Jason Matthew Biggs (born May 12, 1978) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing Jim Levenstein in the '' American Pie'' comedy film series and

Larry Bloom '' Orange Is the New Black'' is an American comedy-drama series created by Jenji Kohan that airs on Netflix. It is based on Piper Kerman's memoir, '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison'', which chronicles her experiences in a ...

in the Netflix original series ''

Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama streaming television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Wo ...

''. He also starred in '' Boys and Girls'', ''

Loser Loser or Losers may refer to: *A person who experiences failure *The unsuccessful social class in winner and loser culture Film and television * ''Loser'', a 1996 film directed by Kirk Harris * ''Loser'' (film), a 2000 movie starring Jason B ...

'', '' Saving Silverman'', '' Anything Else'', '' Jersey Girl'', '' Eight Below'', '' Over Her Dead Body'', and '' My Best Friend's Girl''. Biggs initially gained recognition from his role in the soap opera '' As the World Turns'', for which he was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series in 1995.

Early life and education

Biggs was born on May 12, 1978 in

Pompton Plains, New Jersey Pompton Plains is a census-designated place (CDP) comprising the majority of Pequannock Township, Morris County, New Jersey, United States. It is in the valley of the Pompton River, which forms the eastern border of the community, the townshi ...

, to Angela (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Zocco), a nurse, and Gary Louis Biggs, a shipping company manager.Kevin Pollak interview: KPCS Jason Biggs #145
kevinpollakschatshow. YouTube. (32 minute mark) His father is of English and Italian descent and his mother is of Sicilian descent. His last name is derived from his English ancestry. He was raised Roman Catholic.Pfefferman, Naomi (August 9, 2001)
"A Nice Not-Jewish Boy"
'' The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles''. Biggs grew up in

Hasbrouck Heights Hasbrouck Heights (pronounced HAZ-brook /ˈhæz.bɹʊk/) is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 11,842,Hasbrouck Heights High School, where he achieved success in tennis. He attended New York University before transferring to Montclair State University, where he eventually dropped out.

Career

Biggs began acting at the age of five. In 1991, he made his television debut in the short lived

FOX Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

series '' Drexell's Class''. In 1988, aged 10, he received his Screen Actors Guild card for appearing in a TV commercial for Pathmark. He later recalled in a 2015 interview in '' TV Guide'', "I remember I had to eat a doughnut in one of the shots. Over and over again. Awesome." When Biggs was 12, he starred in a one-off

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

special, ''The Fotis Sevastakis Story'', but due to licensing arguments, it was never aired. That same year, Biggs debuted on Broadway in '' Conversations with My Father'' with Judd Hirsch. He then starred in the daytime soap opera, '' As the World Turns'', for which he was nominated for the Daytime

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for Best Younger Actor. Biggs attended New York University briefly from 1996 to 1997, but soon afterwards, he left to pursue acting. And soon he would be seen again in another short lived television series, 1997's ''Camp Stories''. He starred in '' American Pie'', which went on to become an international hit that has spawned three sequels (also starring Biggs) and four spinoffs (that did not star Biggs). He accepted starring roles in movies such as ''

'' in 2000, and others. He also starred (along with his ''Loser'' co-star Mena Suvari) in the music video for the song " Teenage Dirtbag" by American rock band Wheatus. In 2001, Biggs starred in the comedy '' Saving Silverman''. He appeared in the 2002 Broadway production of '' The Graduate'' as Benjamin Braddock alongside

Kathleen Turner Mary Kathleen Turner (born June 19, 1954) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, and two Tony Awards. Turner became widely k ...

and

Alicia Silverstone Alicia Silverstone ( ; born October 4, 1976) is an American actress. She made her film debut in the thriller ''The Crush (1993 film), The Crush'' (1993), earning the 1994 MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, and gained further prom ...

