Lance Barber

Last updated • 2 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Lance Barber
Born (1973-06-29) June 29, 1973 (age 51)
Alma mater Kellogg 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).

Contents

Early life

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

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] [4] 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. [5]

Personal life

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

Filmography

Film

Acting roles in film productions:  [6] [7]

YearTitleRoleNotes
2002Like MikeDirector in CommercialUncredited
2002TenfoldDunken Boy
2003Patching CabbageRyanShort film
2004Bad MeatBuddy
2005 The Godfather of Green Bay Kenny Caruso
2005The Poet of CanisThe PoetShort film
2006 For Your Consideration Dinkie
2006BreakdownLogan ConnerShort film
2006The Lather EffectPaul Helling
2008 Shades of Ray Karaoke Singer
2008 Leatherheads Toledo Referee
2010Dead CatShort film
2010PennyFrank
2013 Gangster Squad Comanche
2017Never Seen You Shine So BrightNeil Short film
2019Raunch and RollCrash
2023 Fool's Paradise Side Kick

Television

Roles and voice acting work in television films and series: [6] [7]

YearTitleRoleNotes
2001 ER Howard NordenEpisode: "Start All Over Again"
2001–2006 Gilmore Girls Hugo Gray / the Man at Inn2 episodes
2002 What I Like About You Phone GuyEpisode: "Spa Day"
2003 On the Spot Ensemble Player5 episodes
2004 Come to Papa PhillipEpisode: "The Crush"
2004 Faking the Video Billy the Fake DirectorTV series
2004 Yes, Dear ManEpisode: "Who Done It?"
2005 Joey SteveEpisode: "Joey and the High School Friend"
2005, 2014 The Comeback Paulie G.21 episodes
2006 Thick and Thin KevinEpisode: "Mary Moves On"
2006Untitled Patricia Heaton ProjectPeteTelevision film
2007 The Hill Eric
2007 Californication Nick Lowry3 episodes
2007InsatiableJerry MarinelliEpisode: "Pilot"
2008 The Mentalist Daniel CardeiraEpisode: "Red-Handed"
2008 The Middleman Johnny JohnEpisode: "The Cursed Tuba Contingency"
2009Single White MillionaireSeth MortinTelevision film
2009 CSI: Miami Al WayonsEpisode: "Bad Seed"
2009 Monk Bill the DeliverymanEpisode: "Mr. Monk Is Someone Else"
2010 Justified FrankEpisode: "Long in the Tooth"
2010 United States of Tara Sully2 episodes
2010 Grey's Anatomy PhilEpisode: "Suicide Is Painless"
2010 Men of a Certain Age Hardware Store ManagerEpisode: "Father's Fraternity"
2010–2013; 2015–2018 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Bill Ponderosa11 episodes
2011 Harry's Law David KerwinEpisode: "Purple Hearts"
2011, 2018 The Big Bang Theory Jimmy Speckerman/George Cooper Sr.2 episodes #5/11 & #12/10
2012 Baby Daddy TommyEpisode: "The Daddy Whisperer"
2012 The Soul Man Mr. RichardsonEpisode: "Pastor Interference"
2012 How I Met Your Mother Guard #1Episode: "The Magician's Code Part 2"
2012 Key and Peele CopEpisode: "Episode #1.2"
2013Timms ValleyEpisode: "2nd Executive"
2013 The Crazy Ones ClydeEpisode: "Models Love Magic"
2013 Franklin & Bash Teddy LazlowEpisode: "Control"
2013 Whitney NateEpisode: "Sorry!"
2014 Masters of Sex LarryEpisode: "One for the Money, Two for the Show"
2014 Garfunkel and Oates DrewEpisode: "Speechless"
2014 Hot in Cleveland TylerEpisode: "Straight Outta Cleveland"
2014 Bob's Burgers Justgrillin'Voice, episode: "Uncle Teddy"
2014We Got NextJay Television film
2014–2016 Faking It Lucas / Karma's Dad8 episodes
2015 Dr. Ken Phil StocktonEpisode: "The Master Scheduler"
2016 Brooklyn Nine-Nine PatrickEpisode: "Captain Latvia"
2016–2017 Black-ish Dr. Gabler2 episodes
2017 All Hail King Julien BruceVoice, episode: "One More Cup"
2017–2024 Young Sheldon George Cooper Sr.Main role; 141 episodes
2023 Big City Greens FrankVoice, episode: "Bad Dad"

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "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. 1 2 "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. Bojalad, Alec (May 17, 2024). "Young Sheldon: Why Everybody Loves Lance Barber's George Sr". Den of Geek. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  5. 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.
  6. 1 2 "Lance Barber – Filmography". IMDb . Archived from the original on January 2, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  7. 1 2 "Lance Barber". TV Guide . Archived from the original on April 25, 2018. Retrieved February 1, 2019.