Paul Reiser Movies and Career Information

Paul Reiser (born March 30, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, author, screenwriter and musician. Reiser was born in New York City, the son of Helen, a homemaker, and Sam Reiser, a wholesale health food distributor. Reiser attended the East Side Hebrew Institute on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and graduated from Stuyvesant High School in New York City. He earned his bachelor's degree at Binghamton University, where he majored in music (piano, composition). He was active in campus theater productions and founded "The Little Theater That Could", an on-campus community theater organization located in Hinman College, Reiser's dorm community. It was later renamed Hinman Production Company. Reiser eventually found his calling when he performed in New York City comedy clubs during university summer breaks. After honing his skills as a stand-up comic in New York City, Reiser's break-out film role came in 1982 when he appeared in Diner, a coming-of-age film by Barry Levinson. Reiser's character, Modell, a closet stand-up comedian, effectively brought Reiser's comic abilities to the attention of Hollywood. The film also helped boost the careers of his co-stars Kevin Bacon,