Martin Starr Biography
Born: July 30, 1982
Date of Birth: July 30, 1982
Born Martin James Plfieger Schienle in Santa Monica, California, Martin Starr is best known for his roles as Bill Haverchuck on the short-lived comedy series Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000) and more recently as Bertram Gilfoyle on the hit HBO series Silicon Valley (2014-present).
His parents are Jean St. James, an actress from Kansas, and James Schienle, an elementary school guidance counselor from Wisconsin. Martin’s breakout role was in the aforementioned Freaks and Geeks series by creator Judd Apatow, which ran from 1999 to 2000 and was a launching pad to stardom for much of its young main cast, including Linda Cardellini, James Franco, Seth Rogen and Jason Segel.
After the show’s cancellation, Martin played a variety of roles on television series such as Normal, Ohio (2000), Ed (2001), Mysterious Ways (2001), Roswell (2001-2002), Undeclared (2002), and Providence (2002) before landing two minor roles in two 2002 comedy films (Stealing Harvard and Cheats).
Following an appearance in the Will Ferrell comedy Kicking & Screaming (2005), Martin had a busy year with a recurring role as Mark Rubio in the TV mini-series Revelations, a guest appearance on How I Met Your Mother and a role in the indie comedy The Toast (2005).
Martin re-teamed with his former Freaks and Geeks castmate Seth Rogen for Judd Apatow’s hit comedy film Knocked Up (2007), and again for Rogen’s co-written teen comedy film Superbad (2007). He would finish the year strong with a role in the John C. Reilly music biopic parody Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007).
The following year he would appear in the romance dramedy Good Dick before joining the MCU with an appearance in The Incredible Hulk (2008). He would continue his string of comedy films with Adventureland (2009), playing the character of Joel before making a minor appearance in the Ricky Gervais comedy The Invention of Lying (2009).
Martin would land his first starring role on TV in 2010 since Freaks and Geeks with the role of Roman DeBeers on Party Down, which ran for one season. He then reprised the character on the comedy series Childrens Hospital in 2011. He would also land a guest role on the hit cop show remake Hawaii Five-O, returning for three more episodes over the next few years. That same year he also guest-starred on Community, while also appearing in two films: 6 Month Rule and A Good Old Fashioned Orgy.
He next appeared on the comedy shows Dating Rules from My Future Self (2012), New Girl (2012), and Parks and Recreation (2012) as well as in the big screen rom-com Save the Date (2012). The next year found Martin making a number of cameos in multiple films including The Life Guard, Deep Dark Canyon and This is the End, while also landing his next recurring role on TV in Leo for 10 episodes of Burning Love.
Martin’s biggest break yet in awhile came in 2014 when he landed a leading role on HBO’s Silicon Valley, which is currently entering its sixth season. On top of this Martin would continue to find more work in 2014 to add to his resumé, including film roles in Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead, the Veronica Mars movie, Amira & Sam, and Playing It Cool.
He returned to the MCU in the role of Mr. Harrington in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), reprising his role for Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019).
Martin has also made appearances on TV shows such as Game of Thrones and Tacoma FD, and in films such as Silver Lake (2018). In his spare time, Martin enjoys playing basketball as part of a men's league that meets each Sunday.