Garry Shandling

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Garry Shandling was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona. After earning a degree in marketing at the University of Arizona Garry Shandling head out to Los Angeles in search of the comedy circuit. He soon made a real name for himself as a highly regarded writer for such renowned 1970's sitcoms as "Sanford and Son " and "Welcome Back, Kotter. "

Garry Shandling made his stand-up debut in 1975 at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles. In the comedy club scene, Garry Shandling happened to spark the interest of Joan Rivers, who brought him to the attention of Johnny Carson and in 1981, Garry Shandling made his first appearance on "The Tonight Show ", going on to serve as the show's guest host on numerous occasions.

From 1986 to 1990, in addition to frequent appearances on "The Tonight Show, " Garry Shandling was the star and executive producer of the CableACE Award-winning series "It's Garry Shandling's Show " and served as host of the Grammy Awards in 1990 and 1991.

Garry Shandling credits his experience of filling in for Johnny Carson as the genesis of the THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW. "When I was hosting the 'The Tonight Show ' I got an intimate look at how talk shows work backstage," Shandling says. "I realized that this was a world no one had really explored yet. I wanted to take an honest look at the very wide difference between the way a talk-show host acts on the air and what he or she is truly like."

According to Garry Shandling, Larry Sanders is "a character trying to find the balance between what his life is and how he is supposed to be on television."

Although SANDERS was his first series for HBO, Shandling is no stranger to the network, having previously been seen on HBO in "Comic Relief III," 1991's "HBO Comedy Hour : Garry Shandling: Stand-Up" and "Comic Relief V."

Garry Shandling's sophisticated HBO lampoon, of the late-night world's on-air posturing and behind-the-scenes chaos lead to massive critical acclaim.

In early 1998, Shandling announced that the upcoming season of his critically acclaimed series would likely be his last. In addition to preparing what could be the final episodes of the show, Shandling is working on the Columbia feature Which Planet Are You From?. He has also wrapped production on Hurlyburly.

Garry Shandling was the star of It's Garry Shandling's Show and The Larry Sanders Show, and ranked #30 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest standups of all time.
Garry Shandling's influences include Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, and Johnny Carson.

Garry Shandling's shows are now considered pioneers of the "breaking the fourth wall" concept, in which characters turn away from the action and comment directly on the proceedings or make asides to the audience. The breakdown of the fourth wall was used by comedians like George Burns in the 1950s, but Shandling took the idea to new levels of intensity and frequency, and the conceit now is a regular feature of sitcoms like The Bernie Mac Show.

Garry Shandling was the host of The Grammy Awards from 1990 to 1995 and the Emmy Awards in 2000 and 2004.

Garry Shandling was immortalized in the Butthole Surfers song "Revolution, Pt. 2" on their album Pioughd. During the end of the song his name is chanted repeatedly.
Garry Shandling's latest film, the animated Over the Hedge, was released in May 2006.