Jeffrey Garlin (born June 5, 1962) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He played Jeff Greene on the HBO sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Murray Goldberg, patriarch of the eponymous family in the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs. Garlin also played Marvin on Mad About You and Mort Meyers on Arrested Development for Fox and Netflix.
Garlin has also appeared as Captain B. McCrea in WALL-E, Buttercup in Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4, Perry Babcock in ParaNorman, and Mr. Britt in Safety Not Guaranteed, among other films.
Garlin was born on June 5, 1962, in Chicago, Illinois, to Gene and Carole (née Crafton) Garlin. He grew up in Morton Grove, Illinois, where his father owned a plumbing supply business called Bilko and his mother was active in community theater. Garlin has a younger brother, Michael. He is Jewish and attended Hebrew school.
Garlin said that he wanted to be a comedian since he was eight after seeing Jimmy Durante perform in Chicago. Garlin attended Melzer Elementary School in Morton Grove. He enjoyed playing sports at school, but had to stop after being diagnosed with Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome, a heart ailment.
When Garlin was in sixth grade, his father sold his supply business and the family relocated to South Florida. Garlin graduated from Nova High School in Davie, Florida, in 1980. He attended Broward Community College, followed by a stint studying film at the University of Miami, where he first began to perform stand-up comedy. He left Miami without a degree.
In 1984, aged 22, Garlin moved back to Chicago to pursue a stand-up comedy career. He performed with the comedy troupe The Second City. Garlin worked in the box office with Stephen Colbert.
While living in Wrigleyville, Chicago during the 1980s, Garlin was briefly roommates with Conan O'Brien, who was then a comedy writer. He remains close to O'Brien, and after O'Brien was removed as host of The Tonight Show in 2010 so that Jay Leno could return, Garlin said that he would not be a guest on the show again.
Garlin was hired by comedians Denis Leary and Jon Stewart to help develop their specials. He worked as a stage director for their shows and edited the scripts. Garlin worked with Larry David in this same way. He continues to do standup, where Garlin says he improvises a lot on stage, and feels very relaxed, "maybe too relaxed."
Garlin has a variety of television and film appearances to his credit, as an actor and a stand up, including Dr. Katz, Arrested Development, Everybody Loves Raymond, Late Show with David Letterman, Tom Goes to the Mayor, The Life & Times of Tim, The Daily Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and Entourage.
From 1997 to 1999, Garlin spent three seasons on NBC's Mad About You in the role of Marvin. He co-starred in and executive produced the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm. Garlin had a recurring role on the series Wizards of Waverly Place as Uncle Kelbo, appearing in three episodes over the first three seasons.
After making an uncredited début as Gut Gut in Spring Break (1983), Garlin earned his first film credit in Dolly Parton's 1992 comedy Straight Talk. Garlin had a small role in RoboCop 3 as "Donut Jerk" after a member of the casting crew saw him eat a doughnut while leaving Krispy Kreme with an additional two dozen doughnuts. Garlin also had a cameo appearance in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me in 1999.
Other cameo appearances include Run Ronnie Run!, After the Sunset, Fat Albert, and Sleepover. Garlin appeared in Steven Soderbergh's Full Frontal (2002) and in Daddy Day Care (2003). In 2005, he had a small role in Fun with Dick and Jane.
In 2008, Garlin appeared in The Rocker as Stan, and played Ed Lawson in Strange Wilderness. He lent his voice to the Disney/Pixar films Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4, as Buttercup. Garlin appeared as Sid, alongside Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler, in the 2010 comedy action film The Bounty Hunter. He played Ed Burch in Laggies, released in 2014.
Garlin's feature directorial debut, I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (which he also wrote), premiered to favorable reviews at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. It opened in September 2007. The film co-starred Sarah Silverman and Bonnie Hunt.
In 2006, Garlin directed This Filthy World, a one-man show performed by director John Waters. He was a voice actor in WALL-E (2008), as B. McCrea, the captain of the Axiom spaceship. Garlin executive produced the documentary Finding Vivian Maier (2013).
In 2013, Garlin signed onto the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs, which premiered on September 24, 2013. He played Murray Goldberg, the father of the title family. In December 2021, as shooting of the show's ninth season neared completion, Garlin left the series following misconduct allegations and investigations by the show's human resources department, initially reported in November 2019. For the rest of the season, Garlin's character continued to appear on the show via outtakes, a stand-in, and CGI. The character was later killed off in the show's tenth and final season.
In July 2013, Garlin directed his second film, Dealin' with Idiots, inspired by his experiences with his sons in Little League. The entire film was improvised.
In October 2019, Garlin revealed that he would have a role in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the final installment of the Star Wars saga, which was released on December 20, 2019. Garlin played Junn Gobint.