Jeff Ross

Early life Ross was raised in Newark, New Jersey, until he was in second grade; then his family moved to Union, New Jersey, and later to Springfield, New Jersey, where he attended Jonathan Dayton High School. He is Jewish and has a younger sister named Robyn. His mother Marsha died from leukemia when he was 14 years old. He graduated from the Boston University College of Communication in 1987. He appeared on A&E's An Evening at the Improv in 1994. By 1995, he was performing at iconic New York clubs like the Comedy Cellar and Stand Up NY. That same year, he was invited by the New York Friars Club to participate in a roast of actor Steven Seagal. The Friars Club's first televised event was the roast of Drew Carey that was broadcast on Comedy Central in 1998. Ross credits a particular joke that he made at the expense of attendees Bea Arthur and Sandra Bernhard at the 1999 roast of Jerry Stiller for taking his roasting career to the next level. That same year Jimmy Kimmel hired Ross as a writer on The Man Show and Ross also wrote some of the punchlines for Billy Crystal's monologue at the Oscars in 2000.

Ross has participated as a roaster on the following Comedy Central Roasts:

Pamela Anderson (2005) William Shatner (2006) Flavor Flav (2007) Bob Saget (2008) Larry the Cable Guy (2009) Joan Rivers (2009) David Hasselhoff (2010) Donald Trump (2011) Charlie Sheen (2011) Roseanne Barr (2012) James Franco (2013) Justin Bieber (2015) Rob Lowe (2016) The Border (2017) Bruce Willis (2018) Alec Baldwin (2019)

Ross has also written for, performed in or produced the roasts of the following celebrities:

Drew Carey (1998), produced by the New York Friars Club Jerry Stiller (1999), produced by the New York Friars Club Rob Reiner (2000), produced by the New York Friars Club Hugh Hefner (2001), produced by the New York Friars Club Carson Daly (2003), produced by MTV Gene Simmons (2008), produced by A&E Emmitt Smith (2008), produced by Shaquille O'Neal in the second installment of his TV series Shaq's All Star Comedy Roast Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic (aka Mike & Mike) (2008), produced by ESPN Tom Brady (2024), produced by Netflix Kevin Hart (2026), produced by Netflix

Ross has taken part in several USO tours and has performed stand-up comedy at US military bases in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay and Iraq. In 2005 Ross released the film Patriot Act: A Jeffrey Ross Home Movie, which he both produced and directed and which documented his experiences on the Iraq tour. In 2017 the USO made Ross the Ambassador of Veterans Outreach for the Artists & Athletes Alliance.

Ross published his first book, I Only Roast the Ones I Love: Busting Balls Without Burning Bridges, in 2009.

In 2015, Ross starred in the Comedy Central special Jeff Ross Roasts Criminals: Live from Brazos County Jail, where he performed stand-up comedy for male and female convicts in Brazos County, Texas. The following year he released Jeff Ross Roasts Cops where he performed for members of the Boston Police Department.

In 2018, Ross and fellow comedian Dave Attell embarked on their Bumping Mics comedy tour. Footage of their tour was also released in a three-part special, Bumping Mics with Jeff Ross & Dave Attell, on Netflix, the series was filmed during three of their performances at the Comedy Cellar in New York City. The comedians also invited audience members onto the stage, some of whom included Bob Saget, Gilbert Gottfried, Michael Che, Amy Schumer, Nikki Glaser and Paul Rudd.

The Riyadh Comedy Festival began on September 26th, ending on October 9th, with Ross as one of a line-up of comedians slated to perform. Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement that the Saudi government is using the comedy festival to whitewash its human rights abuses.

Acting and voice work One of Ross's first acting roles was a small part in the 1996 comedy film Celtic Pride. Some of his other film roles include a security guard in the film Stuck on You (2003) and a wedding band leader in the film Along Came Polly (2004). Ross's television acting work includes roles on HBO's Six Feet Under and Crashing, and Showtime's Weeds. He also played a dramatic role on CBS's CSI. Ross has also voiced characters on two episodes of the animated series Future-Worm! as well as on an episode of the live-action/animated series Happy! He also voiced himself in the 2012 episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, "Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth!", attending a literal roast of Batman.

