Jason Zimbler (born July 27, 1977) is an American former actor best known for portraying Ferguson Darling on the Nickelodeon television series ''

Clarissa Explains It All ''Clarissa Explains It All'' is an American teen sitcom created by Mitchell Kriegman for Nickelodeon. In the series, Clarissa Darling ( Melissa Joan Hart) is a teenager who addresses the audience directly to explain the things that are happeni ...

''.

Early life and education

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Zimbler graduated from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

in 1998, and has both an

undergraduate degree An undergraduate degree (also called first degree or simply degree) is a colloquial term for an academic degree earned by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. In the United States, it is usually offered at an institution of higher ed ...

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

and a

graduate degree Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor ...

in theatre directing. In 1992, Zimbler spoke in front of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

United States House Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families The United States House Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, was a committee of select members of the United States House of Representatives that was in existence from 1983 to 1993.

, discussing issues concerning free

condom A condom is a sheath-shaped Barrier contraception, barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a Sexually transmitted disease, sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both external condo ...

distribution in school and the images of today's

heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

Career

Television

Zimbler appeared on ''

The Edge of Night ''The Edge of Night'' is an American mystery crime drama soap opera, created by Irving Vendig and produced by Procter & Gamble Productions. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network for most of its ...

'' and co-starred in the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

television program A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via Terrestrial television, over-the-air, Satellite television, satellite, and cable te ...

'' from 1991 to 1994 as the character Ferguson W. Darling; ''

The Portland Mercury ''Portland Mercury'' is an alternative bi-weekly newspaper and media company founded in 2000 in Portland, Oregon. It has a sibling publication in Seattle, Washington, called '' The Stranger''. History A prior version of ''The Mercury'' was ...

''s Alison Hallett opined that it is this latter role—as "the world’s brattiest little brother"—for which Zimbler is best known. In 2007, Zimbler joined other past Nickelodeon stars (

Danny Cooksey Daniel Ray Allen Cooksey Jr. (born November 2, 1975) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for his roles in television shows, such as ''Diff'rent Strokes'' (during the final three seasons), '' The Cavanaughs'', ''Xiaolin Showdown'', ...

Michael Maronna Michael C. Maronna (born September 27, 1977) is an American actor, who has appeared in several television programs and films. He is best known for his roles as "Big Pete" Wrigley on the television series ''The Adventures of Pete & Pete'' and as J ...

, and

Marc Summers Marc Summers (born Marc Berkowitz; November 11, 1951) is an American television personality, comedian, game show host, producer, and talk show host. He is best known for hosting '' Double Dare'' on Nickelodeon and '' Unwrapped'' on Food Network. ...

) in the music video for The XYZ Affair's " All My Friends".

Theatre

Zimbler played Robert Anderson in the 1989 revival of ''Shenandoah''. Since then he has directed and assisted theatre productions in

, including frequent participation with the Impetuous Theater Group. Zimbler received the 2006

Stage Directors and Choreographers Society The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), formerly known as Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SDC), is an independent national labor union established in 1959, representing theatrical directors and choreographe ...

's Observership for '' Burleigh Grime$'', and was chosen to take part in the 2007

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

' Director's Lab. Additionally, the director has been an educator and theatre program head at Buck's Rock Performing and Creative Arts Camp for eight years. In late 2007, Jason Zimbler and Sam Kusnetz founded the

theatre company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

The Re-Theatre Instrument in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. Under Zimbler's direction, The Re-Theatre Instrument has re-imagined such classic works as ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

'', ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

'' and ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. ...

''.

After acting

, Zimbler is employed by

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

as a

software design Software design is the process of conceptualizing how a software system will work before it is implemented or modified. Software design also refers to the direct result of the design process the concepts of how the software will work which co ...

er.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zimbler, Jason American male stage actors American male television actors American theatre directors Living people 1977 births Mendoza College of Business alumni American male child actors Male actors from New York City 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors HBO people Notre Dame College of Arts and Letters alumni