Michael Ian Black (born Michael Ian Schwartz; August 12, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and director. He has starred in several TV comedy series, including ''

The State A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. There is no undisputed definition of a state. One widely used definition comes from the German sociologist Max Weber: a "stat ...

'', ''

Viva Variety ''Viva Variety'' is an American sketch comedy series that aired on Comedy Central from April 1997 to December 1999. The series satirizes European variety shows. Overview The show stars Thomas Lennon as Meredith Laupin, Kerri Kenney as the form ...

'', '' Stella'', '' Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp'', ''

Michael & Michael Have Issues ''Michael & Michael Have Issues'' (sometimes abbreviated ''MMHI'') is a cable television comedy series starring comedians and actors Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter, who created the series. Both comedians appeared together in several TV co ...

'', and ''

Another Period ''Another Period'' is an American period sitcom television series created by and starring Natasha Leggero and Riki Lindhome. It followed the lives of the Bellacourts, the first family of Newport, Rhode Island, at the turn of the 20th century. Lil ...

''. In the late 1990s to early 2000s, he was the puppeteer and voice actor for the

Pets.com Pets.com was a dot-com enterprise headquartered in San Francisco, US that sold pet supplies to retail customers. It began operations in November 1998 and liquidated in November 2000. A high-profile marketing campaign gave it a widely recognize ...

sock puppet dog. He also appeared on ''

Celebrity Poker Showdown ''Celebrity Poker Showdown'' is an American celebrity game show that aired on the cable network Bravo (US TV channel), Bravo. It was a limited-run series in which celebrities played poker, with eight Poker tournament, tournaments during its five-s ...

'' several times. He released his first children's book, ''Chicken Cheeks'', in 2009, and has since released six more, in addition to four books for adults.

Early life

Black was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, to Jill and Robert Schwartz, a store owner and an executive, respectively. His family is

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 ...

. He grew up in

Hillsborough Township, New Jersey Hillsborough Township is a township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. The township is centrally located in the Raritan Valley region within the much larger New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the ...

, where he attended Hillsborough High School. His parents divorced when he was three years old; his mother, Jill, later

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

as a

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

. Black's father died at age 39 due to a head injury apparently suffered in an assault and allergic reaction during subsequent surgery. His birth name, Schwartz, is derived from the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

word ''schwarz'', which means black. He changed his name to Michael Ian Black to avoid confusion with the actor

Mike Schwartz Mike Schwartz is an American screenwriter and actor, best known for his work on '' Scrubs'' (2001-2009). Life and career Schwartz was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and was raised in Santa Barbara, California. A graduate of the improv group ...

. Black briefly attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, but dropped out to portray

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

in the promotional campaign for the

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Miche ...

concert tour.

Career

1991–2010

Black began his career as a member of the comedy group

and was featured on the television show of the same name on

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 ...

. He continued working with members of that group on the show ''

'' in the role of "Johnny Bluejeans", and in the film ''

Wet Hot American Summer ''Wet Hot American Summer'' is a 2001 American teen comedy film directed by David Wain from a screenplay written by Wain and Michael Showalter. The film features an ensemble cast, including Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Molly Shannon, ...

'', directed by frequent collaborator David Wain. Black also appeared on VH1's ''

I Love the ''I Love...'' is a British television and compilation album brand by the BBC, which looks back at a specific year in each episode. The programs consist of Celebrity, celebrities and public figures discussing, reminiscing and commenting on the po ...

...'' series, his comedy troupe Stella, and in various TV series and films. From 1998 to 2000, he was the puppeteer and

voice actor Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

for the

sock puppet, was featured in commercials for

Sierra Mist Sierra Mist is a lemon-lime flavored soft drink line. Originally introduced by PepsiCo in 1999, it was eventually made available in all United States markets by 2003. The drink was rebranded as "Mist Twist" in 2016, although it reverted to Sierr ...

, hosted the first season of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's hidden-camera show ''Spy TV'', made several appearances in the film ''

Big Helium Dog ''Big Helium Dog'' is a 1999 comedy film. It is produced by Kevin Smith's View Askew production company and also features the Broken Lizard comedy troupe in starring ( Kevin Heffernan) and supporting (Jay Chandrasekhar, Steve Lemme, and Erik St ...

