Many actors mature into character roles, while others -- like David Paymer -- were born to play them. A New York native, Paymer was born Aug. 30, 1954, on Long Island and studied theater at the University of Michigan before being cast as Sonny Latieri in the touring company of "Grease" (a part he reprised on Broadway).Paymer made his film bow three years later in The In-Laws (1979) and from there took on a long string of supporting roles on TV shows such as "Cagney & Lacey" and "The Commish." In 1991, Paymer played an ice cream magnate in City Slickers, which led co-star Billy Crystal to cast him as Stan Yankelman in Mr. Saturday Night. Aging from 20 to 75 for the part, Paymer garnered an Oscar nod for his work.
Other important films for Paymer include 1994's Quiz Show (playing real-life TV producer Dan Enright), Get Shorty (1995), State and Main (2000) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007).
AddPaybackWith friends like these, who needs enemies? That's the question bad guy Porter (Mel Gibson) is left asking after his wife (Deborah Kara Unger) and partner (Gregg Henry) steal his heist money and leave him for dead -- or so they think. Five months and an endless reservoir of bitterness later,... Read More
AddSchool of LifeStodgy educator Matt Warner (David Paymer) -- who's determined to carry on his late father's legacy of winning the Teacher of the Year award -- suddenly finds himself competing with charismatic new history teacher Michael D'Angelo (Ryan Reynolds) in this made-for-TV family tale. In an effort to... Read More
Add AllOctober Road: Season 1Nick Garrett (Bryan Greenberg) left his small hometown to make it big as an author. Now, he's moving back to teach at the local university. But he never imagined having to face the people he left behind, many of whom feel betrayed that they were used as characters in Nick's best-selling novel. Tom... Read More
AddBartlebyHerman Melville's classic short story "Bartleby the Scrivener" gets updated in this darkly comic retelling. The boss (David Paymer) of a public records company begins to unravel when he hires a quiet and reserved clerk, Bartleby (Crispin Glover). At first, Bartleby's a welcome addition to the... Read More
AddCarpoolEndearing Franklin Laszlo (Tom Arnold) is an unlikely bank robber, but that's what he does. During one bungled robbery attempt, he's forced to take some unusual hostages: a bus filled with kids and Daniel (David Paymer), a wound-up advertising workaholic. Leave it to Franklin to win over the kids... Read More
