Etan Cohen ( he, איתן כהן; born March 14, 1974) is an Israeli-American screenwriter and film director who has written scripts for Hollywood movies, including ''

Tropic Thunder ''Tropic Thunder'' is a 2008 satirical action comedy film directed by Ben Stiller, who wrote the screenplay with Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen. The film stars Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jay Baruchel, and Brandon T. Jackson as a gro ...

'', '' Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa'', '' Men in Black 3'', and ''

The Bad Guys A bad guy or villain is a type of character in fiction and other narratives. Bad Guy or Bad Guys or ''variation'', may also refer to: Film * ''Bad Guy'' (1937 film), a film starring Virginia Grey * ''Bad Guys'', a 1986 film starring Adam Bald ...

''.

Early life and education

Born in Israel to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family, Cohen grew up in the

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...

of Efrat and later in Sharon, Massachusetts. He graduated from the

Maimonides School , image = Maimonides School Logo (Hebrew Only).png , alt = , caption = , streetaddress = 34 Philbrick Road , city = Brookline , state = MA ...

and

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, where he wrote for the '' Harvard Lampoon''.

Career

His first produced scripts, in 1995 and 1997, were for '' Beavis and Butthead'', where he was credited as Ethan Cohen. He has since written for other

Mike Judge Michael Craig Judge (born October 17, 1962) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director and musician. He is the creator of the animated television series ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' (1993–1997, 2011, 2022–present), and the co-cre ...

-directed projects, including '' King of the Hill'' from 2001 to 2005, and for the feature film ''

Idiocracy ''Idiocracy'' is a 2006 American science fiction comedy film directed by Mike Judge and co-written by Judge and Etan Cohen. Starring Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, and Terry Crews, the film tells the story of Corporal Joe Bauers (Wi ...

'' in 2006. In the late 1990s he worked on two other television series – the animated '' Recess'' and the short lived '' It's Like, You Know...''. After scripting ''Idiocracy'', he worked on the animated series, ''

American Dad! ''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since 2014, the series has been airing new episodes on TBS. ''American Dad!'' is the first television ...

'' and wrote the episode, " Failure Is Not a Factory-Installed Option". The ''American Dad!'' minor character of the same name is named for him. In 2008, Cohen co-wrote, along with Ben Stiller and Justin Theroux, the action-comedy film ''

''. He also wrote '' Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa'', which earned an

Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in cinema and television. Originally desi ...

nomination for best Writing in a Feature Production. Cohen penned the script for 2012's '' Men in Black 3''. In 2015, he made his directorial debut with ''

Get Hard ''Get Hard'' is a 2015 American comedy film directed by Etan Cohen (in his directorial debut) and written by Cohen, Jay Martel and Ian Roberts. The film stars Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart with Tip 'T.I.' Harris, Alison Brie and Craig T. Nelson ...

'', which he also co-wrote. Cohen wrote and directed the 2018 film ''

Holmes & Watson ''Holmes & Watson'' is a 2018 American-Canadian mystery-comedy film written and directed by Etan Cohen. The film stars Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as the eponymous characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, respectively; with Rebecca Hall, R ...

''. The film earned him a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director.

Personal life

Cohen is an observant Jew. He keeps kosher and does not work on the Jewish Sabbath and he and his wife send their children to a Jewish day school.

Filmography

Films

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* *https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/etan_cohen {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Etan American male screenwriters Comedy film directors Living people Israeli emigrants to the United States Israeli Jews Jewish American screenwriters People from Jerusalem 1974 births DreamWorks Animation people Maimonides School alumni The Harvard Lampoon alumni Harvard College alumni People from Sharon, Massachusetts Film directors from Massachusetts Screenwriters from Massachusetts