'', and had a supporting role on the NBC

dramedy Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

'' Ed'', later becoming the mascot for BarNone. He would later describe his experience as the sock puppet as “painful but fun”. His dry, sarcastically irreverent commentary on

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...

artifacts on VH1's '' I Love the '70s/ '80s/ '90s/

New Millennium In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 (21st to 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies seek to understand what is li ...

'' series added to his and the shows' popularity. Black stated several times on the show that he felt as if he was "doomed to an eternity" of doing the ''I Love the...'' series. He also made fun of himself for being a

Jewish-American American Jews or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by religion, ethnicity, culture, or nationality. Today the Jewish community in the United States consists primarily of Ashkenazi Jews, who descend from diaspora J ...

and sarcastically enforcing Jewish stereotypes. Black is a

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

enthusiast and appeared in five episodes of ''

'' beginning in 2003, playing for the Endeavor House charity. In 2004 and 2006 he played for the charity MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger. In 2006, he came in third (receiving $100,000 for his charity). Black was praised for his humor and his skilled poker play by

Dave Foley David Scott Foley (born January 4, 1963) is a Canadian actor, stand-up comedian, director, producer and writer. He is known as a co-founder of the comedy group The Kids in the Hall, who have appeared together in a number of television, stage and ...

, host of ''Celebrity Poker Showdown'', and by poker experts Phil Gordon and

Phil Hellmuth Phillip Jerome Hellmuth Jr. (born July 16, 1964) is an American professional poker player who has won a record sixteen World Series of Poker bracelets. He is the winner of the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the Main Event ...

. In the latter part of 2004, he acted as guest host of

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

's '' The Late Late Show'' while auditioning for the permanent hosting role. He was a finalist for the position, but the job eventually went to Craig Ferguson. He is also an occasional contributor to the online edition of

McSweeney's McSweeney's Publishing is an American non-profit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. Initially publishing the literary journal'' Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', the company has moved to ...

, where he writes a column titled "Michael Ian Black Is a Very Famous Celebrity". Black, along with fellow ''State'' members

Michael Showalter Michael Showalter (born June 17, 1970) is an American comedian, actor, director, writer, and producer. He first came to recognition as a cast member on MTV's ''The State'', which aired from 1993 to 1995. He and David Wain created the ''Wet Hot ...

and David Wain, co-starred in and cowrote the

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

series '' Stella'', a television adaptation of their popular stage show. The ten-episode first season debuted in June 2005 and was not renewed for a second season. Michael Ian Black by David Shankbone

Black wrote the screenplays for two feature film comedies —''

Wedding Daze ''Wedding Daze'' (also known as ''The Pleasure of Your Company'' and ''The Next Girl I See'') is a 2006 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Michael Ian Black and starring Jason Biggs and Isla Fisher. Plot Against the advice ...

'' (2006) and '' Run, Fat Boy, Run'' (2007, co-written with leading actor

Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (né Beckingham; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. H ...

). Black also directed ''Wedding Daze'' which stars

Jason Biggs 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 in the Netflix original series '' Orange Is the New Black''. He al ...

Joe Pantoliano Joseph Peter Pantoliano (born September 12, 1951) is an American character actor who has appeared in over 150 films, television and stage productions. After his early roles in the television series '' M*A*S*H'' and the 1983 comedy '' Risky Bu ...

, and

Isla Fisher Isla Lang Fisher (; born 3 February 1976) is an Australian actress and author. Born to Scottish parents in Oman, she moved to Australia at age six where she began appearing in television commercials. Fisher came to prominence for her portrayal ...

. Black also has some minor screen credits. He appeared twice on the

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

show ''

Tom Goes to the Mayor ''Tom Goes to the Mayor'' is an American adult animated series created by Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim for Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. It premiered on November 14, 2004 and ended on September 25, 2006 with a t ...