Other appearances as himself Ross appeared in the 2005 documentary The Aristocrats about the famous dirty joke of the same name. Ross stated in an interview with The Atlanta Constitution: "Everyone in my family was good at [roasting]. I had to quickly learn not just to take a joke but to give it back. My uncle Murray was the first to bust my chops. We called him Mean Murray." Ross disputed the accusation, claiming that his relationship with Radtke did not begin until 2002, when Radtke was an adult. In November 2020, Ross filed a defamation suit in the New York State Supreme Court, in which multiple named witnesses asserted that Radtke's claims were inaccurate and dishonest; Ross' legal team accused Radtke of extorting Ross for "significant sums of money". He dropped the case in March 2023.

In the fall of 2024, Ross was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. He had seven inches of his colon removed and underwent six months of chemotherapy.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1996 Celtic Pride Car Theft Victim 1998 Taxman Tax Collector 2000 Isn't She Great Shecky 2000 The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle District Attorney 2003 National Security Security Guard 2003 Stuck on You Beaze Security Guard 2004 Along Came Polly Wedding Band Leader 2006 American Dreamz Oscar 2006 Jackass Number Two Writer 2007 Farce of the Penguins Funny-Looking Bastard Voice 2007 Jackass 2.5 Himself WriterGuest appearance 2008 One, Two, Many Ernie Direct-to-video 2011 A Novel Romance Douglas Silver 2015 The Wedding Ringer Wedding Singer 2016 Flock of Dudes Masturbator 2016 The Comedian Writer 2017 Gilbert Himself Documentary 2017 The Emoji Movie Internet TrollVoice 2024 Ricky StanickyRabbi Greenberg2024 Torching 2024: A Roast of the YearSelfComedy Special

Television Year Title Role Notes 1994 A&E's An Evening at the Improv Himself Episode: "Dom Irrera, Bob Dubac, Jeff Ross, and more!" 1996 Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist Jeffrey Voice, episode: "Blind Date" 1999 Cosby Carl 2 episodes 2000 Shasta McNasty Bank Manager Episode: "True Size" 2002 Greg the Bunny Security Guard Episode: "Welcome to Sweetknuckle Junction" 2002 Six Feet Under Shiva Comic Episode: "Back to the Garden" 2003 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Dougie Max Episode: "Last Laugh" 2005 Weeds Billy Episode: "Dead in the Nethers" 2006 Where My Dogs At? Buddy Voice, 8 episodes 2007 The Sarah Silverman Program Himself Episode: "Ah, Men" 2010 Childrens Hospital Himself Episode: "Joke Overload" 2011 Big Time Rush Insult Comic Episode: "Big Time Guru" 2011 Batman: The Brave and the Bold Himself Voice, episode: "Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth!" 2012 Family Guy Himself Voice, 2 episodes 2012–2013 The Burn with Jeff Ross Himself 12 episodes 2014 Drunk History Francis Scott Key Episode: "Baltimore" 2014 The Simpsons Himself Voice, episode: "Clown in the Dumps" 2014 Comedy Bang! Bang! Himself Episode: "Amber Tamblyn Wears a Leather Jacket & Black Booties" 2016 Grandfathered Marv Episode: "Some Guy I'm Seeing" 2016 Dr. Ken Doug Episode: "Ken Tries Standup" 2016–2018 Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle Himself 19 episodes2016The Mr. Peabody & Sherman ShowAristophanesVoice, episode: "Aristophanes" 2016 Future-Worm! Mr. Bleaker Voice, 2 episodes 2017–2018 Crashing Himself 2 episodes 2017–2019 Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure Hook Foot Voice, 24 episodes 2017 American Dad! Chief Danny Voice, episode: "Camp Campawanda" 2017 Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero Sonny Voice, 2 episodes 2017 Teachers Fire Marshal Brownstein Episode: "Toxic Workplace"2018Bumping Mics with Jeff Ross & Dave AttellHimself3 episodes 2019 Sneaky Pete D.C. Doug 4 episodes 2019 Happy! Twigs Voice, 2 episodes 2019 Historical Roasts Himself 6 episodes 2019–2020 Crank Yankers Himself Voice, 2 episodes 2021 Ghost Adventures Himself 1 episode 2021 The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse Lead Ghost Voice, episode: "Houseghosts" 2023 Celebrity Wheel of Fortune Himself - Contestant Episode: "Lauren Lapkus, Ego Nwodim and Jeff Ross" 2024 Stupid Pet Tricks Himself Episode: "Animal Speed Roast" 2024 Lopez vs Lopez Jeff Episode: "Lopez vs the Roast of George Lopez"

Discography No Offense (2008, Shout! Factory) – CD/DVD/Download