67 Facts About Judd Apatow

Judd Apatow is an American filmmaker, comedian, and actor.

Judd Apatow is best known for his work in comedy and drama films.

Judd Apatow is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he produced and directed the films The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Funny People, This Is 40, Trainwreck, The King of Staten Island, and The Bubble.

Judd Apatow produced the films The Cable Guy, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Superbad, Pineapple Express, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek, Bridesmaids, Begin Again, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, and The Big Sick.

One of three children of Maury Apatow, a real-estate developer, and Tamara Shad, who ran the music label Mainstream Records founded by her father, Bob Shad, Judd Apatow was born in the Flushing neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens, and raised in Syosset, New York, on Long Island.

Judd Apatow has an older brother, Robert, and a younger sister, Mia.

Apatow's mother spent a summer working at a comedy club, which is where Judd was first exposed to live stand-up comedy.

Judd Apatow got his comic start washing dishes at the Long Island East Side Comedy Club, and while attending Syosset High School, he played jazz and hosted a program called Comedy Club on the school's 125-watt radio station WKWZ which he created as a way to meet and learn from the comedians he looked up to.

Judd Apatow cold-called comedians he admired during this time, managing to interview Steve Allen, Howard Stern, Harold Ramis and John Candy, along with emerging comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld, Steven Wright, and Garry Shandling.

Judd Apatow began performing stand-up comedy at age seventeen, during his senior year of high school.

Judd Apatow introduced the acts at these events with short standup routines of his own.

Judd Apatow began volunteering at benefit concerts for HBO's Comic Relief and performing and seeing standup at the Improv in Hollywood.

Judd Apatow dropped out of college during his second year and later moved into an apartment with comedian Adam Sandler, whom he met at the Improv.

Judd Apatow competed in the Johnnie Walker Comedy Search in 1989 directed by Saturday Night Live short film producer Neal Marshad.

Shortly thereafter, Judd Apatow was introduced by manager Jimmy Miller to Garry Shandling which resulted in Judd Apatow being hired as a writer for the 1991 Grammy Awards that year, which Shandling hosted.

Judd Apatow went on to co-produce comedy specials by Roseanne Arnold, Tom Arnold, and Jim Carrey.

In 1992, Judd Apatow appeared on HBO's 15th Annual Young Comedians Special and shortly afterwards went on to co-create and executive produce The Ben Stiller Show for Fox.

Judd Apatow had met Stiller outside of an Elvis Costello concert in 1990, and they became friends.

Judd Apatow went on to join HBO's The Larry Sanders Show in 1993 as a writer and consulting producer, and he later served as a co-executive producer and director of an episode during the show's final season in 1998.

Judd Apatow credits Shandling as his mentor for influencing him to write comedy that is more character-driven.

Judd Apatow earned six Emmy nominations for his work on Larry Sanders.

In 1995, Judd Apatow co-wrote the feature film Heavyweights.

Around the same time, Judd Apatow was hired to produce and do an uncredited re-write of the script for the movie The Cable Guy, which was released in 1996 to mixed reviews.

Judd Apatow did uncredited re-writes on two other Jim Carrey films: Liar Liar and Bruce Almighty.

Judd Apatow did uncredited rewrites of the Adam Sandler films Happy Gilmore and The Wedding Singer.

In 1999, Judd Apatow created Sick in the Head, a multi-camera sitcom pilot starring David Krumholtz as a psychiatrist on his first day on the job, Amy Poehler as a suicidal patient, and Kevin Corrigan as Krumholtz's slacker roommate.

Judd Apatow wrote and directed several episodes of the series.

In 2001, Judd Apatow created North Hollywood, a pilot that featured Jason Segel, Kevin Hart, Seth Rogen, Phil Hendrie, and Judge Reinhold.

Judd Apatow has screened and introduced them at "The Other Network", a festival of un-aired TV pilots produced by Un-Cabaret.

In 2004, Judd Apatow produced the feature film comedy Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, starring Will Ferrell and directed by Adam McKay.

Judd Apatow co-produced the 2013 sequel, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.

Judd Apatow made his feature directorial debut in 2005 with the comedy The 40-Year-Old Virgin, which he co-wrote with the film's star, Steve Carell, for Universal Pictures.

Judd Apatow wrote the initial draft of the film on the set of Talladega Nights.

Judd Apatow then enlisted Rogen and Goldberg to write Pineapple Express, a stoner action movie that he felt would be more commercial.

