DANIEL STERN Biography - Actors and Actresses

 
 

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DANIEL STERN

Name: Daniel Jacob Stern                                                           
Born: 28 August 1957 Chevy Chase, Maryland, U.S.                                   
                                                                                   
Daniel Jacob Stern (born August 28, 1957) is an American television and film       
actor. He is known for his roles in the 1990s Hollywood films City Slickers and   
Home Alone.                                                                       
                                                                                   
Stern was born in Bethesda, Maryland to a social worker father and a mother who   
managed a day care center. His brother is television writer David M. Stern.       
Stern applied for a job as a lighting engineer for a Shakespeare Festival in       
Washington, D.C., but was hired as a walk-on. After taking acting lessons, Stern   
began his acting career in Off Broadway and Broadway productions, including a     
performance at Second Stage Theatre with actor Bob Gunton.                         
                                                                                   
In 1979, Stern made his movie debut as Cyril in Breaking Away. The following       
year he played a student who raised objections during Jill Clayburgh's proof of   
the snake lemma in the film It's My Turn. His breakthrough role as an actor came   
in Barry Levinson's Diner. Another film role he is remembered for is the 1983     
action film Blue Thunder as J.A.F.O., also known as Officer Richard Lymangood.     
He was the original choice to play Biff Tannen in the 1985 film Back to the       
Future, but he turned the role down.                                               
                                                                                   
Stern is often remembered for playing bumbling but lovable idiots, such as Phil   
from the City Slickers movies, Marv from the first two Home Alone movies, and     
Max from Bushwacked. Many consider his role as Marv to be a breakthrough for his   
career. He is also noted for providing the voice of the narrator on the TV         
series The Wonder Years, which starred Fred Savage. Stern and Savage were also     
featured together in Little Monsters, interestingly Stern played the part as       
Savage's father. Stern provided the voice for the main character of the Dilbert   
animated series, based on the comic strip by Scott Adams. He also tried his hand   
at directing through several episodes of The Wonder Years and the movie Rookie     
of the Year.                                                                       
                                                                                   
Stern was featured breaking the fourth wall in an issue of MAD Magazine which     
spoofed Home Alone. In this lampoon, as he is breaking into the house, he tells   
Joe Pesci he is humiliated.                                                       
Stern: "We ought to be ashamed of ourselves!"                                     
Pesci: "Why, because we are criminals stealing from somebody's house?"             
Stern: "No, because we are fine actors taking such embarrassing roles!"           
Pesci: "I see your point of view! People expected we knew better after seeing my   
performance in Raging Bull, Goodfellas, and Casino, and yours in Diner, Breaking   
Away, and the voice of the adult Kevin on The Wonder Years!"                       
                                                                                   
His best friends include Billy Crystal and Joe Pesci, his co-stars from City       
Slickers and Home Alone, respectively.