David Cross

David Cross
David Cross (born April 4, 1964)  is an American actor, writer and  stand-up comedian known primarily for his standup work, the  HBO  sketch comedy series  Mr. Show, and his role as  Tobias Fünke in the sitcom  Arrested Development. Cross created, wrote, executive produced, and starred in  The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret; developed and had a prominent role in the  Comedy Central animated sitcom  Freak Show; and has a recurring role in the ABC sitcom  Modern Family.

The Ben Stiller Show and Mr. Show
Cross began his professional television career as a writer on The Ben Stiller Show. The short-lived Fox Network series hired him toward the end of its run, and he occasionally made brief appearances in the sketches. He had a speaking role in "The Legend of T.J. O'Pootertoot", a sketch written almost entirely by Cross. It was during this period that he first met Bob Odenkirk, with whom he would later co-create the HBO sketch comedyseries Mr. Show in 1995. Cross won an Emmy for his work on The Ben Stiller Show in 1993.

Cross later co-starred as Tobias Fünke in Arrested Development, which was originally intended to be only a minor role. He has also played smaller roles on programs such as ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Shoot_Me! Just Shoot Me!], The Drew Carey Show, NewsRadio, Strangers with Candy, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force''. Since October 2005, Cross has appeared on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report as Stephen Colbert's arch-nemesis, a fictional liberal radio talk show host from Madison, Wisconsin named "Russ Lieber". Cross also developed an animated series for Comedy Central called Freak Show, which co-starred H. Jon Benjamin, and was cancelled due to low ratings. He has appeared several times on the MTV2 series Wonder Showzen.