Jeremy Piven

Jeremy Samuel Piven (born July 26, 1965[1]) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He is known for his role as Ari Gold in the comedy series Entourage, for which he won a Golden Globe Award and three consecutive Emmy Awards.[2] He also starred in the British period drama Mr Selfridge, which tells the story of the man who created the luxury English department store chain Selfridges, and portrayed Spence Kovak on Ellen DeGeneres's sitcom Ellen.

Jeremy Piven
Piven in February 2009
Born (1965-07-26) July 26, 1965
New York City, New York, U.S.
OccupationActor, comedian, producer
Years active1980–present
Parent(s)Joyce Hiller Piven
Byrne Piven
FamilyShira Piven (sister)
Adam McKay (brother-in-law)

Early years

Piven was born in Manhattan and raised in a Reconstructionist Jewish[3][4] family, of Ukrainian Jewish descent.[5][6][7][4]

His parents are Byrne Piven (1929–2002) and Joyce Hiller Piven (née Goldstein), both of whom were actors and drama teachers.[1][8][9] His sister is director Shira Piven, whom he has described as one of his first acting teachers; his brother-in-law is director Adam McKay.[10]

He grew up in Evanston, Illinois[1] and graduated from Evanston Township High School.[11] As a teenager, he attended Harand Theater Camp in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, where he played Bernardo in West Side Story. In Illinois, he trained at Piven Theatre Workshop,[12] founded by his parents. He also attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where he departed after his sophomore year to attend New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He left Tisch during his senior year to pursue his acting career[13] and is an alumnus of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.[14] He spent a semester at the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut.

He has appeared in a number of films with John Cusack, who is also from Evanston and is a fellow alumnus of the Piven Theatre Workshop (as are Cusack's sisters Joan and Ann). Piven and Cusack once shared an apartment and have been friends since high school.

Career

One of Piven's early roles was Spike in Lucas (1986). Piven's first important role came in 1992 when he became a regular cast member on HBO's The Larry Sanders Show, in which he played the head writer Jerry. He left the show in the second season after growing tired of playing Jerry, because his character was not given much of a background.

In 1993, he portrayed George Costanza on the show-within-a-show scene in the Seinfeld episode, "The Pilot". Piven was a supporting cast member on the last three seasons of the sitcom Ellen, wherein he played the part of Ellen's cousin, Spence. He was also the star and producer of the short-lived ABC dramedy series Cupid and voiced Elongated Man in three episodes of Justice League Unlimited.

Beginning in 2004, Piven achieved significant success playing the fast-talking, acerbic Hollywood agent Ari Gold in the HBO series Entourage. He received Emmy[15] nominations for Best Supporting Actor four straight years, from 2005 to 2008, and won the award in 2006, 2007, and 2008; 2009 was the first year in which he did not receive an Emmy Award nomination for his work on the show. He also received Golden Globe nominations from 2005 to 2010 for the role, and win in 2008.

Piven has appeared in numerous successful films, including Grosse Pointe Blank, Singles, Very Bad Things, The Family Man, Black Hawk Down, The Kingdom, Heat, PCU, Old School, Rock N Rolla, Serendipity, Smokin' Aces, and Runaway Jury. He has also made cameo appearances in Rush Hour 2 and the U.S. release of Cars.

In 2007, Piven appeared in the video for "Drivin' Me Wild", the third single from the rapper Common's seventh album, Finding Forever. The two were co-stars in Smokin' Aces and appeared together when Piven hosted SNL in January 2007.[16]

Piven appeared in the first Broadway revival of David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow. The production began preview performances on October 3, 2008 and opened on October 23, 2008; the play was due to run through February 22, 2009. After Piven missed several performances, on December 17, 2008, Piven's representation announced that due to an undisclosed illness, Piven would be ending his run in the play effective immediately.[17] The illness was revealed to be hydrargaria, a disease caused by exposure to mercury or its compounds, though the source is unknown. Rumours have indicated that the high level of mercury could potentially have been caused by Piven's habit of consuming fish twice a day for the past 20 years.[18] An alternative explanation is that the herbal remedies Piven was taking were responsible for his high levels of mercury.[19] Mamet joked that Piven was leaving the play "to pursue a career as a thermometer."[20] On September 1, 2009, Piven, in a guest appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, explained that he had given up red meat and poultry, and had been getting all of his protein from fish for the past 20 years.[21]

On August 3, 2009, Piven guest hosted the WWE Raw wrestling program. In August 2011, Piven stated he was interested in portraying the drummer from the Who, Keith Moon.[22] From 2013 to 2016, he played the title role in the British television drama series Mr Selfridge, the semi-fictional story based on the life of Harry Selfridge, who founded the London department store Selfridge's. The show aired on the ITV network in the United Kingdom and PBS in the United States.

