Lance Barber (born June 29, 1973) is an American actor. He gained recognition for his main role as Paulie G on the

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 ...

sitcom '' The Comeback'' (2005; 2014), which was followed with a starring role in the film '' The Godfather of Green Bay'' (2005). In the 2010s, Barber had recurring roles as Bill Ponderosa on the FX and FXX sitcom ''

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'', also known colloquially simply as ''Always Sunny'', is an American sitcom created by Rob McElhenney and co-developed by Glenn Howerton for FX (TV channel), FX. It premiered on August 4, 2005, and stars Charl ...

'' (2010–2013; 2015–2018) and Lucas on the

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

television series '' Faking It'' (2014–2016). He received renewed attention for his main role as George Cooper Sr. on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

sitcom ''

Young Sheldon ''Young Sheldon'' is an American sitcom television series created by Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro which aired on CBS from September 25, 2017, to May 16, 2024. The series is a Spin-off (media), spin-off prequel to ''The Big Bang Theory'' that ...

'' (2017–2024).

Early life

Barber was born and raised in

Battle Creek, Michigan Battle Creek is a city in northwestern Calhoun County, Michigan, United States, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a tota ...

, and developed an interest in acting at the age of seven, after seeing a performance of '' Grease'' at the Barn Theatre. He acted at Pennfield High School, from which he graduated in 1991, and performed in school productions from

Kellogg Community College Kellogg Community College (KCC) is a public community college based in Battle Creek, Michigan, with sites in Battle Creek, Albion, Coldwater, Hastings and in the Fort Custer Industrial Park. It serves approximately 8,400 students annually via f ...

while earning his associate degree.

Career

After a year at the Barn Theatre, Barber moved to Chicago and spent five years working his way up in

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theaters in Toronto and New York. Since its debut in 1959, it has b ...

improvisational comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...

troupe. 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 The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on ter ...

in 2003. He credits his breakthrough to the 2005

series '' The Comeback'' with

Lisa Kudrow Lisa Valerie Kudrow ( ; born July 30, 1963) is an American actress. She rose to international fame for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the American television sitcom ''Friends'', which aired from 1994 to 2004. The series earned her Primetime Emmy A ...

, in which he played Paulie G., a television writer. In 2010, he landed the recurring role of Bill Ponderosa on FX's ''

''. He reprised his role as Paulie G. when HBO brought back ''The Comeback'' in 2014. He also appeared in episodes of ''

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows main char ...

'', ''

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. The show debuted October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flagship series for the network. The show ran fo ...

'', ''

Californication Californication may refer to: *Californication (word), an expression that refers to the influx of Californians into various western states in the U.S. *Californication (album), ''Californication'' (album), a 1999 album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers ...

'', ''

Monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

'', ''

The Mentalist ''The Mentalist'' is an American procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2008, until February 18, 2015, broadcasting 151 episodes over seven seasons, on CBS. Created by Bruno Heller, who was also its executive producer, t ...

'', and ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

''. Barber played Jimmy Speckerman, who bullied

Leonard Hofstadter Leonard Leakey Hofstadter, Ph.D. is a fictional character portrayed by Johnny Galecki and one of the protagonists in the 2007–2019 CBS sitcom, ''The Big Bang Theory.'' Leonard is an experimental physicist who shares an apartment with his c ...

at high school, in one episode of ''

The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady for CBS. It aired from September 24, 2007, to May 16, 2019, running for 12 seasons and 279 episodes. The show originally centered on five charact ...

''. He was cast as George Cooper Sr., father of

Sheldon Cooper Sheldon Lee Cooper, B.S., M.S., M.A., Ph.D., Sc.D., is a fictional character and one of the protagonists in the 2007–2019 CBS television series ''The Big Bang Theory'' and its 2017–2024 spinoff series ''Young Sheldon'', portrayed by act ...

, in the spin-off ''

'' that premiered in 2017, and mentioned in an interview that some fans were confused by his different roles in the two related series. 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 VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Mag ...

that Sheldon plays.

Personal life

Barber lives in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with his wife Aliza, who is a chef, and their two children.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Lance Barber
on CBS.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, Lance 1973 births 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors Living people Male actors from Michigan Entertainers from Battle Creek, Michigan