Judd Apatow

Comedy go-getter Judd Apatow is a producer, writer and director who found mainstream success with The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005, starring Steve Carell). A childhood spent studying comedians led Apatow from New York to California when he was just out of high school. After years of doing stand-up, writing jokes and hustling TV and film projects, he produced The Ben Stiller Show (1993), then worked with Gary Shandling on The Larry Sanders Show (1993-98). Apatow earned the critics' love back in 1999, with TV's Freaks & Geeks (starring Linda Cardellini); the show was short-lived, but many of its cast members became regulars in Apatow productions. He produced the 2004 Will Ferrell comedy Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and after that it was sunny skies and smooth sailing. Known for lacing lowbrow boy humor with chick-flick sentiment, Apatow's string of box-office hits includes Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006, producer only), Knocked-Up (2007, starring Seth Rogen) and Superbad (2007, starring Michael Cera and Jonah Hill, with Apatow producing but not directing).