David Schwimmer Net Worth, Money and More
Profession: Actor
Net Worth: $ 80 million
Who is David Schwimmer?
David Schwimmer is an American actor, director and producer. He is widely recognized for his portrayal of the character of Ross Geller in the immensely popular sitcom series “Friends”.
Early Life
David Schwimmer was born David Lawrence Schwimmer in Flushing Queens in New York City to Arthur and Arlene Colman-Schwimmer, who were both attorneys. Schwimmer also has an older sister named Ellie.
His family moved to Los Angeles and it is there, at the age of 10, that Schwimmer had his first acting experience when he played the fairy godmother in a Jewish version of Cinderella. In 1979, one of his most profound acting experiences happened when Schwimmer went to a Shakespeare workshop by celebrated English actor Ian McKellen in Los Angeles. Schwimmer then entered a contest in the Southern California Shakespeare Festival three years in a row and won two first prizes.
As his mother’s career as a divorce attorney became successful, his family moved to Beverly Hills. He was good at science and math and thought he would become a doctor. He enrolled in a drama class, where he appeared in stage productions. On his school drama teacher’s encouragement, he went to Chicago for an acting workshop. In 1984, Schwimmer finished his high school and wanted to pursue acting, but his parents insisted he go to college first so he would have something to fall back on, in case his acting career did not work out. He moved to Chicago to attend Northwestern University where he enrolled as a theater major and graduated in 1988, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater and speech. He then returned to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.
Career
“Friends”
After a couple of small, insignificant roles and some unsuccessful auditions, it was only in 1994 Schwimmer was cast as Ross Geller in channel NBC’s situation comedy Friends, the series that propelled him into success. He played a hopeless-romantic paleontologist who works at a museum and later becomes a professor at a university. He has admitted that when he was first approached for the role, he turned it down, but accepted it later. Executive producer of the series, Kevin S. Bright said that he had created the role of Ross with Schwimmer in mind and hence, he was the first actor to be finalized.
“Friends” debuted on September 22, 1994 and was watched by almost 22 million American viewers. Friends soon became an immensely popular and successful show and quickly developed a loyal audience. Schwimmer received great reviews. For his performance, he was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1995.
While he was still a part of Friends, Schwimmer starred in Hollywood films such as The Pallbearer, opposite Gwyneth Paltrow, Kissing A Fool, Six Days Seven Nights and Picking Up The Pieces. At this time, he admitted that he was ”frustrated” at being typecast due to his role in Friends.
Post Friends
In 2005, Schwimmer starred in the drama Duane Hopwood, as the alcoholic protagonist and he received rave reviews for his acting, and was even mentioned as a “career-transforming performance”. In 2005, he lent his voice to the character of a giraffe named Melman in the commercially successful animated film, “Madagascar”. It went on to become one of the biggest hits of that year. He has since then appeared in several theatre and Broadway productions and also directed some ventures.
Money Matters
For the last season of the series “Friends”, each cast member, including Schwimmer was paid $1 million for each episode, making it a total of $22 million for the last season alone. He, along with the rest of the cast also received a portion of the syndication profits from the show. At the end of the series, Schwimmer received a whooping $89 million.
Season 1: $ $22,500 per episode
Season 2: $ around $30,000 per episode
Season 3: $40,000 an episode
Season 4: $85,000 per episode
Season 5: $100,000 per episode
Season 6: $125,000 per episode
Season 7-8: $750,000 an episode
Season 9-10: $1 million an episode
House
David Schwimmer was the proud owner of this 11,000-square-foot Mediterranean styled gated mansion in Hancock Park, Los Angeles.
The nine-bedroom mansion was designed in the 1920s by architectural firm Koerner & Gage, which also designed the Beverly Hills’ City Hall. He purchased the lavish home in 2001 for $5.5 million.
The house features a wood paneled library, a screening room, a pool, a spa and a tennis court.
Recently, Schwimmer and his wife decided to sell the home because they started a family and hope to pick out a new home together.
They listed the house for a price of $10.7 million and settled on a deal of $ 8.8 million.
Relationships
In the early, 2000s, David Schwimmer dated Australian pop singer Natalia Imbruglia, Israeli actress Mili Avital and American actress Rochelle Ovitt.
In 2007, Schwimmer and English part-time photographer Zoe Buckman got into a romantic relationship and in March 2010, Schwimmer announced their engagement. They were married in a small private ceremony in June that year.
On May 8, 2011, the couple was blessed with a daughter whom they named Cleo Buckman Schwimmer.
