Garry Shandling

Writer and actor Garry Shandling's contribution to comedy came in 1990s, with his two influential television shows, It's Garry Shandling's Show and The Larry Sanders Show. He broke into the business by writing scripts for comedies such as Sanford and Son and Welcome Back, Kotter, and doing stand-up routines in Los Angeles. His first big exposure as a comedian was on The Tonight Show, often as a host substituting for Johnny Carson. His own show on Showtime, It's Garry Shandling's Show debuted in 1986 and was a critical hit. Shandling played himself as a comedian with a sitcom. bending and sometimes breaking the division between viewer and performer -- paving the way for an entire subgenre of TV comedy. The show's popularity led to the Fox Network airing reruns in 1988, and it was on the air until 1990. His next show was The Larry Sanders Show, a behind-the-scenes satire of a talk show that ran from 1992 to 1998 and brought Shandling 18 Emmy nominations. During his career, he also hosted awards shows and appeared occasionally in movies, including the Marvel movies Iron Man 2 (2010, starring Robert Downey, Jr.) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014, starring Chris Evans).