. In 2003, Biggs appeared as Jerry Falk in the Woody Allen romantic comedy '' Anything Else''. In the 2004–2005 season, Biggs portrayed an Orthodox Jew in Daniel Goldfarb's comedy, ''Modern Orthodox'', staged at Dodger Stages theater in New York City. In 2006, Biggs was seen in the

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

'' Blowin' Up'' with Jamie Kennedy and Stu Stone which led to his participation in a hip-hop recording with Bay Area rapper E-40. Biggs returned to the stage in the fall of 2008 in Howard Korder's ''Boys' Life'' at New York City's Second Stage Theatre. Biggs has appeared in several other films, including '' Eight Below'' and '' Over Her Dead Body''. In 2010, Biggs made his literary debut by contributing "Scratch-and-Sniff", a poem about growing up in New Jersey, to the anthology, ''What's Your Exit? A Literary Detour through New Jersey'' (Word Riot Press, 2010). In 2012, he contributed to the anthology ''Oy! Only Six? Why Not More: Six-Word Memoirs on Jewish Life'' with the self-ironic article "This is a Roman nose, OK?" (Biggs is not Jewish.) A year later, Larry Smith, the editor of the anthology, and creator of ''

Six-Word Memoirs ''Six-Word Memoirs'' is a project and book series created by the U.S. based online storytelling magazine '' Smith Magazine.'' History In November 2006, ''Smith's'' editors Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser asked ''Smith'' readers to tell their ...

'', would be the basis for Bigg's ''

'' character Larry Bloom. He departed the series in February 2015 after two seasons. Jason Biggs 2012

Biggs reprised his role as Jim Levenstein in '' American Reunion'', which was released on April 6, 2012. In the summer of 2012, Biggs took a job voicing Leonardo on Nickelodeon in ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''. He left the series during its second season and was temporarily replaced by Dominic Catrambone.

Seth Green Seth Benjamin Green ( ''né'' Gesshel-Green; born February 8, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and writer. Green's film debut came with a role in the comedy-drama film ''The Hotel New Hampshire'' (1984), and he went on to have supporting ...

permanently took over the role from Biggs beginning in season 3, with Leonardo's voice change being explained in the show's universe, as it was due to his throat getting injured in a battle against Shredder. Biggs also plays the cowbell in the supergroup Yukon Kornelius. It was announced in September 2014 that Biggs would star on Broadway in '' The Heidi Chronicles''. The play opened on March 19. In December 2014, ''The Hollywood Reporter'' announced Biggs was cast to star in the comedy ''

Amateur Night The Apollo Theater is a music hall at 253 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard Seventh Avenue – co-named Fashion Avenue in the Garment District and known as Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard north of Centra ...

''. Biggs plays a well-meaning expectant father who unwittingly accepts a job chauffeuring prostitutes ( Janet Montgomery,

Ashley Tisdale Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles in television and theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatr ...

) around Los Angeles. Jenny Mollen, who is Biggs' wife in real life, appears as his wife in the film.

Personal life

Biggs is sometimes cast as an explicitly or implicitly Jewish character, as he was in '' American Pie'', '' Saving Silverman'', '' Anything Else, ''and ''

Orange is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama streaming television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Wo ...

'', although he is not Jewish and in fact, Biggs grew up Catholic. In January 2008, he became engaged to his '' My Best Friend's Girl'' co-star, actress Jenny Mollen; they married on April 23, 2008. They have a son, Sid, who was born on February 15, 2014. Their second son, Lazlo, was born on October 2, 2017. Biggs and Mollen sold their house in Los Angeles, California, which was situated near the

Sunset Strip The Sunset Strip is the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western border with Beverly H ...

, in 2015 and moved to Manhattan, New York City. The family currently reside in the West Village. From 2012–14, Biggs regularly caused controversy with his posts on Twitter, including sexual jokes about Ann Romney and Janna Ryan in response to the

2012 Republican National Convention The 2012 Republican National Convention was a gathering held by the Republican Party (United States), U.S. Republican Party during which Delegate (American politics), delegates officially nominated former List of governors of Massachusetts, Ma ...

, joking about the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in 2014, joking about Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which was shot down later that year, and mocking the death of '' The Bachelorette'' contestant Eric Hill. In a 2012 interview, Biggs stated that he has "a very fucked up sense of humor" and said he enjoyed the ability to "surprise people on a daily basis" on Twitter because his real personality is so different from those of the characters he usually plays. He apologized for and deleted his tweet about Malaysian Flight 17; in a later interview he said that it had led to death threats against him.

Filmography

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Biggs, Jason 1978 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American people of English descent American people of Italian descent American male child actors American male film actors American male soap opera actors American male stage actors American male television actors American male voice actors American Roman Catholics Hasbrouck Heights High School alumni Male actors from New Jersey Montclair State University alumni People from Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey People from Pequannock Township, New Jersey