David Wain

David Benjamin Wain (born August 1, 1969) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and director. He has co-written and directed six feature films, including Wet Hot American Summer (2001), Role Models (2008) and Wanderlust (2012). He has also served as a producer, writer and director on number of television series, including Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, Childrens Hospital and Medical Police. He has had small roles in most of the films and TV series he has produced or directed. He also had a starring voice role, as the Warden, on the 2008-2014 animated Adult Swim series Superjail!

David Wain
Wain at the 2010 Streamy Awards
Born	David Benjamin Wain August 1, 1969 Shaker Heights, Ohio, U.S.
Alma mater	New York University
Occupation	Comedian actor director writer
Years active	1991–present
Spouse(s)	Zandy Hartig ​ ​ (m. 2009; div. 2015)​
Children	2
Website	davidwain.com

Wain got his start in entertainment in college, as a member of the sketch comedy troupe The State. The group had their own TV show on MTV from 1993 to 1995, The State, for which Wain directed many of the sketches. Wain is also member of comedy group Stella, along with two other members of The State. The three wrote and starred in short films called the Stella shorts, as well as the 2005 TV series Stella.

Early life

Wain was born to a Jewish family[1][2] in Shaker Heights, Ohio, the son of Nina (née Saul) and Norman Wain.[3] As a young man, Wain went to a summer camp in Canaan, Maine, on which Wet Hot American Summer was loosely based.

Career

In 1988 while attending NYU film school, Wain became a founding member of the sketch comedy group The New Group. This group later came to be known as The State, and in 1993 he and his fellow members created and starred in The State, a sketch show that lasted 26 episodes on MTV. Wain and Michael Patrick Jann directed most of the show's sketches.

In 1997, Wain, Michael Ian Black, and Michael Showalter formed the comedy trio Stella.

Wain's first feature film, Wet Hot American Summer (2001), was an absurdist summer camp comedy starring Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Molly Shannon, Paul Rudd, Christopher Meloni, Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, Ken Marino and Elizabeth Banks. Wain directed the film, and co-wrote and co-produced it with Showalter, who also plays a lead role.

His second feature film The Ten, starring Winona Ryder and Paul Rudd (and a large ensemble cast of well-known actors), had a short theatrical run and was released on DVD on January 15, 2008.

Wain's third feature, Role Models, starring Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jane Lynch and Elizabeth Banks, was his first widely released film. Released in theaters on November 7, 2008, the film received positive reviews from critics and fans alike, as well as earning $19 million on its opening weekend.[4]

Wain starred in a web series titled Wainy Days on the website My Damn Channel, which ran for five seasons and ended in January 2012. The series follows a fictionalized version of Wain through his everyday life as he tries to romance numerous women and discusses his problems with his friends at the sweatshop where he works. Elizabeth Banks, Jonah Hill, Jason Sudeikis, Rob Corddry, Thomas Lennon, Josh Charles, Paul Rudd, and Michael Ian Black, and various other Stella, The State and Wet Hot American Summer alumni have all guest-starred in various episodes. The recurring cast included A.D. Miles, Matt Ballard and Zandy Hartig, who was instrumental in the creation of the series.

Wain performing with a USO tour in 2015

As one third of the comedy troupe Stella, Wain has co-hosted the long running nightclub show in New York City, toured the United States and made a series of shorts with the group, and eventually help create a 2005 series on Comedy Central based on their routines.

Wain is featured as the voice of The Warden in the animated series Superjail!. He was a featured commentator in the I Love the 70s series, I Love the 90s Part Deux series, and the weekly VH1 show Best Week Ever.. With The State, Wain co-wrote the book State by State with The State. He has appeared in such movies as The Baxter, Keeping the Faith and Role Models. Wain's fourth feature film, Wanderlust, was released on February 24, 2012. It stars Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd, Malin Akerman and Alan Alda. Wain directed the film, from a screenplay he wrote with Ken Marino, and has a cameo in the film as a TV weatherman.

His fifth feature They Came Together was released in June 2014. The cast includes Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Ed Helms, Cobie Smulders, Max Greenfield, and Christopher Meloni. Wain and Showalter co-wrote the eight-episode Netflix prequel Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp based on the 2001 film with almost the entire cast of the original film returning. The series premiered on July 31, 2015, and was more well received by critics. He returned to co-write and direct another Netflix sequel Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later, which premiered in 2017.[5]

Personal life

Wain lives in Los Angeles. He has two sons and is divorced from Zandy Hartig, an actress and producer.[6][7]

Filmography

Film

Title	Year	Credited as						Notes
		Director	Writer	Producer	Actor	Other	Role
Aisle Six	1992	Yes	Yes	Yes		Editor		Short film
Keeping the Faith	2000				Yes		Steve Posner
Bamboozled	2000				Yes		Bunning
Wet Hot American Summer	2001	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Paco	Co-producer
The Third Date	2003				Yes		Ralph	Short film
Along Came Polly	2004				Yes		Wedding Videographer	Uncredited
The Baxter	2005				Yes		Louis Lewis
Delirious	2006				Yes		Byron
The Ten	2007	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Abe Grossman / Cartoon Voices
Reno 911!: Miami	2007				Yes		Breen the Plumber
Puberty: The Movie	2007				Yes		Principal Kirkpatrick
The Guitar	2008				Yes		Phone Man
Role Models	2008	Yes	Yes		Yes		Chevron Baine
I Love You, Man	2009				Yes		Wedding Photographer
Sleepwalk with Me	2012				Yes		Pete
Wanderlust	2012	Yes	Yes	Yes
Thanks for Sharing	2012				Yes		Addict #2
Hell Baby	2013				Yes		Dr. Marsden
She Said, She Said	2013				Yes		Mediator	Short film
They Came Together	2014	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Keith	Executive producer
Hurricane of Fun: The Making of Wet Hot	2015			Yes				Executive producer
Brother Nature	2016				Yes		Uncle Mel
The Second Sound Barrier	2016	Yes						Short film
Fun Mom Dinner	2017				Yes		Wayne
My Dead Dad's Porno Tapes	2018					Narrator		Short film
A Futile and Stupid Gesture	2018	Yes		Yes	Yes		Interviewer	Executive producer
Under the Eiffel Tower	2018				Yes		Frank
Dog Days	2018				Yes		Wacky Wayne

