Jason Bateman

Jason Bateman
Bateman in December 2007
Born	Jason Kent Bateman January 14, 1969 (1969-01-14) Rye, New York, United States
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1981–present
Spouse	Amanda Anka (m.2001)

Jason Kent Bateman (born January 14, 1969) is an American television and film actor. After appearing in several 1980s and 1990s sitcoms including It's Your Move, and The Hogan Family, Bateman came to prominence in the early 2000s for playing Michael Bluth on Arrested Development, for which he won a TV Land, a Golden Globe, and two Satellite Awards. He has since established himself in Hollywood by appearing in several films including The Kingdom, Juno, Hancock, Up in the Air, Paul, and Horrible Bosses.

Early life

Bateman was born in Rye, New York, the son of Victoria Elizabeth, a former flight attendant for Pan Am, and Kent Bruce Bateman, an actor, film and television writer/director, and founder of a repertory stage in Hollywood. His mother was from the United Kingdom, born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. His older sister, Justine, is of Family Ties fame. Bateman also has three half-brothers. His family moved to Salt Lake City when he was only four years old, and later to California.

Television

Early career

Bateman began his television career on Little House On The Prairie. He appeared in the Knight Rider third-season episode "Lost Knight" in 1984. In 1987, he appeared with Burt Reynolds on the men's team in the inaugural week of game show Win, Lose or Draw. He earned the status of teen idol in the mid-1980s in shows such as Silver Spoons, It's Your Move, and most notably Valerie (later renamed Valerie's Family, and then The Hogans, and then The Hogan Family after Valerie Harper left the series), and became the Directors Guild of America's youngest-ever director when he helmed three episodes of The Hogan Family at the age of eighteen. After the series ended its run, he gained international recognition in the motion picture Teen Wolf Too, which, despite his casting in the title role, was a box office failure. In 1994, he played opposite legendary actors Katharine Hepburn and Anthony Quinn in the television film This Can't Be Love. During this period, he had major roles on four series—Simon, Chicago Sons, George & Leo, and Some of My Best Friends—none of which lasted longer than one season. He also directed an episode of Two of a Kind in 1998. In 2002, he played the frisky sibling of Thomas Jane's character in the feature film The Sweetest Thing.

Arrested Development

Main article: Arrested Development (TV series)

In 2003, Bateman was cast as Michael Bluth in the comedy series Arrested Development. Although critically acclaimed, the series never achieved high ratings and ended on February 10, 2006. Bateman won several awards for his work on the series, including a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Series Musical or Comedy. He was also nominated in 2005 for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series.

Post-Arrested Development

Bateman performed commentary on the 2004 Democratic National Convention for The Majority Report with Arrested Development co-star David Cross, and hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live on February 12, 2005.

In 2006, he appeared as a guest star on the Scrubs episode "My Big Bird" as Mr. Sutton, a garbage man with a flock of vicious ostriches as pets.

In 2009, Bateman became a regular voice actor for the short-lived Fox comedy series Sit Down, Shut Up. He voiced Larry Littlejunk, the gym teacher and only staff member that can teach.

In 2010, Bateman and former Arrested Development co-star Will Arnett created "DumbDumb Productions," a production company focusing on digital content. Their first video was "Prom Date," the first in a series of "Dirty Shorts" for Orbit.

Film work

In 2004, Bateman appeared in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story as ESPN 8 ("The Ocho") commentator Pepper Brooks, and in Starsky & Hutch as Kevin, Vince Vaughn's business partner.

Bateman reunited with Vaughn in 2006's The Break-Up. In 2007, he played former lawyer Rupert "Rip" Reed alongside Ben Affleck in Smokin' Aces, and also starred in The Kingdom, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and Juno. In 2008, he co-starred with Will Smith and Charlize Theron in the superhero film Hancock.

Bateman's 2009 films included Extract, written and directed by Mike Judge, and Couples Retreat, reuniting with Vince Vaughn in a comedy chronicling four couples who partake in therapy sessions at a tropical island resort (Kristen Bell played his wife).

In 2010, he starred in The Switch, a romantic comedy, with Jennifer Aniston.

In 2011, he played the role of Special Agent Zoil in the comedy Paul, and starred in Horrible Bosses and The Change-Up.

It was announced on January 6 that a sequel to Horrible Bosses is in the works.

Personal life

Bateman with wife Amanda Anka in August 2011

Bateman told Best Life magazine that he and sister Justine Bateman supported their parents with the paychecks they earned on their television shows, and that his father was his manager until Jason fired him at the age of 20. Throughout the nineties, Bateman struggled with drug use; he stated in an interview in 2009 that "It was like Risky Business for 10 years".

