Wayne Federman

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Wayne Federman (born June 22, 1959) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He is noted for his numerous stand-up comedy appearances in clubs and on television, his biography of "Pistol Pete" Maravich, and his comedic acting roles in The X-Files, The Larry Sanders Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Legally Blonde, and 50 First Dates.

Contents

1 Early Life: 1959-1976
2 New York City: 1977-1986
3 Hollywood: 1987-Present
4 Voice Over
5 The Maravich Project
6 Filmology
7 Related links

Early Life: 1959-1976

Federman grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, and at age 10, moved to Plantation, Florida. He was one of six children. He played the drums and, at age 14, began performing in a band at weddings. He also taught himself ventriloquism and performed at various school (South Plantation High School) functions as well as churches and service organizations. In 1976, Federman worked one day, as an extra, in John Frankenheimer's Black Sunday – shot in the Orange Bowl.

New York City: 1977-1986

In 1977, Federman was accepted into the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. There he studied with legendary acting coach, Stella Adler. He performed his own show, Comedy Tonight, at the Eisner and Lubin Auditoruium along with future Broadway star Donna Murphy.

After college Federman brought his one-man show to the 13th Street Theater. There he performed in rotation with Brother Theodore. He also acted in the theater’s production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, where he played six roles.

Soon he was performing his stand-up comedy act at various New York Comedy Clubs, most notably Catch a Rising Star and the The Comic Strip. It was during these years that he incorported music into his act. He closed his sets by playing hard rock tunes from Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, and The Rolling Stones on his "electric" ukulele.

Federman made his television debut on the syndicated stand-up program Comedy Tonight in 1986. He also appeared in two home videos: New Wave Comedy and the Dodge Comedy Showcase.

Hollywood: 1987-Present

In 1987, Federman moved to Los Angeles and began working at the The Improv, IGBYs, The Laugh Factory, and the Comedy and Magic Club. He taped a series of televised stand-up performances including Evening At The Improv, George Schlatter’s Comedy Club, CBS Morning Show, 2 Drink Minimum, Star Search, Good Times Cafe, and MTV ½ Hour Comedy Hour.

He continued performing his stand-up at over 200 colleges across the nation and briefly formed a music comedy team with Jordan Brady. He also co-founded the improvisational group, “No Fat Guy,” with Marc Raider, Scott LaRose, and Steve Hytner.

Wayne’s on-camera acting career began in commercials appearing in dozens of national television spots for Euerka Vacuums, Holiday Inn, U.S. Navy, Wendy's, Taboo, Eagle Talon (w/ Greg Kinear), McDonalds, Glad Bags, Sprite, Total Raisin Bran, Ford Ranger, U.S. Olympic Team, Suzuki Samurai, Sizzler, Coors, and 7-11. He gained some prominence as the first “not exactly” guy in the long running Hertz rental car campaign.

Federman began landing small television parts on Baywatch, Amen, Dear John, A Different World, Doogie Howser, News Radio, and recurring roles on L.A. Law (3 episodes) and Living Single (3 episodes).

In 1992, Federman made his debut on The Tonight Show and has subsequequently appeared many times times on the program. He also appeared on Late Fridays, Comedy Showcase, and Premium Blend. In 2004, he taped his own 1/2 hour stand-up special for the series, Comedy Central Presents.

In 1998, Wayne appeared as Larry Sander's brother, Stan, and was reunited with Garry Shandling on the X-Files episode Hollywood A.D. Written and directed by David Duchovny, the creative episode followed Wayne Federman, a Hollywood producer/writer and college friend of Assistant FBI director, Walter Skinner.

Television led Wayne to film roles in Jack Frost, Dill Scallion, Legally Blonde, 50 First Dates, , and The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

Federman co-wrote and starred in Max and Josh, a short film that premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.

Federman filmed roles in the upcoming 20th Century Fox feature Unacommpianed Minors, scheduled for release in December 2006, and also Universal's Knocked-Up scheduled for release in August 2007.

Voice Over

The Maravich Project

In 2000, Wayne began co-authring a new, authorized biography of NBA basketball legend, Pete Maravich. Working closely with the Maravich family, the book, entitled MARAVICH, is scheduled for release in September 2006.

In 2000, Federman was interviewed for, and served as senior consultant, on the Emmy award winning CBS Sports documentary, '''.

ESPN's Sports century also interviewed Federman for their installment on Maravich.