On August 1, 2019, Piven appeared on a KTVU morning news segment to promote a standup comedy show he was performing in the next night in San Francisco.

Personal life

Piven starred in the Travel Channel special, Jeremy Piven's Journey of a Lifetime, detailing his journey across India. He resides in Malibu, California.[10]

Piven plays drums, and has played on stage with the notable Chicago-based progressive rock / jam band Umphrey's McGee in 2004.[23]

In 2016, Piven endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders for President of the United States during the 2016 presidential election.[24]

Piven is a fan of the Chicago Bears.[25] In 1998, he appeared in commercials for the Chicago Blackhawks.

Sexual harassment allegations

On October 30, 2017, adult film actress and reality television personality Ariane Bellamar[26] made accusations via Twitter, that Piven had groped her.[27] The next day, Piven responded to these allegations writing, "I unequivocally deny the appalling allegations being peddled about me. It did not happen".[28] Cassidy Freeman came to Bellamar's defense in an Instagram post, alluding to her own troubling past with Piven, who the actress claims engaged in "predatory behavior" toward her when she was "far too young".[29] On November 9, advertising executive Tiffany Bacon Scourby alleged that Piven had attacked her in 2003, stating that he had "jumped on" her, "exposed his genitals, held her hands down and began rubbing against her body until he ejaculated".[30] Piven responded to the allegations, calling them "absolutely false and completely fabricated". A representative for Piven said the actor was "looking at legal options".[31][30]

On November 13, 2017, Piven voluntarily took a polygraph test in which he was asked a series of questions about each allegation, which allegations he again denied. He passed the test with "no signs of deception". The polygraph test was administered by a member of the American Polygraph Association.[32][33]

Later that month, Anastasia Taneie, who worked as an extra on Entourage, alleged that Piven "confronted her in a dark hallway and groped her breast and genitals as he forcefully pushed her against a wall".[34] On November 27, 2017, CBS decided not to order a full season of Wisdom of the Crowd, following weak ratings and allegations of sexual harassment involving Piven.[35] In January 2018, BuzzFeed published an article in which three more women accused Piven of "sexual misconduct or inappropriate behavior". They alleged Piven pinned down one woman on a couch after following her to her trailer on the set of a film in 1985, engaged in "physically aggressive" behavior with another while on a date, and attempted to force himself on the third woman in a hotel room around 1994. BuzzFeed News corroborated the stories with eight people who said the women had shared the encounters with them in the years since. Piven "vehemently denied" all the allegations, and his lawyer called them "works of fiction", saying they were opportunistic efforts to "obtain attention and/or money". Piven submitted a written statement to BuzzFeed, in which he referred to the lie detector test he had taken and asserted: "I have never forced myself on anyone, nor have I ever exposed myself or restrained anyone against their will. To the contrary, if any woman ever said no, I stopped".[36][37]