'', was a guest voice on Seth Green's stop-motion show '' Robot Chicken'', and later did a bit for ''

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! ''Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!'' is an American sketch comedy series created by and starring Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, which premiered February 11, 2007 on Adult Swim and ran until May 2010. The show features surreal and often sa ...

''. He appeared on the

shows ''

Crank Yankers ''Crank Yankers'' is an American adult puppet television show produced by Adam Carolla, Jimmy Kimmel and Daniel Kellison. It features actual crank calls made by show regulars and celebrity guests, while re-enacted onscreen by puppets for a visu ...

'' and ''

Reno 911! ''Reno 911!'' is an American comedy television series airing on Comedy Central. It is a mockumentary-style parody of law enforcement documentary shows, specifically '' Cops'', with comic actors playing the police officers. Thomas Lennon, Ro ...

''. He had a cameo in David Wain's 2007 film ''

The Ten ''The Ten'' is a 2007 anthology comedy film directed by David Wain and cowritten by Wain and Ken Marino. It was released through ThinkFilm. The film was released on August 3, 2007. The DVD was released on January 15, 2008. It is an international ...

'' as a prison guard. In September 2007, he released his first stand-up comedy album, ''I Am a Wonderful Man''. In addition, he starred on the TV series ''

Reaper A reaper is a agricultural machinery, farm implement or person that wikt:reap#Verb, reaps (cuts and often also gathers) crops at harvest when they are ripe. Usually the crop involved is a cereal grass. The first documented reaping machines were ...

'' as a gay demon trying to destroy the devil through acts of kindness. In 2008, Black published a book titled ''My Custom Van ... And 50 Other Mind-Blowing Essays That Will Blow Your Mind All Over Your Face''. Also in 2008, he hosted ''

Reality Bites Back ''Reality Bites Back'' is a reality show hosted by Michael Ian Black that parodies various reality show formats. It premiered July 17, 2008 on Comedy Central. The name is derived from the 1994 film ''Reality Bites''. Premise Ten comedians compe ...

'', a scripted

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 ...

on Comedy Central. Black then developed another show for Comedy Central, ''Michael Ian Black Doesn't Understand''. The concept was later retooled as ''

''; a pilot episode, featuring

, was shot in August 2008. Comedy Central confirmed in February 2009 that a seven-episode run of the show would air in July. His first children's book, ''Chicken Cheeks'', was published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

Children's Publishing on January 6, 2009. The book is illustrated by Kevin Hawkes. In a starred review,

Kirkus ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

called the book "a perfect collaboration of text and illustration." An alternative review was aired on the ''

Showalter''. Black appeared in several Sierra Mist and Klondike commercials, as well as an

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...

commercial with Showalter. On February 21, 2009, Black instigated a "Celeb-Feud" — or as he called it, the "World's First

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

War" — with

LeVar Burton Levar Burton Jr. (born February 16, 1957) is an American actor, director, and television host, best known for playing Geordi La Forge in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994). He also played Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries ''R ...

to see if he could muster more Twitter followers than Burton. Black dubbed the feud "LeWar."

2010–present

In 2010 Black started the podcast ''Mike and Tom Eat Snacks'' with his former ''Ed'' castmate

Tom Cavanagh Thomas Cavanagh (born October 26, 1963) is a Canadian actor. He is known for a variety of roles on American television, including starring roles in '' Ed'' (2000–2004), ''Love Monkey'' (2006) and '' Trust Me'' (2009), and recurring roles on ...

. Black and

Meghan McCain Meghan Marguerite McCain (born October 23, 1984) is an American television personality, columnist, and author. She has worked for ABC News, Fox News, and MSNBC. The daughter of politician John McCain and diplomat Cindy McCain, she has been a pu ...

cowrote the book ''America, You Sexy Bitch: A Love Letter to Freedom'' in June 2012. The two took a road trip across America during the summer of 2011, documenting how Americans were living. In 2012, he starred as the host Bill Tundle in the web series ''Burning Love'', a spoof of the TV series '' The Bachelor'' and ''

The Bachelorette A bachelorette is an unmarried woman. Bachelorette may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Bachelorette'', a reality television dating show part of ''The Bachelor'' franchise with numerous versions: ** ''The Bachelorette'' (American TV ser ...

