David Paymer

A former theatre and psychology major at the University of Michigan, actor David Paymer's first Broadway success was in the long-running musical Grease. He tentatively launched his film career in the tiny but telling role of a cabbie in 1979's The In-Laws, then returned to working "live" as a performer and writer for The Comedy Store. A character actor even in his early twenties, Paymer displayed his versatility in a wealth of TV supporting roles on such weeklies as Cagney and Lacey, Diff'rent Strokes, The Commish and Downtown. Billy Crystal was so impressed with Paymer's work as ice-cream entrepreneur Ira Shalowitz in City Slickers (1991) that Crystal assigned him the plum role of Stan Yankelman, long-suffering brother and business manager of Berle-like comedian Buddy Young Jr., in Mister Saturday Night (1992). Convincingly playing an age range from 20 to 75, Paymer was honored with an Oscar nomination. Dividing his time between working in films and teaching classes at the Film Actor's Workshop, David Paymer has recently been seen as the angelic Hal in Heart and Souls (1993) and real-life TV producer Dan Enright in Robert Redford's Quiz Show (1994). - Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide