David Schwimmer's performance as Ross, a sensitive, hopeless romantic, has earned him an Emmy Award nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series as well as popular and critical acclaim for his versatility on stage, in film and television in a wide variety of roles.

Born in New York and raised in Los Angeles, Schwimmer was encouraged by a high school instructor to attend a summer program in acting at Northwestern University. Inspired by that experience, he returned to Northwestern where he received a bachelor's degree in speech/theater. In 1988, along with seven other Northwestern graduates, he co-founded Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre Company -- an ensemble of actors, writers, directors and designers (now 20-members strong) dedicated to creating vibrant new works for the American stage.

Schwimmer most recently adapted Studs Terkel’s book “Race: How Blacks And Whites Think And Feel About The American Obsession for the stage,” which he directed as the premiere production for the company’s new theatre on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

He has acted in or directed numerous productions with Lookingglass including Of One Blood, West, The Odyssey, The Jungle, In the Eye of the Beholder, The Master and Margarita, The Arabian Nights and The Idiot. In addition, he starred in the premieres of Roger Kumble’s D Girl and Turnaround in Los Angeles and Warren Leight’s Glimmer Brothers in Williamstown.

His feature credits include Hotel, It’s the Rage, Picking Up the Pieces, Six Days Seven Nights, Apt Pupil, Kissing a Fool, The Pallbearer, Crossing the Bridge, Since You’ve Been Gone-which he also directed-and the critically acclaimed HBO films Band of Brothers and Breast Men. His television credits include Friends, which he continues to direct; Jon Avnet’s film Uprising; and recurring roles on such series as NYPD Blue, L.A. Law and The Wonder Years.

Schwimmer is on the Board of Directors of the Rape Foundation for the Rape Treatment Center of Santa Monica and has residences in Los Angeles and Chicago. His birthday in November 2.

Ross Geller

Monica's older brother Ross has parlayed borderline "geek" tendencies into a career in paleontology (uh, that's dinosaur bones and stuff). Ross has quite a history with the ladies. He was married to Carol - a lesbian who gave birth to Ross's son Ben. Then he married Emily, a Brit who was completely jealous of Ross's relationship with Rachel. In fact, after they were married, Ross realized his true feelings for Rachel and said "ta-ta" to Emily. Then he married Rachel, but that was a drunken, spontaneous Las Vegas thing, so it doesn't really count, right? What does count, however, is the time they secretly hooked-up which led to Rachel's pregnancy and the birth of their daughter, Emma. Now, Ross and Rachel share parenting, but aren't dating each other. Could it BE more complicated?

- Madagascar (2005) (filming) (voice) .... The Giraffe
- Uprising (2001) (TV) .... Yitzhak Zuckerman
- Hotel (2001) .... Jonathan Danderfine
- "Band of Brothers" (2001) (mini) TV Series .... Capt. Herbert Sobel
- Picking Up the Pieces (2000) .... Leo Jerome
- Love & Sex (2000) (uncredited) .... Jehovah's Witness
- All the Rage (1999) .... Chris
... aka It's the Rage (2000) (USA: cable TV title)
- Thin Pink Line, The (1998) .... Kelly Goodish/J.T.
- Apt Pupil (1998) .... Edward French
... aka Un élève doué - Été de corruption (1999) (France: dubbed version)
- Six Days Seven Nights (1998) .... Frank Martin
... aka 6 Days 7 Nights (1998)
- Since You've Been Gone (1998) (TV) .... Robert S. Levitt
- Kissing a Fool (1998) .... Max Abbitt
- Breast Men (1997) (TV) .... Dr. Christopher Saunders
- Pallbearer, The (1996) .... Tom Thompson
- "Friends" (1994) TV Series .... Ross Geller
... aka "Friends: The Final Season" (2003) (USA: promotional title)
- Wolf (1994) .... Cop #2
- "Monty" (1994) TV Series .... Greg Richardson
- "NYPD Blue" (1993) TV Series .... Josh '4B' Goldstein (1993)
- Pitch, The (1993)
- Waiter, The (1993) .... Evil Waiter
- Twenty Bucks (1993) .... Neil Campbell
- Crossing the Bridge (1992) .... John Anderson
- "Wonder Years, The" (1988) TV Series .... Michael (1991-1992)
- Flight of the Intruder (1991) .... Duty Officer
- Deadly Silence, A (1989) (TV) .... Rob