Jeremy Piven

Jeremy Samuel Piven (born July 26, 1965) He also played the title role in the British period drama Mr Selfridge (2013–2016) and portrayed Spence Kovak on Ellen DeGeneres's sitcom Ellen (1996–1998).

Early life Piven was born in Manhattan to a Reconstructionist Jewish family. His parents were Byrne Piven (1929–2002) and Joyce Hiller Piven (née Goldstein; 1930–2025), both of whom were actors and drama teachers. His elder sister is director Shira Piven, whom he has described as one of his first acting teachers.

Piven grew up in Evanston, Illinois, and graduated from Evanston Township High School. As a teenager, he attended Harand Theater Camp in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, where he played Bernardo in West Side Story. In Illinois, he trained at Piven Theatre Workshop, founded by his parents. He also attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, which he left after his sophomore year to attend New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He left Tisch during his senior year to pursue his acting career and is an alumnus of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He spent a semester at the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut.

He has appeared in several films with John Cusack, who is also from Evanston and is a fellow alumnus of the Piven Theatre Workshop (as are Cusack's sisters Joan and Ann). Piven and Cusack once shared an apartment and have been friends since high school.

Career One of Piven's early roles was Spike in Lucas (1986). His first important role came in 1992 when he became a regular cast member on HBO's The Larry Sanders Show, where he played head writer Jerry. He left the show in the second season after growing tired of the role, because his character was not given much of a background.

In 1993, he portrayed George Costanza on the show-within-a-show scene in the two-part Seinfeld episode "The Pilot". He was a supporting cast member on the last three seasons of the sitcom Ellen, where he played Ellen's cousin Spence. He also starred in and produced the short-lived ABC dramedy series Cupid, and voiced Elongated Man in three episodes of Justice League Unlimited.

Beginning in 2004, Piven achieved significant success as the fast-talking, acerbic Hollywood agent Ari Gold in the HBO series Entourage. He received Emmy nominations for Best Supporting Actor for four straight years, from 2005 to 2008, and won the award in 2006, 2007 and 2008. He also received Golden Globe nominations for the role from 2005 to 2010, and won in 2008.

Piven has appeared in numerous films, including Judgment Night, Grosse Pointe Blank, Singles, Very Bad Things, The Family Man, Black Hawk Down, The Kingdom, Heat, PCU, Old School, RocknRolla, Serendipity, Smokin' Aces, and Runaway Jury. He has also made cameo appearances in Rush Hour 2 and the U.S. release of Cars.

In 2007, Piven appeared in the video for "Drivin' Me Wild", the third single from rapper Common's seventh album, Finding Forever. The two were co-stars in Smokin' Aces and appeared together when Piven hosted SNL in January 2007.

Piven appeared in the first Broadway revival of David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow. The production began preview performances on October 3, 2008, and opened on October 23, 2008; the play was due to run through February 22, 2009. After Piven missed several performances, on December 17, 2008, Piven's representation announced that he had been suffering from hydrargyria, and would be ending his run in the play effective immediately. Mamet joked that Piven was leaving the play "to pursue a career as a thermometer." On September 1, 2009, Piven, in a guest appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, explained that he had given up red meat and poultry, and had been getting all of his protein from fish for the past 20 years.

On August 3, 2009, Piven guest hosted an episode of the WWE Raw wrestling program. He was accompanied by Ken Jeong. The episode included several references to The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, which starred both Piven and Jeong. During the show, Piven misspoke the name of the upcoming pay-per-view SummerSlam, referring it as "the Summerfest".

In August 2011, he stated he was interested in portraying the drummer from the Who, Keith Moon. From 2013 to 2016, he played the title role in the British television drama series Mr Selfridge, the semi-fictional story based on the life of Harry Selfridge, who founded the London department store Selfridges. The show aired on the ITV network in the United Kingdom and on PBS in the United States.

On August 1, 2019, Piven appeared on a KTVU morning news segment to promote a standup comedy show he was to perform in the next night in San Francisco.

Personal life Piven resides in Malibu, California. His brother-in-law is director Adam McKay. Piven is a fan of the Chicago Bears.