Since July 2001, Bateman has been married to Amanda Anka, daughter of singer Paul Anka. Their child, Francesca Nora Bateman, was born October 28, 2006. They are currently expecting a second daughter.

In late 2005, he had surgery to remove a benign polyp from his throat. The surgery and required recovery time halted production on Arrested Development, though enough episodes had been completed to get the show through the November sweeps period.

Bateman is a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers and wore Dodgers clothing in the 2008 film Hancock.

Filmography

Bateman at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival

Films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1987	Teen Wolf Too	Todd Howard
1991	Necessary Roughness	Jarvis Edison
1992	Breaking the Rules	Phil Stepler
1999	Love Stinks	Jesse Travis
2001	Sol Goode	Spider
2002	The Sweetest Thing	Roger Donahue
	One Way Out	John Farrow	Direct-to-video
2004	Starsky and Hutch	Kevin
	Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story	Pepper Brooks
2006	The Break-Up	Riggleman
2007	The Ex	Chip Sanders
	Arthur and the Invisibles	Darkos	Voice only
	Smokin' Aces	Rupert 'Rip' Reed
	The Kingdom	Adam Leavitt
	Juno	Mark Loring
	Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium	Henry Weston, the Mutant
2008	The Promotion	Retreat Leader
	Forgetting Sarah Marshall	Animal Instincts Detective
	Hancock	Ray Embrey
2009	State of Play	Dominic Foy
	The Invention of Lying	Doctor
	Up in the Air	Craig Gregory
	Extract	Joel
	Couples Retreat	Jason
2010	The Switch	Wally Mars
2011	Paul	Agent Lorenzo Zoil
	Horrible Bosses	Nick Hendricks
	The Change-Up	Dave
2012	The Longest Week	TBC

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981–1982	Little House on the Prairie	James Cooper Ingalls	21 episodes
1982–1984	Silver Spoons	Derek	23 episodes
1983	Just a Little More Love		Television film
1984	The Fantastic World of D.C. Collins	Addison Cromwell	Television film
	Knight Rider	Doug Wainwright	Single episode
1984–1985	It's Your Move	Matthew Burton	Eighteen episodes
1985	Robert Kennedy & His Times	Joe Kennedy III	Television miniseries
	Right to Kill?		Television film
1986	Mr. Belvedere	Sean	Single episode
	Can You Feel Me Dancing?	Larry Nichols	Television film
	St. Elsewhere	Tim Moynihan	Single episode
	The Thanksgiving Promise	Steve Tilby	Television film
1986–1991	The Hogan Family	David Hogan	110 episodes
1987	Bates Motel	Tony Scotti	Television film
1988	Moving Target	Toby Kellogg	Television film
	Crossing the Mob	Philly	Television film
1992	A Taste for Killing	Blaine Stockard III	Television film
1994	Black Sheep	Jonathan Kelley	Television film
	Confessions: Two Faces of Evil	Bill Motorshed	Television film
	This Can't Be Love	Grant	Television film
1995	Hart to Hart: Secrets of the Hart	Stuart Morris	Television film
	Burke's Law	Jason Ripley	Single episode
	Simon	Carl
1996	Ned & Stacey	Bobby Van Lowe	Single episode
1997	Chicago Sons	Harry Kulchak	Star of the series
	George & Leo	Ted Stoody	Three episodes
2000	Rude Awakening	Ryan	Single episode
2001	Some of My Best Friends	Warren Fairbanks	Eight episodes
2003	The Twilight Zone	Scott Crane	Single episode
2003–2006	Arrested Development	Michael Bluth	53 episodes
2005	King of the Hill	Dr. Leslie	Single episode
	Justice League Unlimited	Hermes	Single episode
	The Fairly OddParents	Tommy	Single episode
2006	Scrubs	Mr. Sutton	Single episode
	The Jake Effect	Jake Galvin	Seven episodes
2009	Sit Down, Shut Up	Larry Littlejunk	Thirteen episodes

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated Work	Result
1983	Young Artist Award	Best Young Actor in a New Television Series	Silver Spoons	Nominated
1984		Best Young Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated
1985		Best Young Actor in a Television Comedy Series	It's Your Move	Nominated
1988		Best Young Male Superstar in Television	Valerie	Nominated
2004	Television Critics Association Awards	Individual Achievement in Comedy	Arrested Development	Nominated
	TV Land Awards	–		Won
2005	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated
	Golden Globes	Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy		Won
	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Male Television Star		Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Outstanding Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical		Won
		Best Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical (Golden Satellite Award)		Won
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated
		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series		Nominated
	Television Critics Association Awards	Individual Achievement in Comedy		Nominated
2006	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series		Nominated

External links

• Jason Bateman at the Internet Movie Database
• Jason Bateman at AllRovi
• Jason Bateman at Emmys.com