Simon Helberg

Simon Maxwell Helberg[3] (born December 9, 1980) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for playing Howard Wolowitz in the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019), for which he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, and as Cosmé McMoon in the film Florence Foster Jenkins (2016), which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture.

Simon Helberg
Helberg at PaleyFest 2013 for The Big Bang Theory
Born	Simon Maxwell Helberg December 9, 1980 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater	New York University
Occupation	Actor comedian musician[1][2]
Years active	1999–present
Television	The Big Bang Theory
Spouse(s)	Jocelyn Towne ​ (m. 2007)​
Children	2
Parents	Sandy Helberg (father) Harriet B. Birnbaum (mother)

Helberg has appeared on the sketch comedy series MADtv and is also known for his role as Moist in Joss Whedon's web miniseries Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008). He has further performed in films such as Old School (2003), Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007) and A Serious Man (2009).

Early life

Helberg was born on December 9, 1980, in Los Angeles.[3] He is the son of actor Sandy Helberg and casting director Harriet Helberg (née Birnbaum).[4][3] He was raised Jewish, "Conservative to Reform but more Reform as time went on."[5][6]

Helberg attended middle and high school at the Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California, with Jason Ritter, who later became his roommate at New York University.[7] He attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts,[8] where he trained at the Atlantic Theater Company.[4]

Career

Since the early 2000s, Helberg performed with comedian Derek Waters as the sketch comedy duo Derek & Simon.[9] In 2007, the two starred together in Derek & Simon: The Show, a web series they created with comedian Bob Odenkirk for the comedy website Super Deluxe. They also made two short films "Derek & Simon: The Pity Card" (co-starring Zach Galifianakis and Bill Hader) and "Derek & Simon: A Bee and a Cigarette" (co-starring Casey Wilson and Emily Rutherfurd) and had a pilot deal with HBO in 2005. One of Helberg's earliest jobs in television was briefly joining the cast of MADtv for one season in 2002.

Helberg appeared in the 2002 feature film Van Wilder as one of the geeky students for whom Van Wilder was throwing a party. He had a minor role in the 2003 movie Old School. In 2004, he was in two episodes of Reno 911!: Student Driver in Raineesha X and Hooker Buying Son in Not Without My Mustache. He had a small role in the sixth episode of Quintuplets, Get a Job, as a man called Neil working behind the counter at a shoe shop where Paige and Patton were working.

In 2004, he appeared in the film A Cinderella Story, starring Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray. Helberg played the minor role of Simon in George Clooney's 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck, where he had one line. In 2005, he had a bit part on Arrested Development as Jeff, an employee of the film studio where Maeby worked. From 2006 to 2007, he had a minor supporting role as Alex Dwyer in the drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. In 2006, he appeared in a series of comical TV commercials for Richard Branson's UK financial services company Virgin Money. He played a small role in the 2007 film Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story as a Jewish record producer.

In 2007, Helberg was cast as Howard Wolowitz, in the CBS comedy series The Big Bang Theory.[5][10]

He appeared as the character Moist in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and had a small role in the pilot episode of the Judd Apatow-produced sitcom Undeclared. In the 2009 Coen brothers film A Serious Man, he played junior Rabbi Scott Ginsler. He had a minor role in the season 4 finale of The Guild as one of the Game Masters.

In 2016, Helberg starred alongside Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant in Florence Foster Jenkins, directed by Stephen Frears; he played pianist Cosmé McMoon and his performance was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture.[11] Helberg will next star in Annette, opposite Adam Driver.[12]

Forbes placed him third in its world's highest-paid TV actors list in 2018, his revenues rising to $23.5 million in that year.[13]

Personal life

Helberg married actress Jocelyn Towne on July 15, 2007.[14] Towne's uncle is screenwriter Robert Towne.[15] Helberg and Towne's first child, daughter Adeline, was born on May 8, 2012.[16] Their son, Wilder Towne Helberg, was born on April 23, 2014.[17]