Filmography

Film
YearTitleRoleNotes
1986 Lucas Spike
One Crazy Summer Ty
1989 Say Anything... Mark
1990 The Grifters Sailor – Freshman
White Palace Kahn
1992 The Player Steve Reeves
Twogether Arnie
Bob Roberts Candle Seller
Singles Doug Hughley
There Goes The Neighborhood Albert Lodge
1993 Twenty Bucks Nervous Quick-Mart Clerk
Judgment Night Ray Cochran
1994 Car 54, Where Are You? Herbert Hortz
Floundering Guy
PCU James "Droz" Andrews
1995 Miami Rhapsody Mitchell
Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde Peter Walston
Heat Dr. Bob
1996 Livers Ain't Cheap John
E=mc2 Prof. Paul Higgins
Larger Than Life Walter
Layin' Low Jerry Muckler
1997 Just Write Harold McMurphy
Grosse Pointe Blank Paul Spericki
Kiss the Girls Henry Castillo, LAPD
1998 Music from Another Room Billy Swan
Phoenix Fred Shuster
Very Bad Things Michael Berkow
2000 The Crew Det. Steve Menteer
The Family Man Arnie
2001 Rush Hour 2 Versace Salesman
Serendipity Dean Kansky Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
Black Hawk Down Clifton "Elvis" Wolcott
2002 Highway Scawldy
2003 Old School Dean Gordon "Cheese" Pritchard
Runaway Jury Lawrence Green
Scary Movie 3 Ross Giggins
2004 Chasing Liberty Alan Weiss
2005 Two for the Money Jerry
Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy? Rock Rivers Voice
2006 Cars Harv Voice, American version
Keeping Up with the Steins Adam Fiedler
Smokin' Aces Buddy "Aces" Israel
2007 The Kingdom Damon Schmidt
2008 RocknRolla Roman
2009 The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard Don Ready
2011 I Melt With You Ron
Spy Kids: All the Time in the World Timekeeper/Danger D'Amo
2012 The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! Black Bellamy Voice
So Undercover Armon
Welcome to Me Additional Voices
2014 Edge of Tomorrow Colonel Walter Marx Uncredited role
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For Bob
2015 Entourage Ari Gold
2020 Crabs in a Bucket Mick Post-production
2020 Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind Narrator
TBA All-Star Weekend Danny Post-production

Television
YearTitleRoleNotes
1990 Carol & Company Various Unknown episodes
1991 Rugrats Hank Episode: "Touchdown Tommy"
1992–1998 The Larry Sanders Show Jerry Capen 26 episodes
1993 Seinfeld Michael Barth Episode: "The Pilot"
12:01 Howard Richter Television movie
1995 Chicago Hope Godfrey Nabbott 2 episodes
Pride & Joy Nathan Green 6 episodes
1995–1998 Ellen Spence Kovak 72 episodes
1997 The Drew Carey Show Spence Kovak Episode: "Drew Gets Married"
Grace Under Fire Spence Kovak Episode: "Vegas"
Coach Spence Kovak Episode: "Viva Las Ratings"
Duckman Victor DeMann Episode: "Ebony, Baby"
Don King: Only in America Hank Schwartz Television movie
1998–1999 Cupid Trevor Hale/Cupid 15 episodes
2000 Will & Grace Nicholas Episode: "Love Plus One"
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command Brain Pod #57 Episode: "Star Crossed"
2002 The Twilight Zone Tyler Ward "The Lineman" parts 1 & 2
2003 Spider-Man: The New Animated Series Roland Gaines 2 episodes "Mind Games Part One" & "Mind Games Part Two"
2004–2005 Justice League Unlimited Elongated Man 3 episodes
2004–2011 Entourage Ari Gold 96 episodes
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (2006–08)
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (2005–07, 2009–10)
Nominated—Golden Nymph Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series (2008, 2010)
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series (2007–09)
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2007–09)
2007 Saturday Night Live Host Episode: "Jeremy Piven/AFI"
2009 WWE Raw Host/Himself Episode: "August 3, 2009"
2013–2016 Mr Selfridge Harry Selfridge 40 episodes
2017-2018 Wisdom of the Crowd Jeffrey Tanner Main role
13 episodes

Awards and nominations
YearNominated workAssociationCategoryResult
2002 Serendipity Saturn Awards Best Supporting Actor Nominated
2005 Entourage Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated
2006 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Won
Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated
Satellite Awards Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated
2007 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Won
Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated
2008 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Won
Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Won
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated
2009 Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated
2010 Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated
gollark: It didn't manage to cast an actual *spell* I gave it, but I think it references "Selector: Caster" i.e. the player entity.
gollark: I don't know if Psi will actually *work* with fake players in any way other than making psidust.
gollark: Turns out, though, that this allows me to use a CAD, though running the turtle through enough levels to be useful is going to be tedious, if it's even possible on fake players.
gollark: Ah well, this is fine anyway.
gollark: Now I can automatically cast Psi spells. BALANCE IS DEAD, AGAIN.

