshall's Falcon Theater.
Stern was originally offered the role of Dale Gribble in King of the Hill but he was replaced by Johnny Hardwick when his salary agreement went low. He starred in Game Over, Man! (2018).
Personal life
Stern works as an artist, specializing in bronze sculpture. He has created sculptures for public art projects in San Diego, Pasadena, Palm Desert, Temple City, Monrovia, and Agoura Hills. He is an artist in residence at Studio Channel Islands Art Centre in Camarillo. He has also done many private commissions, gallery exhibitions and art fairs.[5] He is the father of California State Senator Henry Stern and daughters Ella and Sophie Stern.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1979 | Breaking Away | Cyril | |
1979 | Starting Over | Student 2 | |
1980 | A Small Circle of Friends | Crazy Kid: Draft Inductee | |
1980 | Stardust Memories | Actor | |
1980 | One Trick Pony | Hare Krishna | |
1980 | It's My Turn | Cooperman | |
1981 | Honky Tonk Freeway | Hitchhiker | |
1982 | I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can | Jim | |
1982 | Diner | Laurence 'Shrevie' Schreiber | |
1983 | Blue Thunder | Officer Richard Lymangood | |
1983 | Get Crazy | Neil Allen | |
1983 | Daniel | Artie Sternlicht | |
1984 | C.H.U.D. | A.J'The Reverend' Shepherd | |
1984 | Frankenweenie | Ben Frankenstein | Short film |
1985 | Key Exchange | Michael Fine | |
1986 | Hannah and Her Sisters | Dusty | |
1986 | The Boss' Wife | Joel Keefer | |
1987 | Born in East L.A. | Jimmy | |
1988 | The Milagro Beanfield War | Herbie Platt | |
1988 | D.O.A. | Hal Petersham | |
1989 | Leviathan | Buzz "Sixpack" Parrish | |
1989 | Little Monsters | Glen Stevenson | |
1989 | Friends, Lovers, & Lunatics | Mat | |
1990 | Coupe de Ville | Marvin Libner | |
1990 | My Blue Heaven | Will Stubbs | |
1990 | Home Alone | Marv Merchants | |
1991 | City Slickers | Phil Berquist | |
1992 | Home Alone 2: Lost in New York | Marv Merchants | |
1993 | Rookie of the Year | Phil Brickma | Also director |
1994 | City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold | Phil Berquist | |
1995 | Bushwhacked | Max Grabelski | |
1996 | Celtic Pride | Mike O'Hara | |
1998 | Very Bad Things | Adam Berkow | |
2000 | How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog | Guest at costume party | Uncredited |
2001 | Viva Las Nowhere | Frank Jacobs | |
2006 | The Last Time | John Whitman | |
2008 | Otis | Will Lawson | |
2009 | Whip It | Earl Cavendar | |
2010 | The Next Three Days | Meyer Fisk | |
2012 | A Christmas Story 2 | The Old Man | |
2018 | Game Over, Man! | Mitch | |
2019 | James vs. His Future Self | Jimmy |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1984 | Samson and Delilah | Micah | Television film |
1984 | The Ratings Game | Skip Imperali | Television film |
1985 | Hometown | Joey Nathan | 10 episodes |
1986 | Comedy Factory | Leon | Episode: "Man About Town" |
1988 | Weekend War | Garfield | Television film |
1988–1993 | The Wonder Years | Adult Kevin Arnold (voice) | Uncredited; 114 episodes |
1990 | The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson | William Cline | Television film |
1991 | The Simpsons | Narrator | Episode: "Three Men and a Comic Book" |
1997 | Gun | Harvey Hochfelder | Episode: "The Shot" |
1998 | Hey Arnold! | Mr. Packenham (voice) | Episode: "Tour de Pond/Teachers' Strike" |
1998 | Tourist Trap | George W. Piper | Television film |
1999 | Partners | Sam | Television film |
1999–2000 | Dilbert | Dilbert (voice) | 30 episodes |
2001 | Danny | Danny | 9 episodes |
2003 | Regular Joe | Joe Binder | 5 episodes |
2009 | Family Guy | Narrator (voice) | Episode: "FOX-y Lady" |
2009 | Monk | Sheriff Franklin | Episode: "Mr. Monk and the UFO" |
2010 | Battle of the Bulbs | Bob Wallace | Television film |
2013 | Workaholics | Travis Rockne | Episode: "Alice Quits" |
2013; 2015 | Getting On | Richard James | 2 episodes |
2014 | House of Lies | Robert Tretorn | 2 episodes |
2014–2015 | Manhattan | Glen Babbit | 15 episodes |
2017 | Love | Marty Dobbs | Episode: "Marty Dobbs" |
2019 | Shrill | Bill Easton | 4 episodes |
Awards and nominations
Year | Result | Award | Category | Film or series |
---|---|---|---|---|
1992 | Nominated | American Comedy Awards | Funniest Supporting Actor | City Slickers |
References
- "New Face: Daniel Stern Off the Sofa and Onto the Movie Screen in 'Breaking Away'; 'But It Was Cheap Rent'". The New York Times. August 31, 1979. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
- "Daniel Stern: Then and Now | Film Industry Digest". Retrieved 2020-04-10.
- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080936/quotes
- Day, Heather Thompson (2013). How to Feed the Mediavore: The 30 Day Challenge. Review and Herald. p. 28. ISBN 9780812756555.
- "‘Home Alone’ star sculpts statue for City of Agoura Hills" Archived 2016-01-05 at the Wayback Machine, Stephanie Bertholdo, The Acorn
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Daniel Stern. |
- Daniel Stern on IMDb
- Iceboxx - Webblog about Daniel Stern's artwork