Jeremy Piven
Jeremy Piven is an American actor best known for his role as Ari Gold in the HBO series *Entourage*, which earned him three consecutive Emmy Awards. Born on July 26, 1965, in Manhattan, Piven was raised in Evanston, Illinois, where he developed an early interest in acting, performing in his first play at age eight. He pursued formal education in theater, graduating from Drake University and studying at New York University, before moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.
Piven's film career began in the late 1980s with supporting roles in movies like *Say Anything* and *Grosse Pointe Blank*. He also appeared in several television series, including *The Larry Sanders Show* and *Cupid*. *Entourage* (2004-2011) marked a significant turning point in his career, leading to widespread recognition and acclaim. Beyond television, Piven has worked in theater, made his Broadway debut in 2008, and starred in various films throughout the years, including *The Performance* in 2023.
Despite facing allegations of sexual misconduct in 2017, which he has denied, Piven continues to work in entertainment, exploring roles in both film and stand-up comedy. He resides in Malibu, California, and enjoys boxing and travel.
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Subject Terms
Jeremy Piven
Actor
- Born: July 26, 1965
- Place of Birth: New York, New York
Contribution: Jeremy Piven is an actor known for his Emmy Award-winning role in the HBO series Entourage (2004-11). Since then, Piven has starred in many successful movies, including The Performance in 2023.
Background
Jeremy Samuel Piven was born on July 26, 1965, in Manhattan. His parents, the late Byrne Piven and Joyce Piven, founded the Piven Theater Workshop in Chicago. Piven was raised in Evanston, Illinois, where he played football and studied acting. He performed in his first play at the age of eight.
After graduating from Evanston Township High School, Piven earned a degree in theater from Drake University. As a student at Drake, he was cast in the role of Marc Antony in a production of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. He studied acting as a graduate student at New York University and later returned to Chicago to study with Second City and Tim Robbins’s Actors Gang. In his early twenties, Piven moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as an actor.
Career
Piven began landing roles in film in the late 1980s. In 1989, Piven played a small role in director Cameron Crowe’s film Say Anything, starring John Cusack, and went on to appear in a number of films as supporting characters. He was cast in a leading role in the 1994 comedy film PCU, alongside actors Jon Favreau and David Spade. Piven played Cusack’s old high school friend Paul in the 1997 dark comedy Grosse Pointe Blank and his best friend in the 2001 romantic comedy Serendipity. The two actors were close friends—and at one point, roommates—for many years.
Piven also found success as a television actor. In 1992, he landed a role in the HBO comedy series The Larry Sanders Show (1992–98). Although the show never garnered a large audience while it aired, it was nominated for fifty-six Emmy Awards. Piven played the fictional talk show’s head writer in twenty-five episodes from 1992 to 1993 and later returned for one episode in 1998. Piven also played Ellen DeGeneres’s cousin in the final three seasons of the ABC sitcom Ellen (1994–98). In 1998, he was cast in a starring role in the ABC dramedy Cupid, playing a mythological figure who is sent to the modern-day United States to connect couples without his bow and arrow. The show lasted for one season and was canceled in 1999.
In 2004, Piven took on the role of the aggressive and outlandishly offensive Hollywood agent Ari Gold in the HBO series Entourage. His character is based on real-life talent agent Ari Emmanuel, brother of politician Rahm Emmanuel. Piven excelled in the role, delivering biting monologues into his phone and throwing off zingers and catchphrases with ease. The show lasted for eight seasons, and Piven won three consecutive Emmy Awards for the role in 2006, 2007, and 2008. He also won a Golden Globe Award for best actor in a supporting role in 2008.
In addition to television and film, Piven has continued to work in the theater. In 2008, he made his Broadway debut in a revival of David Mamet’s play Speed-the-Plow. Although the production, and Piven specifically, received strong reviews, Piven abruptly dropped out of the show several weeks after it opened because of health problems related to mercury poisoning.
In 2012, Piven lent his voice to the animated film The Pirates! Band of Misfits. He went on to star as Harry Selfridge in the period drama Mr. Selfridge, about the American salesman who created London’s Selfridge’s department stores. The British television show aired on PBS from 2013 to 2016. Piven next starred as tech innovator on the CBS series Wisdom of the Crowd for one season that aired from 2017–18. In November 2017, CBS decided to end the series as Piven faced several allegations of sexual misconduct, including one accusation that the network was investigating. Piven denied all the allegations and passed a polygraph examination about one of them. In a June 2019 podcast by comedian Andrew Schulz, Piven said that he was "a case of collateral damage" of the #MeToo movement to expose sexual misconduct, particularly in the media and entertainment industries. Following the cancellation of Wisdom of the Crowd, he toured as a stand-up comic.
In 2020, Piven narrated Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind and, during the same year, starred in My Dad's Christmas Date. After this, Piven starred in Last Call (2021), portraying Mick, a successful real estate developer who returns home for a funeral and winds up staying to try to save the family business. The actor had a role in American Night (2021), a film about an art dealer who is at war with a mafia head. Piven starred in The Walk (2022), a film about Boston desegregating its buses in 1974. In The System (2022), Piven played the warden of a prison who is investigated for corruption and running a pay-per-view fighting tournament. Piven played Joe Lapchick in Sweetwater (2023), a sports film about Nat Clifton, the first Black player to sign a contract with the NBA. Piven received positive critical reviews for his role in The Performance (2023), in which he portrayed Harold May, the lead, who is Jewish and a gifted tap dancer.
Impact
Piven has been a successful and well-known actor in the entertainment industry. In recognition of his work, he has been nominated for numerous awards, including the Emmy, the Golden Globe, and the Screen Actors Guild Award.
Personal Life
Piven lives in Malibu, California. He is a fan of boxing and travel. In 2006, the Travel Channel profiled a trip he took across India in the documentary Jeremy Piven’s Journey of a Lifetime.
Bibliography
Adams, Sam. “Interview: Jeremy Piven.” A.V. Club. Onion, 16 Dec. 2011. Web. 30 July 2013.
Gumbel, Andrew. “‘If There’s One Thing I’m Prepared For, It’s Rejection.’” Guardian. Guardian Media Group, 20 Oct. 2009. Web. 30 July 2013.
Hale, Mike. “Fogging Up the Windows of a Big Store.” New York Times. New York Times, 30 Mar. 2013. Web. 25 July 2013.
Healy, Patrick. “An Inside Look at an Offstage Drama That Riveted Broadway.” New York Times. New York Times, 9 Oct. 2009. Web. 25 July 2013.
Heffernan, Virginia. “Ministering Agent: Shark of ‘Entourage’ Proves Warmblooded.” New York Times. New York Times, 7 July 2005. Web. 25 Jul. 2013.
Itzkoff, Dave. “Piven Leaves Show amid Health Concerns.” New York Times. New York Times, 19 Dec. 2008. Web. 25 July 2013.
"Jeremy Piven." IMDb, 2024, www.imdb.com/name/nm0005315. Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.
Leydon, Joe. "'The Performance' Review: Jeremy Piven Excels as a Conflicted Jewish American Entertainer in 1936 Berlin." Variety, 15 Jan. 2024, https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/the-performance-review-jeremy-piven-1235871811/. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
Ryzik, Melena. “Away From the Entourage but Not From the Whirl.” New York Times. New York Times, 19 Oct. 2008. Web. 25 July 2013.
Trepany, Charles. “Jeremy Piven Sounds Off on #MeToo Movement: I’m ‘a Case of Collateral Damage.’” USA Today, 3 July 2019, www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2019/07/03/jeremy-piven-says-he-was-collateral-damage-to-false-metoo-movement/1642452001. Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.