References
  1. "Jeremy Piven Biography". filmreference. 2008. Retrieved October 29, 2008.
  2. "Bio". Jeremy Piven. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  3. Horn, Jordana (May 12, 2006). "Actor 'Hugs Out' His Jewish Side". Jewish Daily Forward.
  4. "Jeremy Piven on Ari Gold and 'Mr. Selfridge'". Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  5. "Jeremy Piven Gets A Body Double". YouTube. April 22, 2009. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  6. "Jeremy Piven Discusses American Muscle Cars, Hot Wheels, and Being a Jewish Buddhist". Complex. February 18, 2011. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  7. "Jeremy's journey". The Star Online eCentral. October 17, 2006. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  8. "Jeremy Piven as Ari – Entourage". HBO. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  9. "Piven, Byrne". Chicago Tribune. February 21, 2002.
  10. "Interview: Shira and Jeremy Piven Discuss Their Indie Comedy, "Fully Loaded"". Hulu. April 1, 2013. Archived from the original on September 14, 2014. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
  11. Bartling, Charles (December 4, 2013). "Distinguished alums honored at ETHS". Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  12. "Piven Theatre Workshop – Home". Piventheatre.org. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  13. "Jeremy Piven, Employing His Acting Skills". Washington Post. July 14, 2004. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  14. "List of famous PIKES". Iastatepikes.com. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  15. "Jeremy Piven Emmy Nominated". Emmys.com. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  16. SNL Archives | Episode Archived 2007-10-11 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 10, 2007.
  17. Docs Tell Piven: Broadway is Bad for Your Health TMZ, December 17, 2008
  18. NFI Response to Jeremy's Piven's Claims About Fish and Mercury on YouTube
  19. "Discussion of the possible cause of poisoning". Jdc325.wordpress.com. December 19, 2008. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  20. Jeremy Piven Abruptly Departs Broadway's Speed-the-Plow Archived 2008-12-20 at the Wayback Machine Playbill, December 17, 2008
  21. Silverman, Stephen M. (December 18, 2008). "Jeremy Piven Abruptly Abandons Broadway Play". People.
  22. "Jeremy Piven wants to play Keith Moon?". Keithmoonmovie.com. August 15, 2011. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  23. "Umphrey's McGee Live at Irving Plaza on 2004-12-10". December 10, 2004. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  24. "Artists For Bernie". Bernie Sanders.com. Archived from the original on January 4, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  25. "Jeremy Piven juggles movie premiere, watching Bears". ESPN. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
  26. Cronin, Melissa (April 18, 2014). "'Millionaire Matchmaker' Porno Scandal: Series Star Ariane Bellamar's X-Rated Past Revealed PLUS What Patti Stanger Doesn't Want You To Know". Radar Online. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  27. Nyren, Erin (October 31, 2017). "Jeremy Piven 'Unequivocally' Denies Groping Allegations". Variety. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
  28. Messer, Lesley; Chervokas, Jason (November 1, 2017). "Jeremy Piven 'unequivocally' denies 'appalling' groping allegations". ABC News. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  29. Delbyck, Cole (November 2, 2017). "'Smallville' Actress Cassidy Freeman Calls Out Jeremy Piven's 'Predatory Behavior'". Huffington Post. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  30. Evans, Greg (November 10, 2017). "Jeremy Piven Says Sexual Harassment Allegations Against Him 'Are Absolutely False & Completely Fabricated'". Deadline. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
  31. "Jeremy Piven on Hollywood sex scandal: 'Careers are being destroyed based on mere allegations'". The Independent. November 10, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
  32. "Jeremy Piven has taken a lie detector test after sexual misconduct allegations". The Independent. November 21, 2017. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  33. Tartaglione, Nancy (November 23, 2017). "'Entourage' Extra Alleges Jeremy Piven Sexually Assaulted Her In 2009 – Report". Deadline. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
  34. "Another woman has accused Jeremy Piven of sexual misconduct on the set of HBO's 'Entourage'". Business Insider. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
  35. Schwartz, Ryan (November 27, 2017). "Wisdom of the Crowd Cancelled Amid Jeremy Piven Sexual Assault Scandal". TVLine. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  36. "Exclusive: Three More Women Are Accusing Jeremy Piven Of Sexual Misconduct". Buzzfeed. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
  37. "Jeremy Piven Faces Sexual Misconduct Allegations From 3 More Women". Time. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
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