Ike Barinholtz | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Barinholtz in 2018 | |
| Born | (1977-02-18)February 18, 1977 (age 48) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Father | Alan Barinholtz |
| Relatives | Jon Barinholtz (brother) |
Ike Barinholtz (born February 18, 1977)[1] is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his starring roles in the comedy seriesMADtv (2002–2007),Eastbound & Down (2012),The Mindy Project (2012–2017),Bless the Harts (2019–2021),The Afterparty (2022),History of the World, Part II (2023), andThe Studio (2025–present), the last having earned him aCritics' Choice Award and nominations for aPrimetime Emmy Award and twoActor Awards.
His films includeDisaster Movie (2008),Neighbors (2014),Sisters (2015),Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016),Suicide Squad (2016),Snatched (2017),Blockers (2018),Late Night (2019),The Hunt (2020), andThe Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022). He co-wrote the action comedy filmCentral Intelligence (2016), and directed, wrote, produced, and starred in the comedy filmThe Oath (2018).
On February 2, 2023, he won the inaugural primetime season ofCelebrity Jeopardy!, winning $1,000,000 for charity, Pacific Clinics, and placed as a semifinalist in the 2024 Tournament of Champions. On August 14, 2024, he and his father,Alan, became the first duo and the second celebrities overall to win the $1,000,000 top prize for their charity, theASL Program at Los Encinos School, and the fifteenth overall million dollar winners onWho Wants to Be a Millionaire. He also previously won $125,000 for his charity, Uplift Family Services, on April 22, 2020. To date, Barinholtz is thethirteenth highest-earning game show contestant of all time, having accumulated $1,635,000 on his game show appearances.
Barinholtz grew up inChicago'sLakeview neighborhood,[2] the son of Peggy andAlan Barinholtz, an attorney and actor. His brotherJon Barinholtz is also an actor.[3] Barinholtz has described his parents as "liberal people with great senses of humor", and said that he was raised in a "very funny home".[4] Barinholtz isJewish.[5]
He attendedBernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School and thenThe Latin School of Chicago for high school, where he played on the school's Scholastic Bowl team when it won the state championship in 1994; he also competed in the 1994 Texaco Star National Academic Championship, held at Rice University. He worked at a telemarketing company and as abusboy before starting a career in comedy.[6]
Barinholtz attendedBoston University. After dropping out of college, he worked for theChicago Transit Authority before starting his comedy career.[2] In a 2013 interview, he said he dropped out of school because he hated it and was doing poorly.[6] In a 2012 phone interview, Barinholtz said he was inspired to pursue a career in comedy after attending a comedy show atThe Vic Theatre.[2] Thereafter, he took comedy classes atThe Second City,ImprovOlympic andAnnoyance Theatre.[6] He had planned on becoming a politician[4] but instead decided to move toLos Angeles to be an actor.
Barinholtz spent two years inAmsterdam with the famed comedy troupeBoom Chicago along withJordan Peele,Josh Meyers, andNicole Parker. Barinholtz hosted the 'Worst of Boom Night' during a 10-year anniversary of the improv troupe Boom Chicago, where they performed their worst material from previous shows.
In 2009, he performed at theChicago Improv Festival alongside formerMADtv cast memberJordan Peele.[7] In 2012, Barinholtz performed at another Chicago Improv Festival event with his brother, Jon.[8]
He is a founding member of The Lindbergh Babies, an improv group directed byDel Close, who worked withJohn Belushi,Bill Murray,Mike Myers, andChris Farley. In 2012, Barinholtz joined the cast of the third season of theHBO seriesEastbound & Down, playing the role of Ivan Dochenko, Kenny Powers' Russian rival. He starred alongsideSeth Rogen in the 2014 comedyNeighbors, as well as its 2016sequel. Also in 2016, Barinholtz played prison guard Griggs in theDC Comics filmSuicide Squad.
He has frequently worked with comedian Dave Stassen, with whom he attended high school.[2] They co-wrote a SPIKE pilot in which Barinholtz also starred,Mega Winner,[9] and the 2016 filmCentral Intelligence.[10]
Barinholtz appeared in a regular role as nurse Morgan Tookers on the comedy seriesThe Mindy Project. He was also a writer and story editor on the series. He also has a role inFriends from College, aNetflix original. In 2022, Barinholtz was in the main cast of theApple TV+ mystery comedy seriesThe Afterparty.
