David Krumholtz | |
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Krumholtz at the premiere of Serenity, 2005 |
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Born | May 15, 1978 Queens, New York, United States |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1992–present |
David Krumholtz (born May 15, 1978) is an American actor best known for playing Professor Charlie Eppes in the television series Numb3rs. He also appeared as Goldstein in the films Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle and its sequel Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay, and as Bernard in The Santa Clause and its sequel The Santa Clause 2.
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Krumholtz was born in Queens, New York, the son of Judy, a dental assistant, and Michael Krumholtz, a postal worker. He grew up in a "very working-class, almost poor" Jewish family.[1] His mother moved from Hungary to the U.S. in 1956.[2]
Krumholtz began his acting career at the age of thirteen when he followed his friends to an open audition for the Broadway play Conversations with My Father (1992). Though he did not expect to get the part, he won the role of Young Charlie opposite Judd Hirsch, Tony Shalhoub, and Jason Biggs (also making his Broadway debut). Soon after his run on Broadway, Krumholtz co-starred in two feature films, Life With Mikey (1993) opposite Michael J. Fox, and Addams Family Values (1993) opposite Christina Ricci. For his role in Mikey, David was nominated for a 1993 Young Artist Award.[3] Although his work in these two films garnered him critical attention, David is probably best known by children and the young-at-heart as the sarcastic head elf Bernard from The Santa Clause (1994) and its 2002 sequel The Santa Clause 2: The Mrs Clause, but due to filming overlap with NUMB3RS was unable to take part in The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause.
In 1994, at age of sixteen, Krumholtz co-starred in his first television series, Monty, with Henry Winkler. The show only lasted a few episodes. Krumholtz would star in several short-lived series over the years. Along the way, he had the opportunity to work with Jason Bateman (Chicago Sons, 1997), Tom Selleck (The Closer, 1998), Jon Cryer (The Trouble with Normal, 2000), and Rob Lowe (The Lyon's Den, 2003). In 2005, he finally found television success with the CBS series Numb3rs.[4] Along with his starring roles on television, Krumholtz made memorable guest appearances on ER, Law & Order, Undeclared, Lucky, and Freaks and Geeks.
He broke out of the children's movie genre with The Ice Storm (1997), directed by Ang Lee, and Slums of Beverly Hills (1998), starring Alan Arkin and Natasha Lyonne. In 1999, David starred as Michael Eckman in the popular teen movie 10 Things I Hate about You with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Julia Stiles, and Heath Ledger. That same year, he portrayed a completely different teen character - that of Yussel, a young conflicted Jewish man in Liberty Heights.
It was the role of Yussel that brought Krumholtz to the attention of actor and filmmaker Edward Burns, who cast him in the 2001 independent movie Sidewalks of New York.[1] Playing the romantic and slightly obsessed Benny, Krumholtz was on a path to larger, more complex film roles. His first role as a leading man was in the 2002 romantic comedy You Stupid Man, playing opposite Milla Jovovich. Although never released theatrically in the United States, You Stupid Man, directed by Edward Burns's brother Brian Burns, was released on DVD in 2006. Krumholtz carried his first leading role in a released American film when he starred Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie, which premiered on FX Networks in 2002.
Big Shot was a true story based on the Arizona State University basketball fixing scandal of the early 1990s. Krumholtz played Benny Silman, a college student and campus bookmaker who was jailed for his part in shaving points off key ASU basketball games. Benny was unlike any character Krumholtz played prior, and garnered critical praise for his performance, proving that he was not just a sidekick.[5]
In 2004, Krumholtz reunited with Edward Burns for the independent film The Last Hold-Outs. The following year he played Max in My Suicidal Sweetheart (formerly Max and Grace), once again starring opposite actress Natasha Lyonne. Krumholtz also returned to smaller key roles in the successful films Ray and Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle - two very different movies released in 2004. In September 2005, he was seen in Joss Whedon's science fiction film Serenity as "Mr. Universe", a hacker and information broker. Most recently, in early 2006, Krumholtz's 2003 film Kill the Poor screened in New York City at IFC Center and across the country on Comcast's On Demand cable service.
On Numb3rs, he plays the part of Charlie Eppes, a mathematical genius who helps his brother Don (Rob Morrow), an FBI agent, solve crimes using mathematics. The cast of Numb3rs also includes Judd Hirsch (who gave David his start in acting back in 1992 on the Broadway stage) and Peter MacNicol, who appeared with him in Addams Family Values as a camp counselor. Television critic Matt Roush (TV Guide) called Krumholtz's work on Numb3rs "probably his best TV work to date". Numb3rs was offically cancelled by CBS on May 18, 2010.
He appears in two documentaries on the Knocked Up DVD (one being staged and the other being genuine). "Gummy: The Sixth Roommate" tells the true story of how David dropped out of the film to play the lead part in a Woody Allen movie in Paris that got canceled before production, and Apatow would not write him back into his script. He would have played one of the main character's five roommates (along with other Freaks and Geeks alumni Seth Rogen, Jason Segel and Martin Starr).[6][7] Friend and fellow Freaks actor Jason Segel appears with him in a short scene in Tenacious D in 'The Pick of Destiny'.
On Saturday May 22, 2010, Krumholtz married actress Vanessa Britting at The Plaza Hotel in New York City. The couple had been engaged since July 2008.[8] As of 2007, he resides in Los Angeles, California where Numb3rs is produced.
Year | Title | Role | Other comments |
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2008 | Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay | Goldstein | |
2007 | Live! | Rex | |
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story | Schwartzberg | ||
Superbad | Benji Austin | ||
2006 | The Nail | Daniel | Short film |
Bobby | Agent Phil | ||
Tenacious D in 'The Pick of Destiny' | Frat Boy #2 | ||
Kill the Poor | Joe Peltz | Filmed in 2003 | |
American Storage | Kurt | Short film | |
2005 | Serenity | Mr. Universe | |
My Suicidal Sweetheart | Max | Formerly Max and Grace | |
Guess Who | Jerry MacNamara | Uncredited | |
Numb3rs | Charlie Eppes | TV series (January 23, 2005 – March 12, 2010) | |
2004 | Ray | Milt Shaw | |
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle | Goldstein | ||
The Last Hold-Outs | Abe | Formerly Looking for Kitty | |
2003 | The Lyon's Den | Jeff Fineman | TV series |
Scorched | Max | ||
2002 | Cheats | Evan Rosengarden | |
The Santa Clause 2 | Bernard | ||
You Stupid Man | Owen | Released in Europe | |
Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie | Benny Silman | TV movie (FX Networks) | |
2001 | According to Spencer | Ezra | |
Two Can Play That Game | Jason | ||
Sidewalks of New York | Benjamin Bazler | ||
The Mexican | Beck | ||
2000 | The Trouble With Normal | Bob Wexler | TV series |
How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog | Brian Sellars | ||
ER | Paul Sobriki | ||
1999 | Liberty Heights | Yussel | |
10 Things I Hate About You | Michael Eckman | ||
1998 | The Closer | Bruno Verma | TV series |
Slums of Beverly Hills | Ben Abromowitz | ||
1997 | Chicago Sons | Billy Kulchak | TV series |
The Ice Storm | Francis Davenport | ||
Justice League of America | Martin Walters | Cancelled TV pilot | |
1994 | Monty | David Richardson | TV series |
The Santa Clause | Bernard | ||
1993 | Addams Family Values | Joel Glicker | |
Life with Mikey | Barry Corman | ||
1992 | Conversations with My Father | Young Charlie | Broadway Play - Original Cast |