Industry insiders claimed Judd Apatow was now a brand unto himself, creating movies geared toward older audiences, who would watch his movies even when the films delved into the teen genre.

Judd Apatow tries to keep a low budget on his projects and usually makes his movies about the work itself rather than using big stars.

Judd Apatow is not committed to any specific studio, but his projects are typically set up at Universal and Sony, and in 2009 Variety reported that Universal had signed him to a 3 picture directing deal.

Judd Apatow once vowed to include a penis in every one of his movies.

In 2009, Judd Apatow served as producer for the biblical comedy film Year One; the film was not well received.

Judd Apatow wrote the film, which starred Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen as a pair of standup comedians, one of whom has a terminal illness.

In 2010, Judd Apatow served as producer on the Forgetting Sarah Marshall spin-off Get Him to the Greek with Russell Brand reprising his role and Jonah Hill returning from the original film, albeit as a different character.

In 2011, Judd Apatow produced Bridesmaids which grossed $288.4 million worldwide and received Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Screenplay, as well as two Golden Globe Award nominations and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.

Judd Apatow produced Wanderlust, starring Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd as a married couple who leave New York City and live in a hippie commune.

Judd Apatow produced The Five-Year Engagement, featuring Jason Segel and Emily Blunt as a couple who have a rocky five-year engagement.

In 2012, Entertainment Weekly reported that 22 years after writing an episode of The Simpsons, Judd Apatow's script was being developed into an episode that would air in 2015.

Judd Apatow co-produced Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, which was released December 18,2013, with the plot focusing on "Ron Burgundy's struggle to find his place in the rise of new media and the 24-hour news cycle".

Judd Apatow produced Begin Again, starring Keira Knightley who plays a singer-songwriter who is discovered by a struggling record label executive and collaborates with him to produce an album recorded in public locations all over New York City.

Writer-director John Carney first pitched the film in 2010 to Judd Apatow, who produced the film alongside Tobin Armbrust and Anthony Bregman whose production company Exclusive Media financed the film's US$8 million budget.

Judd Apatow announced over Twitter that the show would benefit Everytown for Gun Safety, a non-profit organization founded by Michael Bloomberg which advocates for gun control and against gun violence.

Judd Apatow made his first documentary piece in 2016, Doc and Darryl, which documents the career and relationship of New York Mets players Dwight "Doc" Gooden and Darryl Strawberry.

Judd Apatow had a cameo role in The Disaster Artist, which chronicles the making of the film The Room.

Judd Apatow met actress Leslie Mann on the set of the 1996 comedy film, The Cable Guy, where he served as producer and she was cast as the girlfriend of Matthew Broderick's character.

Judd Apatow edited the book I Found This Funny published by McSweeneys to benefit 826LA.

Judd Apatow had strong words for people like Bill Cosby and those who gave Cosby a platform to continue to perform and speak.

In 2017, Judd Apatow was awarded the ACLU Bill of Rights Award, for being "an outspoken and tireless advocate on behalf of women in the arts".

Each show benefits a charity of Judd Apatow's choosing and past charities have included St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 826LA and Alzheimer's Association.

Judd Apatow's work was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at the 2012 and 2013 Primetime Emmys for Girls and was nominated at the Critics' Choice Television Awards for Girls.

In 2012, Judd Apatow received the Hollywood Comedy Award at the 16th annual Hollywood Film Awards presented by the Hollywood Film Festival.

On October 3,2013, The San Diego Film Festival awarded Judd Apatow the esteemed Visionary Filmmaker Award.

Judd Apatow was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay for his work on The 40-Year-Old Virgin, a nomination shared with Carell, and Knocked Up.

In 2016, Judd Apatow was awarded the Generation Award at the Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal for his contributions to comedy.

In 2018, Apatow was nominated for the Darryl F Zanuck Award at the Producers Guild Film Awards, alongside producing partner Barry Mendel.

Later that year, May It Last: A Portrait Of The Avett Brothers, which Judd Apatow co-directed along with documentarian Michael Bonfiglio, won the SXSW Audience Award at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival.

In 2023, Judd Apatow was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director at the 43rd Golden Raspberry Awards for his work on The Bubble.

Judd Apatow has worked with a group of actors on an ongoing basis, including Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, and Jason Segel, and tends to work with his close friends and family.

Judd Apatow has frequently worked with producers Shauna Robertson and Barry Mendel.

Judd Apatow has produced four projects written by Adam McKay and Will Ferrell.