Competing on the first season ofCelebrity Jeopardy! on ABC in 2022–23, Barinholtz defeatedPatton Oswalt andWil Wheaton in the finals to win the championship. He earned $1,000,000 for his charity, Pacific Clinics, and, due to rule changes, became the first celebrity champion to receive a berth to theTournament of Champions. Competing in 2024, Barinholtz won his quarterfinal match against 13-game winner Ray Lalonde and 3-game winnerMelissa Klapper, before losing in the semifinals.[11] An article inSlate described Barinholtz as the "chaos agentJeopardy! needed".[12]
Since 2025, Barinholtz has been starring in the critically acclaimed Apple TV+ comedy seriesThe Studio as Sal Saperstein, a role which earned him theCritics' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.[13] After the show's first season, Barinholtz also received nominations for aPrimetime Emmy Award and aScreen Actors Guild Award.[14][15]
In July 2025, he was officially confirmed to portrayElon Musk inLuca Guadagnino's upcoming AI‑themed filmArtificial, a comedic drama centered on the internal turmoil at OpenAI.[16]
Barinholtz officially joined the cast ofMADtv in 2002 as a featured performer for the eighth season. He was later promoted to a repertory performer status the following season. Barinholtz often paired up with fellow cast memberJosh Meyers in various sketches for the eighth and ninth seasons similar to theMike Myers/Dana Carvey andJimmy Fallon/Horatio Sanz duos onSaturday Night Live. Barinholtz also paired up with fellow cast memberBobby Lee in some of his sketches in the later seasons. Some of his famous characters includedAbercrombie & Fitch model Dutch and Principal Lankenstein from the Coach Hines sketches.
Barinholtz's celebrity impressions includedAbraham Lincoln,Alex Trebek,Andy Dick,Arnold Schwarzenegger,Ashton Kutcher,Bo Bice,Cris Judd,Dane Cook,Felicity Huffman,Fidel Castro,George Michael,Howard Dean,Howie Long,Jack Osbourne,Kevin Federline,Mark Wahlberg,Clay Aiken,Matt Damon,Nick Lachey,Nick Nolte,Orlando Bloom,Pat Sajak,Ralph Nader,Rafael Palmeiro,Tom Hanks, andVin Diesel.
In 2007, he decided not to renew his contract for the 13th season ofMADtv. Barinholtz has commented that he started getting "restless" and did not see eye to eye with some of theMADtv bosses about how decisions were being made.[6]
| Character | Sketch | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Adam Bice | QVC: Quacker Factory | |
| Eli | The B.S. | |
| Astroman | ||
| Duncan Kruskal | The Silver Fox | |
| Dutch | Abercrombie & Fitch | |
| Jeffrey "Jeff" DeShazer | Coach Hines | |
| Marty | Knobs | |
| Mitchel "Mitch" Ruffin | ||
| Principal Lankenstein | Coach Hines | He is the principal of St. Francis High and Coach Hines' nemesis. |
| Roy Schenk | Feuding Parents | |
| Steven "Steve" Wellington |
Barinholtz is married and has three daughters.[17] While shooting the filmBlockers, he suffered an accident doing a stunt involving a fall. He suffered two fractured cervical vertebrae in his neck.[18]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Down | Assistant Milligan/Niles Benson | |
| 2006 | The Adventures of Big Handsome Guy and His Little Friend | Bar Jerk | Short film |
| 2007 | Bunny Whipped | Joe | |
| Twisted Fortune | Dave Armstrong | ||
| 2008 | Meet the Spartans | Various | |
| Disaster Movie | Various | ||
| 2009 | Shrink | Steve | Uncredited |
| Lock and Roll Forever | Lomax | ||
| 2010 | How to Make Love to a Woman | David | |
| Vampires Suck | Bobby White | Uncredited | |
| For Christ's Sake | Buster Chery | ||
| 2013 | The Sidekick | Lightning Mike | Short film |
| Inventing Adam | Telly | ||
| 2014 | Neighbors | Jimmy Blevins | |
| 2015 | Sisters | James | |
| 2016 | Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising | Jimmy Blevins | |
| The Angry Birds Movie | Tiny | Voice[19] | |
| Central Intelligence | None | Writer | |
| Suicide Squad | Griggs | [20] | |
| Storks | Miscellaneous Storks | Voice[19] | |
| 2017 | Snatched | Jeffrey Middleton | |
| Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House | Angelo Lano | ||
