Paul Giamatti
Born: 6th June 1967
Where: Connecticut, USA
The veteran actor hit a critical high with his portrayal of a depressive writer and wine connoisseur touring California's grape belt in the comedy Sideways.
However, he had been successfully delivering sterling supporting performances for more than a decade, most notably as Harvey Pekar in the hit American Splendor.
The son of celebrated renaissance literature professor A Bartlett Giamatti, he graduated in Fine Arts from Yale University.
He went on to star on Broadway in The Iceman Cometh, for which he received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
He first gained wide attention for his role as the eager NBC executive who is nick-named 'Pig Vomit' by Howard Stern in the 1997 hit comedy Private Parts.
Subsequent roles - mainly minor - included Richard the Bellman in My Best Friends' Wedding and Professor Abbott in Deconstructing Harry.
Giamatti was the control room director in The Truman Show and appeared alongside Tom Hanks in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan.
He starred with Kevin Spacey and Samuel L Jackson in The Negotiator and reteamed with Truman Show star Jim Carrey for Man on the Moon.
In 2001, Giamatti switched from the grim realism of Todd Solondz's Storytelling to the sci-fi fantasy of Tim Burton's remake of Planet of the Apes.
The kids' capers Big Fat Liar and Thunderpants followed before he appeared in James Foley's con outing Confidence in 2003.
The same year he starred as Pekar in the skewed biopic American Splendor alongside Hope Davis.
In 2004, he starred alongside Thomas Haden Church in Alexander Payne's bleak comedy Sideways.
Recent work includes Russell Crowe's slippery agent in the Ron Howard biopic Cinderella Man.
