Billy Eichner

Billy Eichner
Eichner in 2014
Born (1978-09-18) September 18, 1978 (age 45)
New York City, U.S.
Alma materNorthwestern University
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • screenwriter
Years active2005–present

Billy Eichner (/ˈaɪknər/ EYEK-nər; born September 18, 1978) is an American actor and comedian. He is the star, executive producer, and creator of Funny or Die's Billy on the Street, a comedy game show that aired on truTV. The show earned Eichner a nomination for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host in 2013. He is also known for playing Craig Middlebrooks on the sitcom Parks and Recreation, Mr. Ambrose the Librarian on the animated TV series Bob's Burgers, Timon in the 2019 remake of The Lion King, and Bobby in Bros.

Early life and education

Eichner is a native of Queens and grew up in Forest Hills, the son of Debbie, who worked for a phone company, and Jay Eichner, a rent tax auditor. He was born to a Jewish family and had a Madonna-themed bar mitzvah. He has an older half-brother. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1996, and from Northwestern University in 2000 with a BS in Theater. Actor Robin Lord Taylor was his college roommate.

Career

Eichner gained attention as the host and writer of Creation Nation: A Live Talk Show, a critically acclaimed stage show in New York. He landed a Bravo web series called My Life on the Z-List: Jen's Vlog that was an online companion to Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List and was a co-host on the Bravo television pilot Joan Rivers' Straight Talk, where Rivers discussed topics with four gay men. He appeared on Conan as a special correspondent in original video shorts.

In 2011, Eichner starred in the show Billy on the Street. The show initially aired on Fuse, before moving to truTV. It was created within Funny or Die, and is now available on Max and the TruTV app. It had a final run of short-form episodes across digital platforms in association with Lyft. In it, Eichner goes around the streets of New York City, asking people random questions or having them compete in trivia games. He often has celebrities who compete in games or go around the streets with him.

On August 5, 2013, Eichner guest starred in the sixth season of Parks and Recreation. Eichner's first episode aired on October 10, 2013. He stars as Donna's Eagleton counterpart, Craig Middlebrooks, who joins the Pawnee Parks and Recreation Department when Pawnee absorbs Eagleton. He became a series regular in episode four of the seventh season of the show.

During the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards show in 2014, Eichner appeared with host Seth Meyers on the streets of New York, interviewing random people.

Eichner starred in the Hulu original series Difficult People, with Julie Klausner. It was executive produced by Amy Poehler. Though originally set up for USA Network, the series began airing on Hulu in August 2015.

In 2016, Eichner appeared in Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, released May 20. In 2017, he joined the cast of American Horror Story for recurring roles in its seventh and eighth seasons.

In 2019, Eichner provided the voice of Timon in Disney's live action remake of The Lion King, from director Jon Favreau. Eichner said that Timon "[is] such a great role that allows you to do so much. But... the bigger the project and the bigger the names that you're working with, the more you have to ignore it. If you get to the soundstage and you're thinking, 'Oh my God, what a full-circle moment! Nathan Lane did it originally! Beyoncé's in this!' then you're paralyzed creatively. You just have to put that out of your head in order to get the job done."

In July 2020, Eichner announced that he and Tom McNulty were developing a film biography of fellow Northwestern University alum Paul Lynde called Man in the Box, with Eichner portraying Lynde.

In March 2021, Eichner announced that he was writing and starring in the film Bros, which tells the story of two gay men with commitment issues who decide to settle down with each other. In August, Amazon Studios announced that they had bought the rights to develop the film Ex-Husbands, starring Eichner and co-written by him and Paul Rudnick. Bros was critically well-received but a box-office disappointment, which Eichner attributed to "straight people, especially in certain parts of the country" not going to see the film.

Personal life

Eichner is Jewish and gay. He lives in Los Angeles.

Politics

Eichner is a Democrat. On February 1, 2018, Eichner announced a new initiative called Glam Up the Midterms, during that night's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, in conjunction with Funny or Die and with the support of several late night hosts including Sarah Silverman, James Corden, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O'Brien, John Oliver, Chelsea Handler, Robin Thede, and Andy Cohen. Glam Up the Midterm's purpose was getting people to vote in the November 6 midterms, especially millennials, of whom only 12% voted in the previous midterm election. Eichner joined the progressive political organization Swing Left as senior advisor starting in 2019 and endorsed Elizabeth Warren in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2008 What Happens in Vegas Band Leader
2010 The Charlie Sheen Is Too Damn High Timmy McMillan Short film
2013 Glitter and Ribs Taylor Swift Short film
2014 Penguins of Madagascar New York Reporter Voice
2015 Sleeping With Other People SLAA Speaker
2016 The Angry Birds Movie Chef Pig / Phillip Voice
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising Oliver Studebaker
2018 Most Likely to Murder Speigel
2019 The Lion King Timon Voice
Noelle Gabriel Kringle
2022 Bros Bobby Lieber Also writer
2024 Mufasa: The Lion King Timon Voice; in production

Television and web

Year Title Role Notes
2006 Joan Rivers' Straight Talk Himself (co-host) Unaired Bravo pilot
2007 My Life on the Z-List: Jen's Vlog Jen Web series supporting Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List
2011–2017 Billy on the Street Himself (host) Also creator and executive producer
2013–2015 Parks and Recreation Craig Middlebrooks 17 episodes
2013–2021 Bob's Burgers Mr. Ambrose Voice, 13 episodes
2014 The Millers Leon Episode: "Movin' Out (Carol's Song)"
New Girl Barry Episode: "LAXmas"
2015 The Awesomes The Gayfather (voice) Episode: "The Gayfather"
2015–2017 Difficult People Billy Epstein 28 episodes
2016 Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Himself Episode: "Retirement Plans and Financial Advisors"
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Himself Episode: "Kimmy Meets a Drunk Lady!"
Hairspray Live! Rob Barker Television special
2017 Carpool Karaoke: The Series Himself Episode: "Billy Eichner & Metallica"
American Horror Story: Cult Harrison Wilton 6 episodes
Tex Watson Episode: "Charles (Manson) in Charge"
2017–2019 Friends from College Dr. Felix Forzenheim 13 episodes
2018 RuPaul's Drag Race Himself Episode: "Cher: The Unauthorized Rusical"
American Horror Story: Apocalypse Brock 3 episodes
Mutt Nutter 3 episodes
Family Guy Himself (voice) Episode: "Pawtucket Pete"
2018–2022 Billy on the Street Billy Web series
2018, 2023 The Simpsons Billy (voice) 2 episodes
2019 Green Eggs and Ham Walter Bigman (voice) Episode: "Boat"
2020 Jimmy Kimmel Live! Himself – Guest Host 2 episodes
Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special Elf Billy Christmas special
2021 Impeachment: American Crime Story Matt Drudge 3 episodes
Dickinson Walt Whitman Episode: "This is my letter to the World"

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Refs
2013 Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Game Show Host Billy on the Street Nominated
2015 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program Nominated
2016 Webby Awards Online Film & Video: Comedy, Individual Short or Episode Won
Dorian Awards Wilde Wit of the Year Nominated
2017 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Variety Sketch Series Nominated

See also


This page was last updated at 2024-01-24 19:16 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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