| The Disaster Artist | Himself | Cameo | |
| Bright | Pollard | ||
| 2018 | Blockers | Hunter Lockwood | |
| Song of Back and Neck | Nurse | ||
| The Oath | Chris Montana | Also writer, producer, and director | |
| 2019 | Late Night | Daniel Tennant | |
| The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part | Lex Luthor | Voice[19] | |
| 2020 | The Hunt | Moses / Staten Island | [21] |
| 2021 | Moxie | Mr. Davies | [22] |
| 2022 | The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent | Martin Etten | |
| 2023 | Maximum Truth | Rick Klingman | Also writer[23] |
| 2024 | Orion and the Dark | Light | Voice[24][19] |
| TBA | Artificial | Elon Musk | Filming |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002–2007, 2016 | MADtv | Various characters | 116 episodes; also writer |
| 2005 | E! Hollywood Hold'em | Himself | Episode: "Laura Prepon" |
| 2008 | Family Guy | Dane Cook | Voice, episode: "I Dream of Jesus" |
| 2008–2009 | Rita Rocks | Fly | 6 episodes |
| 2010 | Weeds | Daryl | Episode: "Fran Tarkenton" |
| 2010–2015 | The League | Frank "The Body" Gibiatti | 4 episodes |
| 2011 | Childrens Hospital | Peter Principato | Episode: "Newsreaders" |
| 2012 | Eastbound & Down | Ivan Dochenko | 6 episodes |
| NTSF:SD:SUV:: | Maitre'D | Episode: "Sabbath-tage" | |
| Megawinner | Cliff Planker | Television film; also writer and executive producer | |
| 2012–2017 | The Mindy Project | Morgan Tookers | 115 episodes; also writer and executive story editor |
| 2013 | Drunk History | August Spies | Episode: "Chicago" |
| High School USA! | Cyber Bully | Voice, episode: "Bullies" | |
| The Soup | Himself | Episode dated October 23 | |
| The Pete Holmes Show | Episode: "Ike Barinholtz" | ||
| 2013–2015 | The Awesomes | Muscleman | Voice, 30 episodes[19] |
| 2014 | Kroll Show | Zach Sword | Episode: "Oh Armond" |
| Chozen | Hunter | Voice, 4 episodes | |
| Married | Bruce | Episode: "The Old Date" | |
| Garfunkel and Oates | First Door on the Right Director | Episode: "Hair Swap" | |
| @midnight | Himself | Episode dated January 8 | |
| American Dad! | DJ Iron Monkey | Voice, episode: "Blonde Ambition" | |
| 2016 | Animals. | Alan | Voice, episode: "Pigeons."[19] |
| 2017 | Friends from College | Degrasso | 2 episodes |
| Neo Yokio | Jeffrey | Voice, episode: "Hamptons Water Magic" | |
| 2019 | Brooklyn Nine-Nine | Gintars Irbe | Episode: "Gintars" |
| The Twilight Zone | Mike | Episode: "Not All Men" | |
| What Just Happened??! with Fred Savage | Himself | Episode: "Elevator" | |
| Live in Front of a Studio Audience | Michael Stivic | Episode: "Norman Lear'sAll in the Family andThe Jeffersons" | |
| 2019–2021 | Bless the Harts | Wayne Edwards | Voice, 34 episodes |
| 2020, 2024 | Who Wants to Be a Millionaire | Himself | 2 episodes |
| 2020 | Mapleworth Murders | Richard Belt | 3 episodes |
| 2021–2022 | Chicago Party Aunt | Mark | Voice, 15 episodes; also writer and executive producer |
| 2022–2023 | Celebrity Jeopardy! | Himself | 3 episodes |
| 2022 | The Afterparty | Brett | 8 episodes[25] |
| Central Park | Voice, episode: "A Hot Dog to Remember" | ||
| 2022–2023 | American Auto | Landon Payne | 2 episodes |
| 2023 | History of the World, Part II | Various | 8 episodes; also writer and executive producer |
| White House Plumbers | Jeb Stuart Magruder | 3 episodes | |
| 2024 | Jeopardy Tournament of Champions | Himself | 2 episodes |
| Curb Your Enthusiasm | Shimon | Episode: "The Gettysburg Address" | |
| The Simpsons | Wayne the Grip | Voice, episode: "Homer and Her Sisters" | |
| 2025–present | Running Point | None | Co-creator, writer, executive producer |
| The Studio | Sal Saperstein | Main cast |
| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare | A.J. |
| Year | Title | Role | Author | Production company |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Batman: The Audio Adventures[26] | Two-Face/Harvey Dent | Dennis McNicholas | Blue Ribbon Content |
| 2023 | White House Plumbers Podcast | Himself |
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