David Paymer (born August 30 1954) is an Academy Award-nominated American character actor, seen in such films as Quiz Show, Searching for Bobby Fischer, City Slickers, Crazy People, State and Main, Payback, Get Shorty, Carpool, The American President and Ocean's Thirteen. Paymer was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1992 for Mr. Saturday Night. He played a Mob boss in the short-lived series Line of Fire.
One of modern TV and moviedom's most sturdy and reliable character actors, David Paymer dreamed of being an actor from early childhood. Although he came from a traditional middle class Jewish family that urged him to become a doctor or lawyer, Paymer felt more at home in the world of the thespian. At 14, he used a fake I.D. to see The Graduate (1967), which starred a young Dustin Hoffman. He grew up in Oceanside, New York, where his father was in the scrap metal business. His mother, a homemaker, had fled Belgium with her family to escape the Nazis. When his father quit the scrap metal business to pursue music, it inspired young Paymer to give his acting dream a try. His aborted big break came when he was cast in the TV series St. Elsewhere (1982) as Dr. Wayne Fiscus - then promptly dumped and replaced by 'Howie Mandel'. Luckily, his real big break was destined to be on the big screen, as Ira Shalowitz is the Billy Crystal vehicle City Slickers (1991). Crystal was so pleased with Paymer's work that he wrote the part of Stan Yankelman beleaguered brother of the titular character in the movie Mr. Saturday Night (1992), especially for Paymer. The part earned Paymer an Oscar nomination in 1993.
