Biography for
Zach Galifianakis More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

1 October 1969, Wilkesboro, North Carolina, USA

Birth Name

Zacharius Knight Galifianakis

Height

5' 8" (1.73 m)

Mini Biography

Originally from western North Carolina, Zach moved to New York City after failing his last college class by one point. Zach got his start performing his brand of humor in the back of a hamburger joint in Times Square. He now tours the country, performing in coffee shops and universities. When not performing stand-up, Zach spends time at his home in the mountains of his native North Carolina, where he hopes to open a writer's retreat on a completely self-sustained farm.

IMDb Mini Biography By: killer ninjas

Trade Mark

Thick bushy beard

Trivia

Is of Greek descent.

Is claustrophobic (Zach Galifianakis: Live).

Attended North Carolina State University (did not graduate).

Nephew of former US Congressman Nick Galifianakis (NC) (1967-1973), who ran for US Senate against Jesse Helms in 1972.

Personal Quotes

[on handling fame] - It's a little bit strange. But I'm 40 years old. If I were in my 20s, this whole thing would probably freak me out. Don't worry though, I'm sure I'll fuck this up somehow.

[on the first R-rated movie he saw in a theater] - "Hot Dog... The Movie." I went with my friend but I told my mom I was gonna go see "Yentl." She knew what we did. She picked us up at the theater afterwards and was like, "How was 'Yentl?'" She wanted a full report. I was like, "Well, you know mom, they're really not our people..."

[on the first movie he took a date to] - "Eddie Murphy Raw." I know, a terrible thing to choose, but I wanted to see it. Eddie Murphy was wearing that fancy leather suit. But she became my high school sweetheart. She was four inches taller than me.

(On his TV series Tru Calling) It was the dumbest show I'd ever seen. I remember calling the executive producer and saying, 'This show is terrible, doesn't make any sense, and it's insulting.' I tried to get fired. We'd do a table read, and as soon as we're done, I'd be the first one up, and I'd go, to the writer of the episode or whatever, 'Great script, Janet.' And I'd throw it in the trash can and walk out. Then I told the lead actress she was eating her way to cancellation. They thought it was me being Funny Stand-up Guy. But it was an incredibly happy time in my life, because I was biking everywhere. I was smoking so much pot, which was... You know, I was playing a doctor on TV, and I had to memorize all this medical jargon, and on, like, take 17-it was so unprofessional.

(2009, GQ Magazine) There's more to life than being an actor in a Hollywood movie. I'm not going to adapt my life after that existence, where a lot of people do. And they get the publicist, and they get all that stuff, and it becomes them. I think it's a stupid way to live your life. A really dumb way to live your life.

(2009) Hollywood's built on insecurity. People are trying to prove things. And I probably have that. I probably do. Probably guilty of it, in a way.

I am going to be the next Ryan Gosling.

[Ryan] Gosling better watch his ass.

It's not good for comedy to be like, 'Thanks for liking me'. Being popular is poison. My mom and dad are like, 'You're not enjoying any of this'. I say, 'It's your fault for not raising me up to be superficial'.

A good stand-up, you lead the audience. You don't kowtow to the audience. Sometimes the audience is wrong. I always think the audience is wrong.

Salary

The Hangover Part II (2011)

$5,000,000

Where Are They Now

(February 2008) Is currently touring with Will Ferrell's Funny or Die college tour.