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Lance Barber

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Lance Barber
Born (1973-06-29) June 29, 1973 (age 51)
Battle Creek, Michigan, U.S.
Alma materKellogg Community College
OccupationActor
Years active1998–present
Known for
SpouseAliza Barber
Children2

Lance Barber (born June 29, 1973)[1] is an American actor. He is known for playing George Cooper, Sr. on the CBS sitcom Young Sheldon (2017–2024) and The Big Bang Theory (2018), and, before he was established as Sheldon's father, a different character on The Big Bang Theory as Leonard's high school bully; and also for Bill Ponderosa on the FX show It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2010–2013; 2015–2018).

Early life

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Barber was born and raised in Battle Creek, Michigan, and developed an interest in acting at the age of seven, after seeing a performance of Grease at the Barn Theatre.[1] He acted at Pennfield High School, from which he graduated in 1991, and performed in school productions from Kellogg Community College[1] while earning his associate degree.

Career

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After a year at the Barn Theatre, Barber moved to Chicago and spent five years working his way up in The Second City improvisational comedy troupe.[1] He then moved to Los Angeles and had his first television role in On the Spot, an improv sketch show that ran for five episodes on The WB in 2003.[1] He credits his breakthrough to the 2005 HBO series The Comeback with Lisa Kudrow, in which he played Paulie G., a television writer. In 2010, he landed the recurring role of Bill Ponderosa on FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.[1] He reprised his role as Paulie G. when HBO brought back The Comeback in 2014.[2] He also appeared in episodes of How I Met Your Mother, Gilmore Girls, Californication, Monk, The Mentalist, and Grey's Anatomy.

Barber played Jimmy Speckerman, who bullied Leonard Hofstadter at high school, in one episode of The Big Bang Theory.[3] He was cast as George Cooper Sr., father of Sheldon Cooper, in the spin-off Young Sheldon that premiered in 2017, and mentioned in an interview that some fans were confused by his different roles in the two related series.[3] Barber also played Cooper in "The VCR Illumination", a 2018 episode of the parent show's twelfth season; the character is deceased in the series but appears on an old VHS tape that Sheldon plays.[4]

Personal life

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Barber lives in Los Angeles with his wife Aliza, who is a chef, and their two children.[1]

Filmography

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Film

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Acting roles in film productions: [5][6]

Year Title Role Notes
2002 Like Mike Director in Commercial Uncredited
2002 Tenfold Dunken Boy
2003 Patching Cabbage Ryan Short film
2004 Bad Meat Buddy
2005 The Godfather of Green Bay Kenny Caruso
2005 The Poet of Canis The Poet Short film
2006 For Your Consideration Dinkie
2006 Breakdown Logan Conner Short film
2006 The Lather Effect Paul Helling
2008 Shades of Ray Karaoke Singer
2008 Leatherheads Toledo Referee
2010 Dead Cat – Short film
2010 Penny Frank
2013 Gangster Squad Comanche
2017 Never Seen You Shine So Bright Neil Short film
2019 Raunch and Roll Crash
2023 Fool's Paradise Side Kick

Television

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Roles and voice acting work in television films and series:[5][6]

Year Title Role Notes
2001 ER Howard Norden Episode: "Start All Over Again"
2001–2006 Gilmore Girls Hugo Gray / the Man at Inn 2 episodes
2002 What I Like About You Phone Guy Episode: "Spa Day"
2003 On the Spot Ensemble Player 5 episodes
2004 Come to Papa Phillip Episode: "The Crush"
2004 Faking the Video Billy the Fake Director TV series
2004 Yes, Dear Man Episode: "Who Done It?"
2005 Joey Steve Episode: "Joey and the High School Friend"
2005, 2014 The Comeback Paulie G. 21 episodes
2006 Thick and Thin Kevin Episode: "Mary Moves On"
2006 Untitled Patricia Heaton Project Pete Television film
2007 The Hill Eric
2007 Californication Nick Lowry 3 episodes
2007 Insatiable Jerry Marinelli Episode: "Pilot"
2008 The Mentalist Daniel Cardeira Episode: "Red-Handed"
2008 The Middleman Johnny John Episode: "The Cursed Tuba Contingency"
2009 Single White Millionaire Seth Mortin Television film
2009 CSI: Miami Al Wayons Episode: "Bad Seed"
2009 Monk Bill the Deliveryman Episode: "Mr. Monk Is Someone Else"
2010 Justified Frank Episode: "Long in the Tooth"
2010 United States of Tara Sully 2 episodes
2010 Grey's Anatomy Phil Episode: "Suicide Is Painless"
2010 Men of a Certain Age Hardware Store Manager Episode: "Father's Fraternity"
2010–2013; 2015–2018 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Bill Ponderosa 11 episodes
2011 Harry's Law David Kerwin Episode: "Purple Hearts"
2011, 2018 The Big Bang Theory Jimmy Speckerman/George Cooper Sr. 2 episodes #5/11 & #12/10
2012 Baby Daddy Tommy Episode: "The Daddy Whisperer"
2012 The Soul Man Mr. Richardson Episode: "Pastor Interference"
2012 How I Met Your Mother Guard #1 Episode: "The Magician's Code"
2012 Key and Peele Cop Episode: "Episode #1.2"
2013 Timms Valley – Episode: "2nd Executive"
2013 The Crazy Ones Clyde Episode: "Models Love Magic"
2013 Franklin & Bash Teddy Lazlow Episode: "Control"
2013 Whitney Nate Episode: "Sorry!"
2014 Masters of Sex Larry Episode: "One for the Money, Two for the Show"
2014 Garfunkel and Oates Drew Episode: "Speechless"
2014 Hot in Cleveland Tyler Episode: "Straight Outta Cleveland"
2014 Bob's Burgers Justgrillin' Voice, episode: "Uncle Teddy"
2014 We Got Next Jay Television film
2014–2016 Faking It Lucas / Karma's Dad 8 episodes
2015 Dr. Ken Phil Stockton Episode: "The Master Scheduler"
2016 Brooklyn Nine-Nine Patrick Episode: "Captain Latvia"
2016–2017 Black-ish Dr. Gabler 2 episodes
2017 All Hail King Julien Bruce Voice, episode: "One More Cup"
2017–2024 Young Sheldon George Cooper Sr. Main role; 141 episodes
2023 Big City Greens Frank Voice, episode: "Bad Dad"

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Lance Barber finds a home in television". Battle Creek Enquirer. November 14, 2014. Archived from the original on March 2, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
  2. ^ Metz, Nina (December 11, 2014). "Lance Barber on his long-awaited 'Comeback'". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on September 27, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Young Sheldon interview: Lance Barber on playing Sheldon's father George Cooper Sr". CarterMatt. September 22, 2017. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  4. ^ Dumaraog, Ana (December 9, 2018). "Big Bang Theory's Young Sheldon Crossover Resolves Its Biggest Continuity Issue". Screenrant. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Lance Barber – Filmography". IMDb. Archived from the original on January 2, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Lance Barber". TV Guide. Archived from the original on April 25, 2018. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
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