''. He also co-hosted G4 TV with

Candace Bailey Candace Kaye Bailey (born May 20, 1982) is an American actress and television personality best known as a co-host of the former television programs ''U-Pick Live'' on Nickelodeon and ''Attack of the Show!'' on G4. Early life Bailey was born i ...

that year. He has occasionally appeared as a guest on '' Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld''. He stars in

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

's late night infomercial parody, '' You're Whole'', as Randall Tyree Mandersohn. After a guest appearance in the pilot, it was announced in 2013 that Black would join the

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''). Twelve sp ...

comedy '' Us & Them'' in a regular role. Michael Ian Black and Bobcat Goldthwait May 2015

In 2013, he and Michael Showalter launched the

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

''Topics''. Alongside

Jason Ritter Jason Morgan Ritter (born February 17, 1980) is an American actor and producer. He is known for his roles as Kevin Girardi in the television series ''Joan of Arcadia'', Ethan Haas in '' The Class'', Sean Walker in the NBC series '' The Event'', ...

Alexis Bledel Kimberly Alexis Bledel ( ; born September 16, 1981) is an American actress and model. She is known for her role as Rory Gilmore on the television series ''Gilmore Girls'' (2000–2007), and Emily Malek in ''The Handmaid's Tale'' (2017–2021). ...

, and

Kerri Kenney-Silver Kerri Kenney-Silver (born January 20, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and musician. She is best known for starring as Trudy Wiegel on the mockumentary series ''Reno 911!'' and previously for her sketch comedy work on MTV ...

, Black appeared in the unaired 2013 Fox sitcom '' Us & Them'', a 13-episode US adaptation of the hit UK sitcom ''

Gavin & Stacey ''Gavin & Stacey'' is a British sitcom written by James Corden and Ruth Jones about two families: one in Billericay, Essex; one in Barry, South Wales. Mathew Horne and Joanna Page play the titular characters Gavin and Stacey and the writers st ...

'', which was canceled while the seventh episode was in production. Fox decided to not air any of the episodes. Black played the role of Brian. He co-hosted the single-season 2013 game show ''

Trust Me, I'm a Game Show Host ''Trust Me, I'm a Game Show Host'' is an American game show that premiered on October 22, 2013, and aired on TBS. It is hosted by comedians D. L. Hughley and Michael Ian Black. Premise Two comedic hosts try to deceive contestants with unique/ ...

'' alongside

D.L. Hughley Darryl Lynn Hughley (; born March 6, 1963) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Hughley is best known as the original host of BET's ''ComicView'' from 1992 to 1993, the eponymous character on the ABC/ UPN sitcom ''The Hughleys'', and as ...

. He was also a co-host on ''

Duck Quacks Don't Echo ''Duck Quacks Don't Echo'' is a British television comedy panel game show that aired on Sky1 from 7 February 2014 to 12 October 2017. It was hosted by Lee Mack. Rounds Each episode has three rounds. * Fact Off - The three guests reveal their ...

'', and one of the guest stars on the short-lived

Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He played Michael Scott in ''The Office'' (2005–2011; 2013), NBC’s adaptation of the British series created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, where Ca ...

2014 improv sketch show ''Riot''. On June 11, 2014, he appeared on Ken Reid's ''TV Guidance Counselor Podcast''. Black played Peepers, an uptight butler, on the Comedy Central series ''

''. He also played the role of Daniel on the

TVLand TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cl ...

series ''

The Jim Gaffigan Show ''The Jim Gaffigan Show'' is an American sitcom written and executive produced by comedian Jim Gaffigan and his wife Jeannie Gaffigan. Gaffigan stars as a fictionalized version of himself as a stand-up comedian raising five children in a two-bedr ...