Sexual assault allegations On October 30, 2017, adult film actress and reality television personality Ariane Bellamar made accusations via Twitter that Piven had groped her. The next day, Piven responded to these allegations, writing: "I unequivocally deny the appalling allegations being peddled about me. It did not happen." Cassidy Freeman came to Bellamar's defense in an Instagram post, stating that Piven engaged in "predatory behavior" toward her when she was "far too young". On November 9, advertising executive Tiffany Bacon Scourby alleged that Piven had attacked her in 2003, stating that he had "jumped on" her, "exposed his genitals, held her hands down and began rubbing against her body until he ejaculated". Piven responded to the allegations, calling them "absolutely false and completely fabricated". A representative for Piven said the actor was "looking at legal options".

Later that month, Anastasia Taneie, who worked as an extra on Entourage, alleged that Piven "confronted her in a dark hallway and groped her breast and genitals as he forcefully pushed her against a wall". On November 27, 2017, CBS decided not to order a full season of Wisdom of the Crowd following weak ratings and the allegations against Piven.

In January 2018, BuzzFeed published an article in which three more women accused Piven of "sexual misconduct or inappropriate behavior". Piven denied the allegations.

Filmography

Film

+Key Denotes works that have not yet been released

Year Title Role Notes 1986 Lucas Spike One Crazy Summer Ty 1989 Say Anything... Mark 1990 Sailor / Freshman White Palace Kahn 1992 Steve Reeves Twogether Arnie Bob Roberts Candle Seller Singles Doug Hughley There Goes the Neighborhood Albert Lodge 1993 Twenty Bucks Nervous Quick-Mart Clerk Judgment Night Ray Cochran 1994 Car 54, Where Are You? Herbert Hortz Floundering Guy PCU James 'Droz' Andrews 1995 Miami Rhapsody Mitchell Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde Peter Walston Heat Dr. Bob 1996 Livers Ain't Cheap John E=mc2 Professor Paul Higgins Larger Than Life Walter Layin' Low Jerry Muckler 1997 Just Write Harold McMurphy Grosse Pointe Blank Paul Spericki Kiss the Girls LAPD Detective Henry Castillo 1998 Music from Another Room Billy Swan Phoenix Detective Fred Shuster Very Bad Things Michael Berkow 2000 Detective Steve Menteer Arnie 2001 Rush Hour 2 Versace Salesman Serendipity Dean Kansky Black Hawk Down CW4 Clifton 'Elvis' Wolcott 2002 Highway Scawldy 2003 Old School Dean Gordon "Cheese" Pritchard Runaway Jury Lawrence Green Scary Movie 3 Ross Giggins 2004 Chasing Liberty Alan Weiss 2005 Two for the Money Jerry Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy? Rock Rivers Voice; direct-to-video 2006 Cars Harv Voice; American version Vindicta Patrick O'Connor 2025 Primitive War Colonel Amadeus Jericho 2025 Past Life Timothy Bevan TBA Danny Completed

Television Year Title Role Notes 1990 Carol & Company Various Unknown episodes 1991–1998 Rugrats Various characters Voice; 4 episodes 1992–1998 Jerry Capen 26 episodes 1993 Seinfeld Michael Barth Episode: "The Pilot" 12:01 Howard Richter Television film 1995 Chicago Hope Godfrey Nabbott 2 episodes Pride & Joy Nathan Green 6 episodes 1995–1998 Ellen Spence Kovak 72 episodes 1997 Episode: "Drew Gets Married" Grace Under Fire Episode: "Vegas" Coach Episode: "Viva Las Ratings" Duckman Victor DeMann Voice; episode: "Ebony, Baby" Don King: Only in America Hank Schwartz Television film1998 Hercules Nemean Lion Voice; episode: "Hercules and the Hero of Athens" 1998–1999 Cupid Trevor Hale / Cupid 15 episodes 2000 Will & Grace Nicholas Episode: "Love Plus One" Buzz Lightyear of Star Command Brain Pod #57 Voice; episode: "Star Crossed" 2002 Tyler Ward Episode: "The Lineman" 2003 Spider-Man: The New Animated Series Roland Gaines Voice; episode: "Mind Games" 2004–2005 Justice League Unlimited Elongated Man Voice; 3 episodes 2004–2011 Entourage Ari Gold 96 episodes 2007 Saturday Night Live Host Episode: "Jeremy Piven / AFI" 2009 WWE Raw Himself Host; episode: "August 3, 2009" 2013–2016 Mr Selfridge Harry Gordon Selfridge 40 episodes 2017–2018 Wisdom of the Crowd Jeffrey Tanner 13 episodes

Awards and nominations