Television

Title	Year	Credited as						Notes
		Director	Writer	Producer	Actor	Other	Role
You Wrote It, You Watch It	1992–1993	Yes	Yes		Yes		Various characters
The State	1993–1995	Yes	Yes		Yes		Various characters
The State's 43rd Annual All-Star Halloween Special	1995	Yes	Yes		Yes		Various characters	Television special
The Daily Show	1996					Yes	Correspondent
Apartment 2F	1997	Yes	Yes		Yes		David	Segment: "Finishing the Novel"
Random Play	1999		Yes		Yes		Various characters
Strangers with Candy	2000		Yes					Episode: "The Blank Page"
Mad TV	2000–2001		Yes
Sheep in the Big City	2000–2002		Yes		Yes		Stu (voice)	Episode: "Belle of the Baaah"
Crank Yankers	2003				Yes		Al Foster #1 / David	2 episodes
Reno 911!	2003, 2008				Yes		Sam / Sensual Masseuse	2 episodes
Cheap Seats without Ron Parker	2004				Yes		Brian Lewis	Episode: "High-School Cheerleading"
Stella	2005	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		David	10 episodes
Entourage	2006				Yes		Agent	Episode: "Three's Company"
Wainy Days	2007–2011	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		David
Superjail!	2007–2014				Yes		The Warden (voice)
Childrens Hospital	2008–2016	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Rabbi Jewy McJewJew / various characters
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!	2009				Yes		Shell Dante	Episode: "Hair"
Party Down	2010	Yes						Episode: "Not on Your Wife Opening Night"
New Girl	2012	Yes			Yes		Male Race Participant	Episode: "Secrets"
Comedy Bang! Bang!	2012				Yes		Gordon Thatchet	Episode: "Elizabeth Banks Wears a Red Dress"
Bob's Burgers	2012–2019				Yes		Courtney / Grover (voice)	7 episodes
Burning Love	2013				Yes		Reg Durjmah	Episode: "Dancing!"
The Greatest Event in Television History	2013				Yes		Bell Taint	Episode: "Hart to Hart"
Key & Peele	2013				Yes		Person at People Park #6	Episode: "#3.13"
Newsreaders	2013–2015	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Jim Davidson
Married	2014				Yes		David	Episode: "Waffles & Pizza"
A to Z	2014	Yes						Episode: "F Is for Fight, Fight, Fight!"
Broad City	2015				Yes		Maureen's Ex	Episode: "Coat Check"
Weird Loners	2015				Yes		Howard	2 episodes
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver	2015				Yes		Maternity	Episode: "Paid Family Leave"
Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp	2015	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yaron
Another Period	2015–2018				Yes		Albert Downsy Jr.	14 episodes
Younger	2016				Yes		Hugh Shirley	2 episodes
Drunk History	2016–2019				Yes		Thomas Jefferson / Julius Caesar	2 episodes
Fresh Off the Boat	2017				Yes		Reggie	Episode: "Living with Eddie"
Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later	2017	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yaron / Bill Clinton
Portlandia	2018				Yes		Brad	Episode: "Open Relationship"
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend	2018				Yes		Dr. Pratt	Episode: "Nathaniel Is Irrelevant."
Teachers	2018–2019				Yes		Pastor Ted	3 episodes
Tuca & Bertie	2019				Yes		(voice)	2 episodes
Superstore	2019–2020				Yes		Dan	2 episodes
Medical Police	2020	Yes	Yes	Yes
Big City Greens	2021				Yes		Ronald Featherman (voice)	Episode: "Winter Greens"

References

1. The Jewish Chronicle: "'I’ve always been seen by other people as Jewish'" by Stephen Applebaum November 14, 2017
2. Grantland: "Grantland Q&A: David Wain on ‘Wet Hot American Summer,’ On-Set Hookups, and Paul Rudd’s Aging Secrets"by Rachel Handler July 31, 2015
3. "Nina Wain Obituary". The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida: Palm Beach Newspapers Inc. July 8, 2009. Retrieved June 23, 2016 – via legacy.com.
4. IMDB | Role Models – Box Office
5. Fleming, Mike Jr. (October 19, 2016). "Alyssa Milano Joins Season 2 Of 'Wet Hot American Summer'". Deadline Hollywood. Los Angeles, California: Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
6. "Bio —". Davidwain.com. 2015-07-31. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
7. "The Force Awakens: One Woman's Conversion". Zandyhartig.com. 2016-01-09. Retrieved 2016-10-27.

External links

• Official website
• David Wain at IMDb
• Wainy Days series