'', as well as McKinley in the prequel to 2001's ''

'', titled '' Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp''. Black hosts ''How to Be Amazing'', an in-depth interview podcast show, produced by Black, Jennifer Brennan and Mary Shimkin. It is largely recorded at Argot Studios in New York City. In June 2017, Black recorded an episode in Los Angeles with pop star

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...

for her livestream marathon, '' Katy Perry Live: Witness World Wide''. Black appears in '' Smosh: The Movie'' as Steve YouTube, the fictional germophobic creator and CEO of

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. The movie premiered on July 24, 2015, at VidCon 2015 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. In 2018, Black began hosting a new podcast titled ''Obscure with Michael Ian Black'' in which he reads works of classic literature and makes comments about the books as he reads. In Season 1 he reads ''

Jude the Obscure ''Jude the Obscure'' is a novel by Thomas Hardy, which began as a magazine serial in December 1894 and was first published in book form in 1895 (though the title page says 1896). It is Hardy's last completed novel. The protagonist, Jude Fawley ...

'' by author

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...

. In Season 2 he reads

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic fiction, Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of scie ...

's ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ex ...

''. In Season 3 he reads

Emily Brontë Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, ''Wuthering Heights'', now considered a classic of English literature. She also published a book of poet ...

's ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moorland, moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their tur ...

''. In May 2020 Black returned to a rebooted ''

'' in a new recurring role as Captain Schwartz, named for his birthname. Schwartz is the commander of a heavily militarized parody of

Hatzalah Hatzalah (; he, הַצָּלָה, lit=rescue, relief) is one of several Jewish volunteer emergency medical service (EMS) organizations serving mostly areas with Jewish communities around the world, giving free medical service no matter their ...

, the Jewish volunteer medical emergency service.

Personal life

Black married Martha Anne Hagen in 1998. They have two children,Grandjean, Patricia (September 2009)
"Michael Ian Black"
''Connecticut''.Leone Shewfelt, Raechal (February 23, 2012)

Yahoo! Celebrity Yahoo! News is a news website that originated as an internet-based news aggregator by Yahoo!. The site was created by a Yahoo! software engineer named Brad Clawsie in August 1996. Articles originally came from news services such as the Associate ...

. Elijah (born 2001), and Ruthie (born 2003). They reside in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

. Black's parents were Jewish. He is an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

Bibliography

Books

* ''My Custom Van: And 50 Other Mind-Blowing Essays that Will Blow Your Mind All Over Your Face'' (2008) * ''You're Not Doing It Right: Tales of Marriage, Sex, Death, and Other Humiliations'' (2012) * ''America, You Sexy Bitch: A Love Letter to Freedom'' (with

; 2012) * ''Navel Gazing: True Tales of Bodies, Mostly Mine (but also my mom's, which I know sounds weird)'' (2016) * ''A Better Man: A (Mostly Serious) Letter to My Son'' (2020) ;Children's books * ''Chicken Cheeks'' (2009) * ''The Purple Kangaroo'' (2009) * ''A Pig Parade Is a Terrible Idea'' (2011) * ''I'm Bored'' (2012) * ''Naked!'' (2014) * ''Cock-a-Doodle-Doo-Bop!'' (2015) * ''A Child's First Book of Trump'' (2016) * ''I'm Sad'' (2018) * ''I'm Sorry'' (2021) * ''I'm Worried'' (2021)

Articles

* Online version is titled "A pandemic college essay that probably won’t get you into Brown". ——————— ;Notes

Discography

* ''Comedy For Gracious Living'' by ''

'' (recorded 1996, released 2010) * ''I am a Wonderful Man'' (2007) * ''Very Famous'' (2011) * ''Noted Expert'' (2016)

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Michael Ian 1971 births Living people 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians American sketch comedians American stand-up comedians American male comedians American male film actors American male television actors American male television writers American podcasters American television writers Comedians from New Jersey Comedy film directors Hillsborough High School (New Jersey) alumni Jewish American atheists Jewish American male actors Jewish American male comedians Jewish American writers Male actors from Chicago Male actors from New Jersey The New Yorker people People from Hillsborough Township, New Jersey People from Redding, Connecticut Screenwriters from Illinois Tisch School of the Arts alumni Writers from Chicago