Along with best friend & fellow actor Joey Slotnick, he helped found the Looking Glass Theater Company, based in Chicago, Illinois.
Before "Friends" (1994) Schwimmer competed against high-school friend Jonathan Silverman and actor Jon Cryer for a role in the TV pilot Couples (1994) (TV). Silverman won the role opposite Helen Slater, but ABC passed on the show. The producers later reconceived the show for singles and sold it to NBC as "Friends" (1994) in which Schwimmer was the first actor to be cast.
Called up a London talk show to deny false claims that cast members of _Friends (1994)_ were demanding $1,000,000 each per episode. [April 2000]
Has worked extensively on the stage both as actor and director
Is on the board of directors of the Rape Foundation for the Rape Treatment Center of Santa Monica
Dated Australian singer/actress Natalie Imbruglia.
Split up from Mili Avital in November 2001
Member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity
January 2003 - Premiered his play "Turnaround" at the 99-seat West Hollywood Coast theater. All of his "Friends" were in attendance.
Attended Beverly Hills High School and performed in stage productions there.
Went to the same High School as Angelina Jolie, Michael Klesic, Nicolas Cage, Lenny Kravitz, Jonathan Silverman, Gina Gershon, Rhonda Fleming, Jackie Cooper, Rob Reiner, Antonio Sabato Jr., Pauly Shore, Michael Tolkin, Betty White, Crobin Bernsen, E.G. Daily, Albert Brooks and Crispin Glover.
Both his parents, Arlene Coleman-Schwimmer and Authur Schwimmer, had small parts in Since You've Been Gone (1998) (TV), which he directed.
Shares birthday with "Will & Grace" (1998) actress Megan Mullally.
David once said in an interview, he would like to become a public school teacher after Friends ended.
If one were to base one's judgment of David Schwimmer's talent on his low-key performance as the anxious, awkward but lovable paleontologist Ross on NBC's smash hit comedy Friends, one might never suspect that beneath the affable exterior lies a versatile, multi-talented actor and filmmaker.
Tall, dark-haired, and lanky, Schwimmer was born in Queens, but later raised in Southern California, where he attended the famed Beverly Hills High School. He then enrolled in Chicago's Northwestern University, where he briefly considered pursuing his family's traditional profession and becoming a lawyer, but by that time, the acting bug had bitten him deeply and he was committed to it. Following graduation from Northwestern, Schwimmer gained enough stage experience in Chicago theater to co-found the Lookingglass Theatre Company with fellow actors. Schwimmer remains passionate about his involvement with the troupe and has starred in or directed many of their productions.
In 1989, he made the first of several attempts to break into Hollywood, when he was cast as a killer in the made-for-TV thriller A Deadly Silence. It was apparently an unpleasant experience and the young actor hastened back to the familiarity of Lookingglass. Still, the lure of Hollywood was great and Schwimmer returned to guest star and play recurring roles on several television series. One of his best-known early TV roles was that of Olivia D'Abo's hippie fianc? on The Wonder Years. On the gritty crime drama NYPD Blue, he garnered critical acclaim for his portrayal of a lawyer who goes over the edge and becomes a vigilante. He had another bad television experience when he was cast opposite Henry Winkler in Fox's sitcom Monty. The series crashed before it got off the ground and Schwimmer swore he'd never do another comedy show. Up until 1994, he continued to play a wide variety of roles and to divide his time between stage and television.
Despite his earlier vow, Schwimmer reluctantly accepted the role of Ross in Friends, a role that the show's creators wrote especially for him. The series, about a group of good-looking, but rather aimless buddies in their twenties, was an immediate hit and Schwimmer's lovable nerd character made him a star and got him an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
With his newfound stardom came offers for feature film roles. Though he had actually begun appearing in films in 1990, he had, thus far, played only small roles. He made his debut as a star playing a virtual clone of Ross in the Pallbearer (1996). He played a dramatic role as one of the inventors of silicon breast implants in the made-for-television docudrama Breast Men (1997). Schwimmer signed a lucrative contract with Miramax that will not only star him in several pictures, but also allow him to direct.