On March 1, 2010, Helberg revealed on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson that he had earned a black belt in karate at age 10.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Note
1999	Mumford	College Roommate
2002	Van Wilder	Vernon
2003	Old School	Jerry
2004	A Cinderella Story	Terry
2005	Good Night, and Good Luck.	CBS page
2006	Derek & Simon: A Bee and a Cigarette	Simon	Short film; also writer and producer
2006	The Pity Card	Simon	Short film; also writer and producer
2006	Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas	Al
2006	The TV Set	TJ Goldman
2006	For Your Consideration	Junior Agent
2007	Careless	Stewart
2007	Evan Almighty	Staffer
2007	Mama's Boy	Rathkon
2007	Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story	Dreidel L'Chaim
2009	A Serious Man	Rabbi Scott Ginsler
2011	The Selling	Young Husband
2011	Let Go	Frank
2013	I Am I	Seth	Also executive producer
2014	We'll Never Have Paris	Quinn Berman	Also director, writer and producer
2015	Hollywood Adventures	Translator
2016	Florence Foster Jenkins	Cosmé McMoon
TBA	Annette	The Conductor	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Note
2001	Popular	Gus Latrine	Episode: "Coup"
2001	Cursed	Andy Tinker	Episode: "And then Jack Became the Voice of Cougars"
2001	Ruling Class	Fred Foster	Pilot
2001	Son of the Beach	Billy	Episode: "It's Showtime at the Apollo 13!"
2001	Undeclared	Jack	Episode: "Prototype"
2002	Sabrina, the Teenage Witch	The Spokesman	Episode: "Time After Time"
2002	The Funkhousers	Donnie Funkhouser	Pilot
2002–2003	MADtv	Various	5 episodes
2003	Less than Perfect	Arthur	Episode: "It Takes a Pillage"
2003	Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales	Adam	Television special
2004	Quintuplets	Neil	Episode: "Get a Job"
2004	Reno 911!	Various	2 episodes
2005	Unscripted	Various	2 episodes
2005	Life on a Stick	Stan / Vinnie	2 episodes
2005	Arrested Development	Jeff	Episode: "Meat the Veals"
2004–2006	Joey	Seth Tobin	4 episodes
2006	The Jake Effect	Bill Skidelsky	Episode: "Flight School"
2006–2007	Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip	Alex Dwyer	14 episodes
2007	Derek and Simon	Simon	13 Episodes; also co-creator, writer and producer
2007	The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman	Matt Menard	Episode: "Bad Luck Brad"
2007–2019	The Big Bang Theory	Howard Wolowitz	Main Role
2008	Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog	Moist	3 episodes
2010	The Guild	Kevinator- Official Game Master	Episode: "Guild Hall"
2010–2012	Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil	Ronaldo (voice)
2011–2016	Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness	Bian Zao (voice)	8 episodes
2013	Drunk History	Frank Mason Robinson	Episode: "Atlanta"
2014	The Tom and Jerry Show	Napoleon (voice)	3 episodes
2015	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Himself	Episode: "Simon Helberg Wears a Sky Blue Button Down and Jeans"

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Nominated work	Category	Result
2010	Teen Choice Awards	The Big Bang Theory	Choice TV: Male Scene Stealer	Nominated
2012	Screen Actors Guild Awards		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Nominated
2013	Critics' Choice Television Awards		Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series	Won
2013	Screen Actors Guild Awards		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Nominated
2014				Nominated
2015				Nominated
2015	Teen Choice Awards		Choice TV: Chemistry	Nominated
2016	Screen Actors Guild Awards		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Nominated
2017	Golden Globe Awards	Florence Foster Jenkins	Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture	Nominated
2017	Santa Barbara International Film Awards	Florence Foster Jenkins	Virtuosos Award for Simon Helberg	Won
2017	Screen Actors Guild Awards	The Big Bang Theory	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Nominated

References

1. "Simon Helberg". Twitter. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
2. Goldberg, Lesley. "'Big Bang Theory's' Kate Micucci on Howard's 'Song for Bernadette': Simon Helberg 'Nailed It' in One Take (Video)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
3. "Simon Helberg". TVGuide.com. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
4. "The Big Bang Theory Cast: Simon Helberg". CBS. Archived from the original on January 23, 2014. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
5. Miller, Gerri (September 4, 2007). "Fall TV Preview: Simon Helberg". American Jewish Life. Archived from the original on October 2, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
6. Bloom, Nate (January 26, 2012). "Jewish Stars 1/27". Cleveland Jewish News.
7. Lindhome, Riki. "Making It #1: Jason Ritter". Nerdist. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
8. "Eight Tisch Alumni Nominated for 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards". Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. Archived from the original on January 11, 2014. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
9. Fox, Jesse David (September 1, 2015)."Bob Odenkirk Talks to Derek Waters About Drunk History, Drinking With David Simon, and the State of Sitcoms". Vulture.
10. Quillard, Bobby (August 16, 2010). "Talk Nerdy to Me: Simon Helberg of The Big Bang Theory". Venus Zine. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
11. "Florence Foster Jenkins". IMDb.com. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
12. Wiseman, Andreas (October 9, 2019). "Simon Helberg Joins Adam Driver & Marion Cotillard In Leos Carax's Amazon Musical 'Annette'; France Deal Inked As Cameras Roll". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
13. "Highest-Paid TV Actors 2018". Forbes. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
14. Raz, Gali (March 12, 2014). "Simon Helberg Gets Together With His Real Life Wife Jocelyn Towne To Direct A Movie – On Their Romance". Jewish Business News. Archived from the original on July 12, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2015. Note: Webber, Us Weekly (below), gives marriage year as 2012.
15. Bowerman, Jeanne Veillette (August 18, 2011). "Balls of Steel: I Am I ... and Then Some". Script Magazine. Archived from the original on November 9, 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
16. Michaud, Sarah; Rizzo, Monica (January 27, 2012). "Baby on the Way for Simon Helberg". People. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
17. Webber, Stephanie (June 24, 2014). "Simon Helberg and Wife Jocelyn Towne Welcome Second Child, Baby Boy Wilder Towne Helberg". Us Weekly. Retrieved January 4, 2015.

External links

• Simon Helberg at IMDb